Home and away!
L AST year’s Britain’s Got Talent runner-up, comedian Robert White, is now on tour. He’s hot footing it to Leicester’s Haymarket Theatre this Friday with The Tank Top Tour. JOHN FLEMING caught up with him. You were performing comedy for 14 years before your mum and BGT changed your life. Are you the new Susan Boyle? I went on BGT because I was going to give up comedy and I wanted to show my mum I had done everything I could to try and make it work. I thought I would do the show and not get anywhere. I am selling out theatres and having lovely times with people up and down the country. My mum is totally overwhelmed by the excitement of everything. It’s crazy. Is there a theme to the new show? There will be songs, jokes, quirky things you won’t expect and it’s not TV, so there will be a little more grown-up stuff in it, though always in a friendly, funny way. Who do do you think your fanbase are? Lots of everyone really. I did a gig last night and a young guy came up to me wanting a selfie and said “My Nan loves you!”. It’s all different sorts of people who like me. Edgy but friendly and fun. There are lots of women and kids. I love performing to audiences because comedy makes me feel I fit in. You has been described as having brilliant timing and an anarchic performance style. Can audiences expect the same level of anarchy live? Who knows if it will be anarchic? The point about anarchy is you don’t know what’s coming. I haven’t done anything totally anarchic. But then my stuff is not really political. I’m writing a children’s musical. Maybe, after that, I might go back to teaching. It’s called The Tank Top Tour. Will you be wearing a different tank top every night? Probably. I used to get them from vintage clothes shops, which used to have 60s and 70s clothes. But now “vintage” apparently means 80s and 90s. So fewer tank tops. What’s the best thing about touring? Alan Turing? His mathematical ability. He was also another gay, autistic person. But the best thing about touring is hearing the laughter and seeing the smiles night after night and connecting with the audience.
Tickets are £20.50 from Leicester Haymarket Theatre 0116 296 1236 orhaytheatre.com.