10-minute Halloween shows on doorsteps
Couple’s spooky social distancing
A PAIR of entertainers have had to come up with a new idea for spooky fun this year – and have some scary doorstep routines to comply with Covid legislation.
Roy Charles and Nikki Stapleford, otherwise known as Nikki and Charlie, are ready to give children plenty of tricks and treats with their spooky doorstep entertainment, which has been adapted to save their livelihoods and they are now organising private shows.
They have also been using their popular Facebook page, Entertainment For Schools, to upload comedy sketches and their joke of the day to stay in touch with families.
Charlie said: ‘It’s not a job for us. We just love entertaining and watching children’s faces. It’s not a career. That’s what we really miss, hearing the laughs and seeing the smiles.’
Nikki and Charlie started their careers on the cabaret circuit performing in clubs, holiday centres and theatres all over the country, before getting married and starting their own children’s entertainment business in 1981.
Charlie continued: ‘We used to work on cruise ships around the world and we found that doing a double act we could be on stage together, which is how Nikki and Charlie started. We enjoyed it so much that we started doing the larger schools and larger corporate shows.'
Thirty years later, Nikki and Charlie are determined not to let an international pandemic stop them.
They have set up spooky doorstep Halloween shows, 10-minute visits that are jam-packed full of spooky fun. The shows have proved popular as families look for alternatives to traditional trick and treating, with Saturday, October 31 already fully booked.
With many tricks up their sleeves, Nikki and Charlie will keep a two-metre distance whilst performing their show, which involves magic tricks, disappearing ghosts, pumpkins and balloon tricks, which are pre-made with a pump and sanitised.
Charlie, of The Hillway, Portchester said: ‘We’re just trying to give the kids something to look forward to.’
The duo are also planning a Christmas version, with Nikki the Elf and Charlie Christmas, calling. They are also selling birthday themed visits too. They cover addresses across Portsmouth, Fareham, Gosport, Chichester, Winchester and Eastleigh, plus more.
For more go to nikkiandcharlie.co.uk