Bognor promises summer seaside variety spectacular

As ventriloquist Max Fulham points out, we’ve all got rather used to sitting on our sofas watching comedy on Netflix.
Max Fulham by Jim Carey PhotographyMax Fulham by Jim Carey Photography
Max Fulham by Jim Carey Photography

And that’s fine… except for the fact that we have been missing out on the essential.

“When you are just sitting in your front room, you are very rarely going to laugh. But if you are sitting in a theatre, then you have got laughter all around you.”

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And that’s the magic that has been denied us – and that’s the reason Max is so keen to ensure a big audience for Summer Sensation, a true variety show coming up at Bognor’s Regis Centre on Sunday, August 15 at 3pm and 7.30pm.

Max, who has recently appeared on the brand-new series of Crackerjack for CBBC and Game of Talents, will be headlining a show which will also feature vocalist Lorraine Brown, mind reader Matt Daniel-Baker, comedy magician Neal Austin, ukulele entertainer Matthew Quilliam and the Regis Dancers plus surprise guests.

“I think people have become very satisfied with the way they have been watching things, but it is good to remind them just how much better it all is live, that live entertainment is the real entertainment.”

Max is promising the show as a one-off spectacular, one of the first shows back at the Regis Centre, one of his favourite venues: “It has got everything. It is a gorgeous theatre run by wonderful people with wonderful audiences. It is always a delight to play there. It is literally by the sea. It is always a special feeling when you walk out of the stage door and you see the sea. I am so pleased to be back. I did the summer season there in 2017 and 2018, the first year with Joe Pasquale, the second year with Bobby Davro, and I know that the audience are always up for a good time and a good laugh. The audience are very loyal to the theatre and want to support it, but I know we also had people coming from much further away. But you always feel like part of the family when you walk in. So much of the theatre is family run that you just feel like you are part of it. It really is a special place.”

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As Max says, the past 18 months or so have been a ridiculous time: “But I was very fortunate in my own situation. I was very lucky. The key word was just adapt, and I have just literally been adapting to whatever situation has come along and creating content in different ways for social media and also for TikTok. I have got 170,000 followers on TikTok which just blew my mind. TikTok just took off massively during the pandemic. And I have also been doing video content for other companies and for holiday parks. I have learnt a lot of new skills. I have been cameraman, writer, editor, everything. Editing was something new for me.”

Late summer/autumn last year, there was a return to live work albeit socially distanced: “And that was great. But the longer the gap between gigs, the more the nerves kick in, the more performing just feels like something from a past life. The more regularly you are gigging, you are just on a roll, but it was just great to be back!”

Tickets from the venue.

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