Danny Baker announces his first stand-up tour
- Danny Baker has announced that he will be undertaking his first stand-up tour in 2017
- He says: "I will of course arrive in front of you going off like a Cacophonous Catherine Wheel of Chat"
- He has also revealed he is working on writing a third series of BBC comedy Cradle To Grave
Broadcaster and writer Danny Baker has announced that he will be doing his first stand-up tour.
The TV and radio presenter, novelist and comedy writer will tour a show called Cradle To The Stage from February 2017.
Unsurprisingly Baker, who has been described as a 'motor-mouth', has a lot to say on the news. He comments: "The stage has always been my first love. Let me put that another way. I have never done anything like this before in my life. However, to travel from town to town addressing a fabulous gathering of like-minded chums each night seems to me exactly what Shakespeare would have done, had not the hefty rent at The Globe kept him in London. As a consequence, William Shakespeare toured about as frequently as Kate Bush. Well not me. I own very few theatres anymore and so I am now totally free to charge about here and there wowing the folks with my anecdotal back catalogue, games involving sausages and impressive six octave range.
"No two nights of this extravaganza will be the same. This is less of a boast than admission that a) I am hopeless at learning scripts and b) I still have no idea what I am going to include. Perhaps you can help? If you've read my books, watched the series based on them or, indeed, ever caught anything I have presented on television/radio then maybe you might contribute to the feast of reason and flow of the soul that I guarantee these evenings will contain. Questions like, 'Did your friend really eat saveloys from a pith helmet?' or 'What was meeting John Lennon/Michael Jackson/David Bowie/Kenneth Williams like?' or, I suspect, most popular of all 'How comes you've made so many rotten TV programmes, Dan?'
"I will of course arrive in front of you going off like a Cacophonous Catherine Wheel of Chat, armed with hundreds of tall tales to tell many complete with proof from my family picture album to stop you thinking I am simply raving. I've been at this showman racket a full 40 years now my friends - there is truly much to discuss and plenty to be held to account for.
"A night at the theatre can either be deep dish or high kicking. What I promise to haul before you is very much in the latter category. Content wise I will make Springsteen and Dodd look like short changing slackers. I can't wait. This is the sort of radio I've always wanted to do, i.e. radio without radio. Just me and you.
"In fact, if you don't show up I'm going to do it in your local theatre anyway. So you may as well come. Why should the ushers have all the fun? So, in short, roll up, pile in and hang onto your hats. I am back where I belong. On the stage! Shove over Tommy Steele - there's a new sheriff in town! See you there."
Danny Baker will play 35 dates in total. For more information and tickets see Ticketmaster
Aside from his live tour, he is still presenting his award-winning Saturday morning Radio 5 Live show, and working on the BBC comedy series based on his best-selling autobiographies. Series 2 of Cradle To Grave, starring Peter Kay, will broadcast on BBC Two in 2017, and its been revealed Baker currently working on the third instalment. It is un-clear at this stage whether this is formal commission for a third series or speculative writing in the hope the BBC will order another run when Series 2 has been broadcast.