Showbiz, Fun, Life

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have been nice and busy, with quite a few fun things going on. A few weekend’s ago I had a great catch up with one of my oldest friends from school. We met when we were just four on our first day at Primary School and it is fair to say, we are both a little bit older than that now. So have therefore known each other for many years. I had a really lovely evening having a drink with him, his wife and his son. And also meeting for the first time his eight week old daughter.

It was great to see them all. They live up north so obviously we do not see each other that often. It was nice reminiscing and telling his son about how we were perfect pupils when we were at school. No really we were. Neither of us were ever given a detention or sent to the see the headmaster. So needless to say I wasn’t exactly the edgiest or coolest person at my school.

Neil Quigley TV Presenter
Neil Quigley TV Presenter

Talking of which. I have mentioned this before but believe it or not there is another Neil Quigley. Who is a very well respected dance music DJ and Producer. He has recently produced a stripped down remix of the big Madonna hit Vogue. Which appears to be getting quite a bit of attention on the internet. How do I know this you might ask? Well on Twitter I am simply @NeilQuigley and the other Neil Quigley is @djneilquigley.

During the last week or so people on the social networking site have been getting us a little confused. And I have been receiving quite a few compliments on my new take on the Material Girl’s classic song. While I am delighted to take the credit because I have listened to it and it is very good. I think it is probably the right thing to do to point out on here that it is definitely nothing to do with me and not something I have worked on or produced.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I had to go and buy a new suit for something the other day. I always get a bit swept away when I go into a proper suit only shop because the staff are so good in those places. You will be hovering around just looking at a couple of different styles. Then they will spot you and hone in on you from nowhere for the kill. They will instantly pick out two suits that they think will look good on you. Then just by looking at you, they will tell you what size you are and pick the relevant garments off the peg. Before you know it you are trying one of them on. It fits perfectly and looks great. So a few minutes later you are paying for it. While the same member of staff is still trying to sell you a matching shirt and tie set to go with it.

Those guys are amazing. Many years ago on my lunch break. I went into a designer tailors just to look at some nice suits with a view to buying one possibly at a later date. But some thirty minutes later I was sitting back at my desk having just spent around five hundred pounds on an Armani Suit with a shirt and a tie combination included. Wondering how on earth that just had happened. It looked great. But it was a very brief and expensive outing that I was really not expecting.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I have been speaking to an amazing man called Ray Coates recently. He is a singer, who seven years ago was diagnosed with throat cancer. Which left him virtually unable to speak for a year. Happily he is now free of the disease and has been for five years now. He wants to give something back to the people who helped him and in turn hopefully help others in the future.

So he is trying to record an album of original songs. Which he is planning on both writing and recording himself with the help of other singers and musicians. Once completed he hopes the album will raise awareness and much needed funds for 20/20 Voice. Which is a head and neck Cancer Charity. Ray has already released the first single from the proposed album it’s called “The Voice Within”. Which is available from I-Tunes and Amazon now. If you want to find out more about Ray Coates or download the song  just click on this link  http://www.raycoates.co.uk/

Top of The Pops
Top of The Pops

I told you last time we spoke that I was reading John Cleese’s Autobiography “So Anyway”. Well I am nearly three quarters of the way through reading it and it is totally fascinating. Now I thought I knew quite a bit about his past and how his career developed but I was very wrong. I have learned lots of things that I did not know so far.  For example he had tickets for every single England game for the 1966 World Cup Finals but after watching the first group match against Uruguay, a goalless draw gave away his final ticket to Bill Oddie. As he could not see the home country making the final. He was wrong and suitably gutted for missing the greatest moment in English football history.

I have said this before but I love Twitter and here is another reason why I do. I follow John Cleese, so I sent him a tweet just telling him how much I was enjoying his book. And he replied with these words. “So anyway…thank you Neil Quigley for your kind remarks”. And if you do not believe me check out the screen shot picture below. It’s not every week you get a mention from a comedy legend.

Nice Twitter Mention
Nice Twitter Mention

I was back working at Wembley Stadium the other week. While I was there I actually got to very briefly hold the actual FA Cup that was used between 1911 and 1991. So it was the very trophy that my team Tottenham Hostpur had lifted in 1961, 1981, 1982 and finally in 1991. It was retired and a new one was used between 1992 and 2013. Then Arsenal last year got their hands on a brand new one. The base the cup sits on holds so much history as it has inscribed on it all the teams that have won the competition since it started in 1872 up to Spurs. Who were the last team to receive that version in 1991.

Neil Quigley with FA Cup
Neil Quigley with FA Cup

Talking of lifting trophies at Wembley. Tomorrow it is of course the Capital One Cup Final between my team Tottenham and Chelsea. I am very excited and really looking forward to seeing the game. I hope we can win it. I had a great day out in the national stadium for the 1999 League Cup final when I witnessed Spurs beat Leicester City by one goal to nil. The whole day was brilliant fun, before, during and after the game itself. I am very much hoping for more of the same this time round. Also while I was there this week. I caught sight of the great Luis Figo. The former Portuguese footballer was there for the press launch for his bid to become the next FIFA President.

Spurs at Wembley
Spurs at Wembley

I do like varying my meals and eating lots of different styles of food when I can. There is an Indian Restaurant and Takeaway in the town where I live. Which I have been meaning to try for about the last five years but had never got round to it. Until last Saturday that is. I was working in London and returning home quite late in the evening. So basically I could not be bothered to cook. And I had not had an Indian Meal for ages. So while I was on the train home I found their website, decided what I wanted to eat.

Food Options
Food Options

Then when I was about twenty minutes away I called them with my order. Happily timing it perfectly meaning I walked straight from the train station to the takeaway. Where my food was ready to collect instantly. I just ordered a mild chicken curry, some rice and a garlic naan. When I got my meal home I found I had also been given a complimentary bottle of lager and a couple of poppadom’s with a mint dip. Which I thought was a very nice touch. Which was very much appreciated by me. The food was great. I will be taking advantage of this facility more often in the future I think. In fact I am off to experience my first meal in the restaurant next month. As a mate of mine is performing his Elvis Presley Tribute Show there on the 18th March.

Neil Quigley and Elvis Presley hanging out in the 70's #crazydays
Neil Quigley and Elvis Presley hanging out in the 70’s #crazydays

I watched as I do every year the Brit Awards. I have been lucky enough to attend it in the past and it is a great night out. I thought this year’s show was brilliant. It was expertly hosted by Ant & Dec, who have to be the best presenters in the business. I always feel so relaxed watching them in action as I know everything is in safe hands and they are in total control. The Brits is a tough gig. As host you are mainly playing to the people watching on TV but needing also to include and get some reaction from the guests. Who are usually to too busy talking or drinking to really get involved. But the lads pitched it all brilliantly, linked it together faultlessly and kept it moving along nicely. While still putting their stamp on it and making it entertaining. Pure Class. Not as easy as it sounds. In the past many have tried and many have failed. Pleased they are already booked to host again next year.

Ant & Dec
Ant & Dec

There were some great performances on the night. The British music scene is in a very good state at the moment I think. Not only are they all hugely talented but they are nice, polite, humble and supportive of their contemporaries. Which I felt made for a very good atmosphere at the event. Well done in particular to Paloma Faith, who I think is amazing. Ed Sheeran, who simply gets up and belts out great songs, just him and his guitar. He has sold out Wembley Stadium for three nights this summer. I thought both of their live performances were sensational. In fact all the acts who played on the night were excellent and put on great shows.

Neil Quigley with The Beatles
Neil Quigley with The Beatles

There is one performance I of course have to mention and that is Madonna. She closed the show performing her latest single. I did genuinely gasp when her cape didn’t release and she got pulled back down some stairs. But fair play after falling in a heap. She dusted herself down and continued with the song, including some quite vigorous dance moves. I like her and she has done so much for the music industry. So I felt bad for her when her big appearance did not go quite to plan. Or did it? As that clip of her stumbling has been watched by millions of people all over the world. She is still a great live performer and knows how to put on a show. But the important thing is she was OK.

Finally on the Brits it was nice to see Jimmy Page there presenting one of the awards. He was looking really well, just so cool and relaxed on stage. As I guess you would expect from one of the greatest guitarists of all time. This is a true story. I once went to a fancy dress party at his house. Where I got to meet the great man himself. While I was dressed as Elvis Presley in full Las Vegas white jumpsuit mode. And while Mr Page was dressed as an eighteenth century Lord of the Manor. It was a truly surreal but brilliant night. He was so friendly and nice to talk to. A brilliant bloke who does a lot of unsung charity work.

Elvis Presley's American Eagle White Jumpsuit
Elvis Presley’s American Eagle White Jumpsuit

This week saw the start of the latest series of the brilliant Radio 4 Extra Topical News Comedy Show Newsjack.  A programme which I have written jokes for in the past. I will be again be doing a bit of writing for it this time around. There is a new host as Romesh Ranganathan has moved on to be replaced by Nish Kumar. It is on the radio every Thursday night at 10.30pm for the next five weeks.

I am looking forward to going to the BBC Radio Theatre next week to see the latest edition being recorded. It is always a decent night out there. I am really hoping I will be there to witness some of my material being used on the night to. As far as I am concerned there is still something pretty cool about hanging out in the BBC Cafe before you head in to the theatre. You never know who you might bump in to there, so I will be keeping my eyes open to see who I can spot.

BBC Radio Theatre
BBC Radio Theatre

On Thursday I went to the Duchess Theatre in Covent Garden to see the fantastic “The Play That Goes Wrong”. A friend of mine told me about it last year, sometime. She said she had heard it was very good and definitely worth seeing. So I had been meaning to see it for ages. Then last week just after I had booked tickets to see it and was looking forward to it. Ant McPartlin no less went to see and he said it was brilliant and he wasn’t wrong. I had some cracking seats right in the middle and five rows front the front. I am so glad I went to see it because it is hilarious. I was laughing from start to finish.

The fun starts as soon as you enter the auditorium. It is so well performed the whole cast are amazing. And it is fair to say it is quite a physical piece to perform in. The title does give you an indication of what to expect but sitting there and seeing it. You can’t believe just how wrong it goes. There are so many laugh out loud moments. It is madness and mayhem half of the time. There is never a dull moment. It is not Shakespeare or the Phantom of The Opera but if you fancy a good old fashioned laugh for a couple of hours. I would go and see this show. The timing required by the actors to make it all work is phenomenal.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I am looking forward to going to see the first episode in the new series of Celebrity Squares being recorded at the London Studios. I wonder which big stars will be in the squares on the night. I have seen Warwick Davis before at Panto Press Nights at the Waterside Theatre in Aylesbury. He is a really nice bloke. And does a brilliant job hosting the show. I think he is really funny and does have good comedy timing in my opinion. I will tell you what it was like next time we speak.

Neil Quigley Presenter
Neil Quigley Presenter

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.

TV and Radio Times

Hi there, how are you doing? I hope you have had a good couple of weeks. Mine have been great fun and I have managed to get up to some pretty cool stuff. I will tell you all about that in a bit. But first Happy Valentines Day to you. I really hope my postman will not have to take six weeks off work again this year, after giving himself a hernia delivering all my cards last year. To be honest I have never really celebrated it much myself. Surely you should show love and appreciation every day of the year and not just once every three hundred and sixty five days.

That said a lot of my friend’s seem to make an effort, as pretty much all of their first born children arrived in November. You do the maths. One Valentine’s Day does stick in my mind though. It was Saturday 14th February 2009, when I presented my last show in Somerset at Midwest Radio after spending five years broadcasting in the West Country. They did not even send me some roses or give me a box of chocolates. Although to be fair we had been out for my leaving do the night before.

Sarah Parish started the Neil Quigley Fan Club
Sarah Parish started the Neil Quigley Fan Club

I few weeks ago I went to see the first episode of a brand new ITV 2 show called Reality Bites being filmed at The London Studios on the South Bank. It is a new comedy panel show based around reality television. It’s hosted by the excellent Stephen Mulhern with team captains Emma Willis and Joel Dommett. They just talk about reality programmes and then play some silly games. Which also sometimes feature current or former reality television stars.

In the show I watched, Emma Willis was joined by Jimmy Bullard and Joe Lycett and on Joel Dommett’s team were Bruno Tonioli and Luisa Zissman (who apparently was on the Apprentice and Celebrity Big Brother but I have to confess I had never heard of her). By the way if you think Bruno is over the top or unpredictable on Strictly Come Dancing you should have been there to witness this. He was great value and very funny but man he has got some energy. He will not sit still and if you are looking for an innuendo, he will give you one.

South Bank London
South Bank London

They had three special guests on the show to help play some of the games. These were White Dee from Benefits Street, Charlotte Crosby from Geordie Shore and Alex Sibley from Big Brother three. It was a great laugh in the studio, everybody was on good form. Stephen Mulhern did an ace job steering the ship. And the three hours we were there during the filming passed by very quickly. I would like to congratulate the producers and the editors, who some how managed to edit it down to a fifty minute programme. Which was then broadcast on ITV 2, two days later.

As ever with these things some of the funniest bits on the night never made it in to the show. In some instances because they were unsuitable for broadcast, even after ten thirty at night and on ITV 2. Let us just say we learnt quite a lot about some of the members of the panel. Much more than we really wanted to know. The warm up man for the show was the brilliant comedian and entertainer Andy Collins. Who as ever did an excellent job. Making sure that the audience were primed and ready from the start and kept focussed and amused during any short breaks in filming. I have been lucky enough to meet him on quite a few occasions in the past. So it was really good to be able to have a very quick chat with him as I was leaving the studio.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

I met up with a good friend of mine the other weekend for a few days of reminiscing, catching up and partying. I met him when he was working at Mix 96 in Aylesbury. He joined the station fourteen years ago and was there for around two years. So it is now twelve years ago since he left. As he is from and lives in Liverpool he had not been back to the town for quite a few years. So a few Friday’s ago Jeff Nolan ventured down from up north. And we met up in Aylesbury to have a look round the place and talk about the old times. We were joined for a chat in a coffee shop by another former colleague of ours Richard Carr.

Before the three of us then went to Mix 96 to meet up with Nathan Cooper. And have a look around the studio for old times sake. It was really nice to see everyone and see the station doing so well to. While I was there it was good to have a quick chat with Chris Maskery. Who I have to say has grown the most extraordinary beard since I saw him last, it is huge. Before we left Aylesbury Jeff and I grabbed a bite to eat in a venue that under its previous guise, we had both watched Alexander O’Neill and the Three Degrees perform there.

Neil Quigley in a still from the Mix 96 behind the Scenes Video
Neil Quigley in a still from the Mix 96 behind the Scenes Video

Our next stop on our crazy weekend tour was Bicester. Where we had booked in to a small bed and breakfast above a pub to stay for the night. After attending a Birthday Party that evening. The party was being thrown by Stuart Hosking, who was of course famously one of the contestants in Big Brother 2, to celebrate his 50th. Now Jeff and I met Stuart at Mix 96 not long after he left the famous reality show house in 2001. After being a guest on the breakfast show hosted by Chris Blumer and Jeff. The station offered him the chance to present a Sunday morning radio show.

A programme which I ended up producing for a short while. Which is obviously how and where I met him. While working together we did go for the occasional drink after the show. Which was always good fun. I remember one Sunday we managed to get a man from Aylesbury who had been on the previous night’s Blind Date in for a chat. That was interesting to find out first hand exactly what it was like being on a big show like that. If my memory serves me right, I think he also came for a drink after the show with us that day.

Neil Quigley and Jeff Nolan in Liverpool
Neil Quigley and Jeff Nolan in Liverpool

Anyway we had a few drinks in Bicester before jumping in a taxi and going to the hotel where Stuart’s party was taking place. He had hired out the whole of this very nice hotel just on the outskirts of Oxford. On arrival it was pretty easy to spot the birthday boy as he was dressed in all white and wearing a set of angel wings. So we said our congratulations and had a quick catch up with him, bearing in mind it was probably about eight years since I had seen him last. Whatever he is doing it is working for him as he was looking really well. There was free ale on a self service tap. It would appear Jeff is better at drinking it rather than pouring it as he managed to lose about a pint of it on the floor because he couldn’t turn the nozzle off. I did think about just laying under it Homer Simpson style but I then thought this might look a bit uncouth.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

The entertainment was fantastic. There was a magician who was walking around doing some table magic and card tricks. But the main attraction was a band who were called Rockaoke. And yes you have guessed it they are a live brilliant band who play while you sing in a Karaoke style. If you are a big fan of Chris Moyles you might just remember that he did a big tour with this band around the country. We managed to have a chat to one of the band and they have done some pretty cool stuff. They have supported the Foo Fighters and played in the VIP tents of a lot of big festivals. So you can imagine the kind of people who were joining them to perform in those situations. They are so good and can play so many different songs. They so effortlessly move from one song to another. And they do have a singer who will sing backing, harmonies and also just chip in if you need a bit of help to keep the song going, to make you sound much better as well.

Jeff Nolan Performs
Jeff Nolan Performs

Now unfortunately I can’t sing and I am completely tone deaf. Which is a real shame as I would have loved to have got up there and belted out a tune with the band. Jeff Nolan however can sing a bit. So he treated us to a version of the Oasis song Rock N Roll Star with more swagger and attitude than even Liam Gallagher could manage. And while doing nothing for regional stereotyping. He also treated us to some Beatles and a bit of Day Tripper. We were trying to convince Stuart, the band and anyone else that would listen that we should close the night with a version of Let It be. Where we all sing an individual line each, in a kind of Band Aid sort of style. We were over ruled and Stuart and his rugby mates performed Thin Lizzy’s The Boy’s Are Back In Town as the the last song. Which on reflection seems fair and makes sense. It was a great night. The venue was lovely, the guests so friendly and the entertainment top quality. So thanks very much to Stuart Hosking for letting us join in the celebrations and a slightly belated happy 50th birthday to you sir.

Stuart Hosking Sings
Stuart Hosking Sings

The day after the party Jeff and I were up early and back on the road up to Liverpool. We left Bicester with the plan to stop at the next Mcdonalds we saw and have a little bit of breakfast. It would seem this particular fast food establishment is not so popular on the motorways as may be it once was. As the first one we saw was at a Service Station just outside Crewe. So we were virtually at our destination before we managed to get some food. We arrived at Jeff’s house in Liverpool just before eleven and I think we were in the pub for midday. I have said this before I but I do like Liverpool and always feel very at home there. May be that is because my granddad grew up and went to school there.

So needless to say I had a fun afternoon having a few drinks and watching some football before returning to Jeff’s in the early evening to enjoy what was a massive sixteen inch pizza. Which somehow I managed to finish. I think it is reasonable to say I have a decent appetite. The tour ended the following day when I got the train home. Which took slightly longer than I hoped. As it did require a bus replacement service for part of the journey, but that is Sunday travel for you.

Neil Quigley in Liverpool
Neil Quigley in Liverpool

On the train journey home from Liverpool I started reading John Cleese’s Autobiography So Anyway. As you would expect from a man so clever and intelligent as him. It is brilliantly written in a very informative and entertaining way. He does go in to quite a bit of detail about his early life, explaining it in such a way that you really get a flavour of what it was like being him at that point in his life. I have only read the first six chapters. He has got a place at Cambridge University but he has not started his course yet. He is working as a Teacher in what was actually his first school as a child. I did work experience when I was eighteen at my Secondary School and that was weird enough. So working full time at his old school must have been properly odd.

I am a huge fan of Fawlty Towers and all the Monty Python films. So I am really looking forward to him talking about them in the book. But he has already mentioned how things he saw or witnessed as a kid, in later life gave him ideas for character traits or comedy situations. It is a really fascinating read and I am looking forward to finishing it. But even after what I have already read, I would recommend it to any comedy fan.

Neil Quigley TV Presenter
Neil Quigley TV Presenter

As a Tottenham Hotspur fan I am afraid I can’t not mention last Saturday’s big game. Over the years I have seen us lose to Arsenal on so many occasions and sometimes quite heavily. But when I sat down to watch the North London Derby on television last weekend. I did feel very calm and confident that we would at least get something out of the game. Well done to the whole team, I thought everybody was fantastic and it was a truly great performance. Watching any Spurs game is always a roller coaster of emotions and this one was no different.

I would like to apologise to my neighbours for the shouting and screaming after Harry Kane’s equaliser and then again after his second. A brilliant header that won us the game. I have pretty much only just got my voice back. Great day for my team, I have to admit I was buzzing all week after that victory. Now I hope we can get our first trophy since 2008 by beating Chelsea at Wembley Stadium in the Capital One Cup Final on Sunday 1st March.

White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane

I went to see one of the London heat’s of Britain’s Got Talent last Wednesday at the Dominion Theatre. Just as I was arriving at the venue I witnessed Alesha Dixon and Amanda Holden making their way through the front doors, with about thirty tabloid photographers trying to get pictures of them as they walked past. Then just before I went inside I saw Stephen Mulhern do a bit of filming with the audience that had gathered for his ITV 2 spin off show More Talent. Then it was time to take my seat ready for the action to begin. The warm up man Ian Royce comes on first to get the crowd going and then Ant & Dec come out to say hello and have a quick chat.

Ant & Dec
Ant & Dec

That was pretty much the only time we saw or heard from them all night. Because of course you will know, if you watch the show. They do all their work off stage talking to the acts before and after their performance’s. Next the four judges are then bought out and they to have a chat to the crowd. Now the next bit surprised me a little as the acts, when everything is ready for them. Seem to randomly wander on to the stage without being introduced. So we know nothing about them until they have that chat with the judges before they do their thing. Which does explain the sometimes rather odd applause they get, when they come on stage. As it kind of depends on at which point the audience spot them. I do not want to give anything away but it is fair to say there is the usual mix of good, bad and deluded acts on the show once again this year.

BGT Dominion Theatre
BGT Dominion Theatre

I did see some good acts but if I am honest I don’t think I saw this year’s winner. The banter between the judges is good. And to be fair on the whole they were being very nice, even to the not so good ones. One thing that did amaze me was how loud the buzzers are. When they go off it does make you jump. So no wonder the acts always look confused and pause for a second when one is pressed. It was a fun night out and I am looking forward to seeing the whole series on television later this year. There was a really bad singer on near the end. And I found myself walking straight past her as she was leaving the stage. I just chose to smile and say nothing. Which in that situation, I think was the politest thing to do. Mind you see did not look happy after getting four big no’s.

Neil Quigley
Neil Quigley

Have fun and we will catch up again in a couple of weeks. Cheers Neil.