00:00Good morning. My name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this
00:06morning to speak to John Hughes, who by night is Sally Vate. Now, taking the stage as the
00:12drag host for the next Shoreham Comedy Club, which is on July the 17th. Now, tell me a
00:18bit about Sally Vate. You're saying, as Sally Vate, you are there to warm up the crowd,
00:23to breathe the rude, everyone in the mood. She's a nice, nice lady, is she?
00:27I try to be. I try to be. I'm a bit mumsy, so I do like to make sure everyone's settled
00:32in the seats and everyone's comfy and having a lovely time. So even throughout, just starting
00:38the evening and welcoming people so they know, right, we're in a nice, safe space. We're
00:43going to have a lovely time. We're going to be entertained. I'd like to come on looking
00:48glamorous. Doesn't always come across that way. And then just to keep everybody on time
00:54and keep the ball rolling, make sure we're getting enough breaks so people can have a
00:58drink and a little stretch of their legs. And it's quite nice because I also like to
01:02go out and intermingle with everybody during the breaks and the intervals.
01:08And you said a really interesting thing just now, that some drag acts can be a bit vicious,
01:14a bit cutting, a bit butting. But you absolutely are not. And you think that's probably your
01:20retail background coming out. Yeah. The customer service ethos there then.
01:25Absolutely. Many years of customer service just coming through. Yeah, I just like to know that
01:31people are having a good time. I mean, there's so much going on in people's lives and within the
01:35world. There's so much madness and mayhem. It's nice just to come and just forget your worries
01:40for a moment or two and just enjoy yourself and just have that release from everyday normal
01:47pressures. Don't make it ends me to make sure you've got food on the table and your bills
01:51are all paid. We're all struggling. So it's nice to be able to have a moment and go, right,
01:56do you know what? There's a little bit of spending when I'm going to go out and have a lovely comedy
02:00night and enjoy myself. I forget all about my stress and world.
02:04Quite. Now, obviously, the customer service ethos is in Salivate, but also in Salivate,
02:09we have a bit of your mum and a bit of your dad.
02:11Absolutely. There are moments I catch myself saying something and think, oh, no, that was
02:17my mother. My mother's creeping out.
02:19Well, that's a tribute, isn't it?
02:22It is. I don't know whether she sees it that way.
02:27If they're ever in the audience, I always try not to sort of tend to try and play that
02:31bit down. But I do end up being a bit like me now. I think that's the organisational side
02:37of everything, making sure everything's in situ, ready to make everything run smoothly.
02:42Well, I mean, mum, she's a bit more sort of like the type of person that if you broke
02:46you around, she went, what do you want me to do about it? She was very, very, very stern.
02:50It's a lovely thing. But it's like, if you break your leg, do I come running to me?
02:53Well, I can't, can't if I've broken my leg. Which actually did happen.
02:59Well, it sounds brilliant. So we get the chance to see John's alter ego, or maybe even your
03:04better half, salivate on stage at Shoreham Rope Tackle, Thursday, July the 17th, 8pm.
03:12Lovely to speak to you. Hope the evening goes well. I'm sure it will. Thank you.
03:16Thank you very much.
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