Ever wondered how presenters keep up their energy on set during the long long hours on a reality TV show?
CREDIT: Jonathan Bennett/ Instagram
The job of a reality TV presenter is to look excited and interested – constantly… So how do they keep their energy levels up? It appears they turn it off immediately the camera shuts off. Cake Wars star Jonathan Bennett shared a clip on social media showing how when they film a ‘to camera’ ident for their show they are able to turn off the smiles as the director calls cut!
Sharing a behind the scene clip with co-host Tamera Mowry, Jonathan Bennett demonstrates how they both turn the energy on the moment the camera starts rolling.
Also, not everything goes to plan! It also seems the Mean Girls actor is a bit of an ad-libber to boot, however, his co-star Tamera didn’t think his snow bake gag was up to scratch after jokingly called him a “fool”.
If you’ve not caught up with Cake Wars yet make sure you tune into ITV Be to catch up
★★| Andy Dufresne, a quiet and mild mannered banker, arrives at Shawshank Prison after being convicted for the murder of his wife and her lover. As he settles into his new life, he befriends old timer, Red, the prisoner fixer and a man who is known to “acquire certain items from time to time”. Andy splits his time between maintaining his innocence, carving rocks, avoiding the violent “sisters” (a predatory gang of sexually violent inmates) and trying to improve the lives of those around him. But when Andy overhears a conversation between two of the guards, he is provided with opportunity which he simply cannot pass up.
Picture Credit – Mark Yeoman
The Shawshank Redemption is based on the Stephen King novella, and the 1994 film of the same name. The film has gone on to become one of the nation’s favourites, and with this in mind, the stage show has some big prison-issue boots to fill. The static set is reflective of the prison setting, with its tall, oppressive walls towering over the proceedings; and it’s bland, dreary appearance is being quite befitting for the fictional prison. In the book and the film, the story of Dufresne’s time in Shawshank is one which is filled with optimism and hope; and it is the contrast of that emotional warmth juxtaposed with the cold starkness of the confines of the prison walls which works so well.
Paul Nicholls (Eastenders) leads the cast as Andy Dufresne, with TV stalwart Ben Onwukwe (Eastenders, London’s Burning, Coronation Street) playing Red, both of whom gave functional performances without ever really capturing the refinement of the two lead characters or their relationship. The remainder of the cast, sadly, seemed to replace acting with shouting, leading to some rather unsubtle performances; with only Jack Ellis in his portrayal of the Warden and Nicolas Banks as Tommy ever really finding their feet.
Adapted by Owen O’Neill and Dave Johns, the script is choppy and never seems to gather momentum or develop into having any natural flow, with somewhat clunky transitions from one plot development to the next. Rather than allowing the drama to play out on stage, comedic moments are added to scenes of tension, which had the audience laughing when they should have been on the edge of their seats, lessoning the impact of the story and the events portrayed. Whilst the story does not shy away from the harsh reality of prison life, David Esbjornson’s direction is as bland as the prison walls and as heavy handed as the prison guards themselves, often leaving much to the imagination and hinting at the acts of violence rather than portraying them.
The show is a bold attempt to bring to life something which is so well loved, but as much as it pains me to say it, the writing, acting and direction all had their own issues which meant that they never really came together; and whilst some of the audience clearly enjoyed the show, for me personally, it simply didn’t work.
The Shawshank Redemption is currently winding up its national tour. The show was reviewed at Sheffield Theatres (www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk ), who are soon hosting the world premiere of a new musical based on the BBC3 show “Jamie: Drag Queen at 16” Search #TalkingAboutJamie.
Check out some of the worst sins at the official Passenger Shaming Instagram. So are you guilty of a naked feet walk to the bathroom or a mid-flight fiddle with your tackle? Here’s some of the worst offenders.
Kit Redstone – a female to male transgender actor – explains what it’s like to enter a men’s locker room for the first time in the new play Testosterone.
The play, at the New Diorama Theatre near Warren Street tube station, is a semi-autobiographical look at Redstone’s coming out as a man and what it’s like to do so in such a testosterone-heavy environment as the locker room. The show also briefly delves into Kit’s previous life as a woman, as well as the first time he received testosterone – at the doctor’s office.
Told with a bit of drama, and humour, it’s a story that Kit is brave enough to have written and again to tell on stage. But Kit doesn’t just tell his story, he relives it, cleverly, with the locker room as a device to explain the whole male-heavy environment that he now belongs to.
The show, successfully, looks at how masculinity is so prevalent in a locker room environment, and questions whether it is real or is it a facade? Alongside thirty-something Kit are three other actors who display their manliness (not literally), and masculinity; two jocks (Matthew Wells and Julian Spooner) and the fabulous singer/drag queen Daniel Jacob (also known as Vinegar Strokes). They help Kit to tell his story as well as perform in fantasy sequences that move the story along which helps the audience to better understand Kit’s journey. It’s a straightforward, and brave, telling of Kit’s transformation and the new world he lives in.
Testosterone plays at the New Diorama Theatre until the 3rd December 2016, 020 7338 9034
You need to learn patience with Kate Bush. Ever since I heard “Wuthering Heights” I became a big fan of Kate Bush. I was 4 at the time and l remember saying to myself that I will see her live in one of those concert things. 35 years later I finally got to see Kate live at the Apollo on the 24th September 2014. I was four rows from the front, could see not only the whites of her eyes but the bare soles of her feet. I remember crying many many times. It really was a dream come true.
Releases from Kate Bush have been quite fast coming. Not that you would think it. After a 12 year hiatus, she returned in 2005 with Aerial. Then in 2011 there were two releases and a year after that the Before the Dawn tour that people went crazy for.
We then had to endure a 26 month wait before she released the CD recording taking from various shows during her 22-night residency at the Hammersmith Apollo where she last performed in 1979. What hadn’t helped the wait was Paddy Bush telling Graham Norton on his BBC radio 2 show late last year that Kate was going to release something from the show. We all thought it would be the DVD.
To be fair I had pre-ordered my copy on the day of its mention and that has been an agonising wait. Finally, on Friday my copy was delivered. I had to contain myself. I wanted to immerse myself in the whole experience. Playing it on the computer at work while being interrupted by mechanics and the telephone would have ruined it. On social media, I told friends they could all **** off, I would be with Kate Bush. And only Kate Bush.
I got home, locked the door, vodka was poured, ran upstairs to the manlab and became one with Kate Bush. The cellophane was removed from the three CD set and I indulged myself in the little booklet that accompanies the set. It goes on about the show and Kate gives thanks to everyone involved. On the night she was so gracious to us the audience too and that hasn’t been edited out from the CD. Each CD is set as an act. Act 1, 2 and 3.
Act 1 CD is your typical concert made up of seven songs. It was nice to listen to Lily without the muffling that comes from crying. Never be mine wasn’t actually played at the live show though it does appear on the CD. A puzzling question as to why this appears on the CD. That said I am glad it does. It is one of my favourites. I’ve many favourites but this one just happened to help me during a strange period of finding out who I was and what my life might have been at the time. Joanni about Joan of Arc was brilliant live.
Kate Bush’s first and only tour set new standards in live shows. From what I have read she was sort of the first to come out with a handsfree mic headset so she could perform in the song with visuals and art. You would have been stupid if you didn’t expect her to move the goal post again. So enter act 2.
Act 2
Act 2 was taken from the B side of Hounds of Love titled The Ninth Wave. I never really understood the whole ‘woman drifting out to sea from a shipwreck. The concert put a lot of visuals to it. It all made sense. On the CD you are allowed in but shut your eyes first and enjoy the story telling through some acting and music. The live version of Dream of Sheep is just amazing. I like the song on the normal album, however, live changes it. You can hear the desperation in the woman’s voice hoping that she is found. Little Light reduced me to tears.
The heartache of it all ends in an uptempo version of The Morning Fog. An Irish jig soothes you after the journey experienced through the last 9 songs. It’s needed. I’m crying again as I listen to it.
Act 3
This section was mind blowing. Audibly it still is. This time though you can open your eyes. Taken from the Aerial albums A Sky of Honey CD with three other songs added. Tawny Moon was sung by Kate’s son Albert McIntosh. Albert actually makes more of a presence through this section of the CD singing alongside his mother, his voice complimenting hers along the way. This time you are taken along 24 hours of changing sky in just 73 minutes.
From this act Sunset stands out on its own as it rises and rises like the song, rising to the top of the night. On the night Tawny Moon did seem to go on forever when it was only 7 minutes long.
I loved Aerial. On the album it’s pleasant. The live version was damn right frightening. It gets so loud and frenetic. It’s not the song you thought it was. Your pulse rate banging hard and fast to the song. When it does end there is a solo of Kate singing Among Angles. Again I cried.
She ends the set with Cloudbusting. Having calmed you down, for the final song you are up on your feet. For the entire three CDs, you have listened and absorbed. Now you are singing with her. Clapping and stamping your feet. It’s an ending of all endings and sadly it is the ending. Lights up, carry on.
I don’t have any bad words to say about this. The concert could have been watching Kate paint a wall white, I’d still have loved it and the CD could have been filled with silence except for some casual cough or other such noise. I’d still love it.
Let’s hope that in two years time we get the visual to go with it. That would be nice though I’d have to stock up on more tissues.
Michelle Visage has hinted how long she reckons RuPaul’s Drag Race will continue for…
CREDIT: Mathu Anderson
In an exclusive interview with THEGAYUK.com RuPaul’s Drag Race judge, Michelle Visage revealed that there’s no end in sight for the ever popular show. Joking she revealed that she’d even go on to judge with a zimmer frame – as long as it’s covered in jewels and glitter.
Michelle, who will be in the UK next month for her tour, Christmas Queens, told us,
“Season 50… Sign Me Up!
“There’s no end in sight. There’s no reason I can’t be sitting there with a fabulous glittered walker. I could be 90-years-old and still judging drag queens. I’ll still be fierce and so will they. There’s just no end in sight.
She also revealed that the show’s last season was the most watched in its history and the highest rating show the Channel had ever received.
“The bigger the show gets, the more attention it gets… Season 8 and then All Stars, (was) the biggest season we’ve ever had. Drag Race was the highest rating local TV has ever had in the history of the channel.”
So would you be up for watching series 50 of RuPaul’s Drag Race?
You can read the full Michelle Visage interview in the latest issue of THEGAYUK, completely free by subscribing here.
Oh no Sweetie. Jennifer Saunders says Ab Fab has run its course…
CREDIT: bigstock
Say it isn’t so. Jennifer Saunders, 58, says she’s not planning to write any more of the hit comedy series that made her a gay icon to a legion of fans. The show, which has run for five seasons and enjoyed a box office hit, which racked up £30 million, this summer, will be laid to rest after Jennifer said that she wants to spend more time with her family. The star spoke about how she is done with the show and has no plans to do any more episodes. The first programme was broadcast on the BBC in 1992 and there have been numerous specials and feature-length episodes, including The Last Shout and Boyfriend, which starred Whoopi Goldberg.
She explained to Event Magazine,
“I’m not doing anything more with Ab Fab. That. Is. It. “I can’t see the point of doing anything else with [Ab Fab]
However fans of Jennifer may have a glimmer of hope as the comedian has said that there’s other things she’d like to try post AbFab. She said,
“‘It just takes so long. There’s lots of other stuff I’d like to do. Plus, I’d like to spend time with my grandchildren.”
BLACKPOOL – Book A Weekend Break For Single Gay Men
With all the bad press around dating apps at the moment, one hotel in Blackpool is offering something a little different for 2017. Fun packed weekends for single gay men. Enjoy a two-night break in one of the UK’s largest gay party towns whilst meeting up with other single gay men. You can get involved as much or as little as you want and whether you’re looking for love or just new friends, you’re guaranteed a memorable weekend. Two night stays from just £65 including welcome and farewell drinks.
HULL – Attend the 1st ever national UK Pride event
50 years on since the decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK, Hull will be hosting the first national LGBT+ UK Pride event, having been awarded the honour earlier this year. This new annual event will be awarded to different towns and cities across the UK each year and is hailed as the UK’s newest and largest Pride Party that’ll attract thousands of LGBT+ people from across the UK. Book early!
Join the Queens Of Snowdonia and drag up for charity this coming July 2017. Organised by Miss Roxy Ritz and other Queens, the walkers hope to raise £10,000 for four different charities. So if you wish to take part and relive that famous Priscilla scene then get yourself signed up. Heels not recommended!
When: 7th July 2017
Visit: Queens Of Snowdonia Facebook page for sign-up and updates.
CARDIFF – Visit the Iris Prize LGBTI Film Festival
With thirty short films by or about LGBTI people, you’ll be sure to find your own winner as they compete to win the £30,000 prize in this 10th annual festival. Set over four days, you’ll have plenty of time to take in the city of Cardiff.
Four days of parties, brunches and sightseeing await the bears, cubs, otters, chasers and admirers at the UK’s largest coming together of all things furry at BearScotFest 2017 in a city filled with heritage sites and numerous gay bars to explore.
I have to confess that I had mixed emotions at the prospect of seeing Jinkx Monsoon (Seattle’s youngest M.I.L.F. and the victorious underdog from Season 5), and Major Scales at the Soho Theatre. Firstly, I’m a huge fanboy of Jinkx. Who doesn’t love a narcoleptic Jewish drag queen? Secondly, though, I don’t like Christmas and this is a Christmas show. When I say I don’t like Christmas I mean in a pathological, itchy toothed, nails scraping into my palms kind of way. Whilst Jinkx is my favourite queen of all time from RuPaul’s Drag Race the prospect of a Christmas-themed show in November made me feel vaguely psychotic and almost had me reaching for the brandy bottle.
I really needn’t have worried. Major Scales describes this as a show holiday show for those exhausted by the holidays. There’s not a trace of Mariah Carey and no fake bonhomie. Instead Major takes on the role of pro-Christmas advocate whilst Jinkx drily drawls about how rubbish it actually can be. Especially for an unconventional queer Jewish drag artiste.
They cover subjects such as what gifts to give to give to queer children, why singing a song about seducing a fat old man is just plain weird (Santa Baby) and how to spend time with your right wing Trump/Brexit loving relatives. There are some witty covers of Bowie, a Del Ray and Miley Cyrus as well as a clever reworking of a Kander and Ebb number. Predominantly, they sing their own compositions with Jinkx showcasing her fabulous singing voice. She not only looks good and has impeccable comic timing but she’s a cracking singer and can belt out a tune with panache. Her persona is waspish and bitchy but not in a terrifying way. There’s an underlying inner kitten that is hiding under the bitchy exterior. Whilst the show is slick and professional it still has a dark and anarchic edge to it that is endearing.
Major Scales is not only a great writing talent and ‘straight man’ to Jinkx’s distinctly kinked woman but is also a fine pianist and singer too. This is a duo that shouldn’t be missed. Whether you’re hiding in a bunker till January to avoid all the tawdry fuss or are already humming Christmas tunes under your breath and decking a tree with glittery things, this is an endearing and funny show. Get down to the Soho Theatre for an intimate experience with one of America’s hottest drag queens.
Fans of the Loose Women show have blasted the programme after it asked its audience “Should every woman have a gay best friend”.
ITV
A question posed by the Loose Women on their Facebook page blew up into a full-on homophobia row after they asked whether women should have a gay best friend.
The post outlined that a new study had found that becoming friends with gay men may be a key part of women’s ‘mating strategies’ by making them less threatening to other women – and more appealing to straight men.
They then posed the question which some called “offensive”.
“Do you think every woman should have a male gay best friend? Why do you think a friendship between a woman and a gay man is so special?”
The post received a total of 887 comments and many on social media slammed the question as evidence of “casual homophobia”.
David from Birmingham wrote,
“Always love a good bit of casual homophobia from you lot. Belive it or not we are people and not just an “accessory” Absolute fools. How would you like it if it was “a menopausal best friend”Absolute jokes.”
Nigel replied,
“I’d love a gay best friend to add to my collection. Obviously I already have “man human friend” and “woman human friend”, but I’ve also got, and I don’t mean to show off, “black friend” and “disabled friend” and even a “foreign friend” would you believe?! I like to keep them on a shelf next to my Sylvanian families and thimbles I’ve collected from different counties.”
Steph added,
“Is this some kind of joke? Is a black friend an accessory too? You just collecting other minorities to use for your advantage. This is so offensive. And a new low. Disgusting.”
GayTime columnist and Pride In London show producer Tom Knight hit out at the show to say,
“Dear @loosewomen – Replace the word “gay” with any of following; Muslim, Jewish, Trans, Black… Then ask, how does that question sound?
What do you think? Homophobic or a sensible question – use the comments below
A gun attack has left one dead and three wounded in a gay club in Albany New York
CREDIT: Google Maps
Police responded to an emergency call out when shots were fired at a gay bar in Albany, New York at 2:00AM Thursday morning. Police report that four people were shot inside the Rocks On Central Avenue night-club.
The venue’s management describes it as “proudly gay owned and operated”.
Among the injured were two men and two women. Of the men, one died from his injuries according to reports.
Three others had injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.
WTEN reports that at least one person was taken into custody.
Police believe that the venue was not targetted because of the patron’s sexuality but that the shootings happened for no specific reason.
“The one thing we want to let members of our community members know, especially the members of our LGBT community know that this is not a random act, this bar was not targeted for any specific reason.”
No motive has been made clear at this time and the suspect’s details have not been released.
