Juggling his way into town’s arena
I CAUGHT up with Dave Spikey prior to his upcoming show at Middleton Arena and asked him: “Still juggling on a motorbike after all these years?”
He replied: “I am, five balls Steve, but not necessarily all at the same time!
“When I was working at the hospital (as a biochemist) somebody told me that I was really funny and should be a comedian – so I ran away to Scarborough to a talent show at the Opera House.
“I won that and got to the final in Torquay, which I also won.
“Larry Grayson was one of the judges and after it he said to me that it was a close run thing, but what won it for me was my Juggling on a Motorbike routine.”
I wondered if that meant that Dave includes a lot of reminiscing in the current show.
He said: “I wanted to examine how a humble, working class lad became chief biomedical scientist and then made a massive gear change, taking up this comedy lark.
“I had a grandma who was completely off the wall, naturally funny, but could be quite dour as well.
“When I was five she took me to the school gates and walked off – I shouted after her, ‘how long do I have to stay at school?’.
“She turned around and replied, ‘until you are 16.’. Another time we were shopping in Chorley when an enthusiastic chugger with clipboard ran up to gran and said, ‘can you spare two minutes for cancer research?’.
Gran replied, ‘I can but I don’t think we’ll get much done.’
“I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, my parents were at work and they lived in the next street.
“Once gran said, ‘you had better get to bed early David, it’s a big day tomorrow, I am having two teeth out and having a gas fire put in’.
“I talk about school and how I was the only kid on our street who passed the 11-plus because my mum and dad, a painter and decorator, had educated me well.
“They took me to classical concerts and art galleries and encouraged me to read books that were advanced for my age.
“I wanted to examine that and see how I have ended up - where I have ended up, working at the hospital, then doing comedy and working with Peter Kay.”
See Dave Spikey Juggling on a Motorbike at Middleton Arena on November 24. Tickets available via www.see tickets.com.