Becoming Johnny Vegas at the Epstein
It's Yorkshire Tea all the way at MADEUP Towers (as was the old newsroom euphemism for a fancy office, but what these days amounts to being sat in a slanket balancing a laptop on yourself in the middle of the night, like I am right now), but there's always time for St Helens's finest, Johnny Vegas. Or not, as he is these days. It's no secret Michael Pennington is breaking free of his comic creation with his new autobiography. And not only that, but he's doing it in Liverpool, and helping out a local charity on the side. Huzzah. Clapperboard UK will be hosting a special fundraising event with Vegas/Pennington at the Epstein Theatre on November 6. He'll be launching his new book. Becoming Johnny Vegas sees Pennington traces the birth of the alter-ego who made him a comedy star, culminating in his breakthrough appearance at the 1997 Edinburgh festival where he won the critics award and was the first newcomer ever to be nominated for the Perrier. "But before he'd ever drunk tea with a knitted monkey or made himself the exception that proves the rule in terms of the predictability of TV panel game regulars, Johnny Vegas was perhaps the most fearlessly confessional stand-up comedian this country has ever produced," they say. "So, how did an eleven-year-old Catholic trainee priest from St Helens grow up to become North West England’s answer to Lenny Bruce?" Well, come and ask him and find out. Clapperboard director Maureen Sinclair said: “Johnny has always found time to support our Clapperboard Youth Project and I’m delighted that he’s chosen our charity to benefit from this special launch of his new autobiography.” Johnny Vegas/ Michael Pennington said: “I am delighted to participate in this event to raise much needed funds for Clapperboard's youth project. In 2007 I participated as a jury member for the Clapperboard Awards Ceremony and was impressed with the short films produced by young people and how the project has gone from strength to strength.” It surely couldn't take much to get him to say something more interesting than that at the Epstein event, so if you fancy your chances tickets are £20, including signed copy of Becoming Johnny Vegas, free aftershow drink in Ma Egerton’s, and the knowledge you've helped out Clapperboard UK, a nonprofit making and charitable organisation that has worked successfully with more than 1000 young people across the North West bringing creativity into their lives. A free drink in Ma Egerton's, you say? *slides off bar stool mid-conversation with Margi Clarke* Do it. To book call 0844 888 4411, visit www.epsteinliverpool.co.uk or book in person at the theatre box office.
