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Comedian and TV panellist comes to the Gala Theatre

ByEmily

Nov 29, 2017 ##durham, #Comedian

Stand-up comedian, actor and regular TV panellist Phill Jupitus is set to entertain Gala audiences this week as part of his latest tour.

Best known for his role as team captain on BBC2 quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Jupitus is promising a night of laughs focused on his own ‘chaotic’ life when he comes to Durham on Friday, 3 November.

“Initially there was some resistance to me discussing things on stage about my family,” he said.

“One of my daughters, Molly, married her American girlfriend and emigrated there, so what you get is a starting point: gay marriage is a trope that’s very much in vogue at the minute and dovetails with what’s happening in the world with Trump and so on.”

Although most recognisable for his TV appearances, Jupitus has also starred in musicals including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Spamalot and Hairspray – where he spent three months in a dress, wig and lipstick playing the role of Edna.

“My agent phoned up and said, ‘there’s a casting director in the West End who wants to talk to you about being Count Fosco in The Woman in White’. I was like, ‘what! I don’t sing!’ ‘Well, they think you do’. Turns out they’d seen me do the intros round on Buzzcocks and felt I could hold a tune.

“So I took some training and auditioned and they said, ‘maybe not this time, but do you want to be Wilbur in Hairspray?’ ’ I went to see it and even though I’m watching Mel Smith as Wilbur thinking, ‘yeah I could do that’, I kept looking at Michael Ball as Edna and thinking, ‘that looks like a lot of fun’.”

His music experience will be evident during the show, which will also include some poetry after he recently returned to writing.

Tickets cost £15 and can be bought by visiting www.galadurham.co.uk or calling 03000 266 600.

By Emily