A class Vegas heli pad
ONE of the questions I’m often asked when I’m on the radio is: “Which TV shows would you recommend for a binge-watch?” To which I politely reply: “None at all. Binge-watching is a horrible idea. Spending hour after hour just slumped in front of the telly? What a waste of a life.Two hours at a time should be the absolute maximum, and even that is pushing it if you ask me. Which I think you just did.”
It’s a bit of a conversation killer, I grant you. Hence the presenter normally responds with: “And now for the weather.” But I have to be honest, do I not? Watching TV is all well and good, but I go mad if I don’t get my regular fix of the great outdoors. Or even, at this time of year, the not-so-great.
That said, I have my limits.And those limits mean I draw the line at sleeping in it.
Hence I’ve never been attracted to the idea of camping. What on earth is the point of that? I have a house.
Back tonight on Channel 4, JOHNNYVEGAS: CARRY ON GLAMPING (9pm) is a show that celebrates the slightly more upmarket, less roughing-it version, using accommodation that purports to offer the guest a tad more luxury.And I can tell you from the outset, it’s still not going to sway me. Sorry.
Even so, it’s a fun watch, just like series one. Besides, I don’t think winning converts has ever been this programme’s aim. The joy comes from watching comedian and glamping fan Johnny as he goes about his business, this time attempting to expand the venture he undertook a couple of years ago when he set up a site in Yorkshire.
In his endearingly chaotic way, Johnny is now on the hunt for somewhere larger and more attractive, not that the previous spot was exactly an eyesore. Helping him again, as he checks out potential locations, is Bev, his remarkably patient assistant.
The actual accommodation he offers, you may recall, isn’t a bunch of soppy yurts or suchlike but a collection of vintage vehicles which Johnny has had lovingly restored and converted, even though some of them were almost begging to be left alone to rot. These will need shifting from the old site (getting them there in the first place was hard enough) and eventually moved to the new one, wherever it turns out to be.
But Johnny is also on the lookout for new additions, to expand the range of options he can offer his customers.
Fancy kipping in a dilapidated helicopter, for example? Me neither.That’s because neither of us is insane.
But Johnny reckons it might appeal if he bought this thing and got it done up.
Not to me it won’t. But what’s the betting there’ll be a year-long waiting list?