Exclusive chat with Steve Backshall ahead of NE show

NewcastleWorld

Steve Backshall explains what Deadly Live is all about and why he's excited to bring it to the North East.

Transcript

00:00chatting to you because you're bringing deadly live to talk arenas across the uk and for the

00:05first time so can i ask why yeah so i've been touring now for about 12 years um i've done

00:12tours in in asia and australia here in the uk they've always gone really well and it seemed like

00:19it was time to step things up so time to make everything bigger time to look at deadly through

00:26time all the way back through evolution back to uh the time of the dinosaurs even before the time

00:30of dinosaurs and see how animals have changed to talk about all of their adaptations to talk about

00:37how eyesight and different animals functions differently and may help a predator be able to

00:42focus on its prey talk about bite and venom and hearing and super senses and super skills

00:47and to be able to illustrate that with size so you know an awful lot of the stuff that i do even in a

00:54big theater being able to have a life-sized whale on stage is really hard because they're massive

01:00being able to have life-sized dinosaurs on stage is really hard because they're enormous

01:04well when you're in an arena but all of that becomes possible so my idea is that we are going

01:11to create this cacophony of nature that is going to be red in tooth and claw that is going to be

01:16full of um of good science you know bits of it are going to be like a ted talk and then the next

01:22second it's going to be like a christmas panto and then the next second it's going to be circus

01:26skills and stunts and techniques and experiments and things going bang and me getting hosed down

01:30from head to toe and poo and it's going to be all of the things that i think people have loved

01:36about deadly over the years and then some yeah and you're starting the tour in newcastle so can i

01:42ask how you're feeling about going up to the northeast well it's it's a really really good thing

01:47to be starting somewhere that is always so welcoming every single time i've done a tour in

01:52in newcastle sunderland middlesbrough you you go there and automatically you walk in and there's a

01:59like oh hey we're here for a great night it's going to be fun um you know everybody in the northeast goes

02:06out having looking to have a good time people are not going out looking to tear you apart and so

02:13it's the perfect place for me to get started i think and will you have a chance to see any more

02:19of newcastle whilst you're there i doubt it i very much doubt it um you know i i think i am going to

02:26be so panicked i am going to be so up against it because you know i'm writing the show myself i'm

02:32producing and directing it myself and all of the ideas that are in it are coming from me some of which

02:38are going to fail spectacularly and i'm not going to know how badly they're going to fail until we're

02:43in rehearsals so yeah i think that there's going to there's going to be bits that do far better than

02:49i'd expect there are going to be bits that are an absolute catastrophe and i am likely to be so

02:55stressed and so anxious that the last thing that's going to be on my mind is going out for a pint

02:59maybe after can you tell me maybe link to the pint what the deadliest thing you might find in

03:08newcastle or off the north sea is oh well i mean crumbs the uh the farne islands off northumberland

03:13are one of the finest places places for wildlife in the whole of not just our nation but the whole

03:19of the continent you know going out there looking at the seabirds um swimming with gray seals

03:24is utterly spectacular what a stretch of coastline that is so yeah we've done quite a lot of filming

03:30in northumberland actually i know it's not exactly newcastle gateshead but it's you know it is

03:35certainly somewhere in our nation that is replete with fabulous wildlife why should people get tickets

03:42to come see you i think that it's going to be an absolute riot there is a lot in this that they will

03:49not have seen before it's going to it's going to dance from panto and slapstick and fun and silliness

03:57and you know absolute lunatic craziness to real serious science and i guarantee that no matter who

04:05you are there is going to be some science in here about animals that you have not heard of before you

04:08know or every time i've done one of these shows there there have been professors of biology in the

04:13audience who've gone i never thought of it like that before or i never heard that fact before is that

04:17really true and i promise that even if you're into wildlife there's going to be something in this

04:22show that will make you think there'll be something in there that you haven't heard before and it will

04:26probably be followed by me getting hosed down in in gunge or or poo or it could be you know a life-sized

04:34t-rex stampeding across the stage you know it is going to be an absolute rollicking ride and it's going to

04:42take in the entire evolution of life on our planet through to the present day so if you like fun if

04:49you like animals if you like wildlife and if you don't like any of that but you just like seeing me

04:52get hosed down in dino poo this is the show for you

04:55you

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