This week's guests on Sunday Brunch include veteran stand-up Ben Elton, blind comedian Chris McCausland, Mark Benton, legendary Clash bassist Paul Simenon, Dani Dyer and Jonathan Scott.
Ben Elton is not promoting his stand-up this time, he is on because he is starring in the latest version of We Will Rock You, the musical that he also wrote with Queen. Elton plays the rebel leader in what will be his first ever stage acting role. Elton’s career spans more than 40 years, and includes seminal and groundbreaking television shows, West End plays, West End musicals, best-selling novels and feature films.
Elton said of his latest career swerve: “I am absolutely thrilled to be joining the incredible London Coliseum cast in the role of The Rebel Leader. The character is a massive Queen fan, rock tragic and general old fart who still plays air guitar to his bedroom mirror - so basically I’m perfect for the role! My ambition is to nail all the laughs and not mess up my song.”
Chris McCausland is due to appear in the new C4 reality show Scared of the Dark in which celebrities are in a space with no light at all. McCausland says: "I'm blind but I don't see black. I still see light and space, I still have an awareness of the space around me, not in terms of objects and things, but in terms of the room and whether there might be something in front of me. It just gives you that awareness that you're taking that away from me. I'm a slave to my iPhone like everybody else. So on paper you go, "Well, I should nail this," but in one area I should be more practically adjusted. It'll be quite interesting to see how quickly everybody else gets to that point. I'm quite looking forward to being the most able bodied person for a while. It doesn't happen often."
The Liverpool-born 45-year-old is a classic storyteller, who spins relatable tales of everyday life into comedy gold. He was born with a genetic condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa which caused his sight to deteriorate steadily throughout his childhood and teenage years. "It's not just blackness that I see these days, but rather just useless blurry light.”.
He is also currently taking his hugely successful Speaky Blinder tour on the road, including a date at the Shepherd's Bush Empire which is going to be filmed.. For McCausland's Speaky Blinder tour dates click here.
Sunday Brunch, Sunday, April 16, 9.30am, C4.
