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The Grand Theatre Blackpool

FACE TO FACE WITH KING OF THE JUNGLE JOE PASQUALE

Show Details

01-07-2009 | Author: Press Office

An indepth interview with cheeky comic Joe Pasquale before his one night stand at Blackpool's Grand Theatre on Sunday 26th July

The show is going to be more ridiculous than ever. We’ve got some great new magic, mishaps and music and my trusty twin brother, Raynard, will of course be joining in the fun."

“I’m really looking forward to my summer tour this year,” admits the multi-talented Joe Pasquale. “We’ve never been in more need of a good laugh than now.

“I can’t promise a solution to the global meltdown, but I can offer two hours of escapism. The show is going to be more ridiculous than ever. We’ve got some great new magic, mishaps and music and my trusty twin brother, Raynard, will of course be joining in the fun.

“I’m also including a personal tribute to Nostradamus, who it turns out is related to me through a second cousin, and I’ll be making a few predictions of my own during the course of the show.”

Joe finishes in Great Yarmouth at the end of the summer. “I’m then allowed a couple of weeks off before I’m back on the road from 1st October for my 34 date autumn tour,” laughs the indefatigable Mr Pasquale.

After two such long tours, you would think a rest would be in order. But this is Joe Pasquale we’re talking about. In December he will be starring for the third time in six years at the Birmingham Hippodrome, this time playing Muddles in Sleeping Beauty. The panto, already on target to break box office records, also features Dancing on Ice champ, Ray Quinn.

For Joe, last year’s pantomime was also notable in that it marked his directorial debut, an experience he will not be repeating this year. “Don’t get me wrong, I loved directing but combining it with a starring role was just too much. I spent so much time directing the other actors that I had no time left for me!”

Working at this pace is nothing new for Pasquale. Since coming second in TV show New Faces back in 1987, the funnyman’s career has rarely stood still. He’s performed no less than five Royal Variety Performances, won I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!, presented popular TV shows such as The Price Is Right, enjoyed countless sell-out tours and sold videos and DVDs by the lorry load.
Always open to new experiences, Joe starred as Leo Bloom in a critically acclaimed and hugely successful UK stage tour of Mel Brooks’ legendary musical, The Producers. In addition, he’s now a much sought after voiceover artist, with credits including smash hit films Horton Hears A Who and Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties plus the popular CBBC show Frankenstein’s Cat.

Such a hectic work schedule requires considerable stamina. And luckily the 48-year-old Pasquale is in the best shape of his life.

The catalyst for the all-new and improved Joe Pasquale was undoubtedly winning I’m a Celebrity back in 2004. Not only did being crowned 'King of the Jungle' send his career into overdrive, it also made him determined to get into shape.

As part of his new-found drive, Joe took part in the Man Alive campaign, which aimed to make men more aware of life-threatening diseases linked to excessive weight. He also developed a passion for one of the world’s most demanding sports – boxing.

“I was struggling with the gym to be honest,” recalls Joe. “The only machine that was doing it for me was the vending machine. The carrot cake was proving a particular draw. I was turning into a right biffer and then one of the trainers pointed me in the direction of a punch bag and I never looked back.

Today I train four or five days a week. I doubt I’ll be doing a Mickey Rourke and embarking on a complete career change – I get beaten up too much for that – but I absolutely love it.”

Joe will need to be fighting fit for his next challenge – he’s about to fly out to Argentina to take part in a celebrity version of the hit BBC1 show Total Wipeout. “I’m appearing alongside the likes of Fatima Whitbread, Mark Foster and Sally Gunnell. I’m not an athlete like these guys and I’m also the oldest of the lot.

The producers made us all undergo a psychological evaluation beforehand, which basically proved that I was mental to do it. But it’s all for a good cause and I’d love to win that 10 grand prize for Diabetes UK.”

It wasn’t only physical changes that Joe’s rumble in the jungle brought about. “Before I went on the show I was a complete coward,” he admits. “But then on the first day they threw me out of a plane, then a couple of days later I was hanging out of a helicopter.”
Returning to the UK Joe took up flying and after eight months training, got his pilot’s licence. Joe now flies his own plane, a 40-year-old PA28 Piper Warrior. “Planes are not like cars. They’re made of aluminium so they don’t rust. You buy them according to how many hours they’ve flown, not how old they are.”

Joe’s new-found desire to walk on the wild side has also opened up some amazing career opportunities.

He recently took part in TV series The Prisoner: X, which saw celebrity presenters unceremoniously placed in the world’s harshest prisons. Joe’s home from home was San Rafael prison in Costa Rica. “San Rafael was an open prison,” recalls Joe. “That might sound like a soft option but believe me it wasn’t. Whereas the other celebrities were mainly kept segregated from the inmates, I was mixing with the prison population the whole time. So, there I was, speaking not a word of Spanish and surrounded by around 900 of the toughest criminals, 800 of them armed.”

Instead of keeping his head down, Joe did what only Joe would do – he challenged the prison’s boxing champion to a fight. “The man was a giant – and undefeated in 44 matches. No wonder they nicknamed me ‘gringo loco’. We went through with it and he very kindly decided not to kill me.”

Life in the fast lane also recently found Joe hiking up an active volcano in Guatemala where he toasted marshmallows over the lava flows with the local kids

Far from deciding enough’s enough, Joe Pasquale relishes such challenges. “It’s like getting a second chance at life,” he says. “For me, the more dangerous things are, the better I like it.”

Joe Pasquale is at Blackpool’s Grand Theatre on Sunday 26th July at 7.30pm.

Suitable for all ages and species!

All tickets £17.50.

Book your seats now by calling the Grand Theatre Box Office on 01253 290190, online at www.blackpoolgrand.co.uk or at the new Grand Theatre information sales point in the Houndshill Shopping Centre.


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