The Congress Theatre, Eastbourne, is well worth a visit and has built up a reputation for providing high class entertainment.
An excellent recent example of this was Joe Pasquale’s show, on August 27, 2015.
Joe Pasquale is far more than a squeaky voiced comedian. Like the late, great Tommy Cooper, he has the knack of making audiences dissolve into hysterics without even opening his mouth.
Proof of how good he is came at the Congress where local funny man Tucker and ventriloquist Steve Hewlett were among audience members convulsed with laughter.
Pasquale was at his best when joined by his tour manager Ray Tizzard, AKA Raynard, his ‘twin brother’.
Raynard was even nuttier than Pasquale as he bounded around in his underpants adding to the mayhem. “What did I tell you in the dressing room?” demanded Joe. “Don’t do that in the sink,” retorted Raynard.
Like the immortal Cooper, Joe uses a variety of props and magic tricks. But the man who became King of the Jungle in I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here has his own unique routines. Who else would begin their act by hitting marshmallows into the audience with a cricket bat and then attaching a basketball net to their head for us to throw them into?
Joe, who was among the stars I featured in my celebrity book My Life With the Stars, was a pleasure to interview and has so many funny stories to tell.
Impressionist Paul Burling, a finalist on Britain’s Got Talent, also earned lots of laughs as a support act to Pasquale at the Congress, especially with his excellent Del Boy impersonation, but he needs to update some of his characters.
The Congress has staged a wide variety of entertainment, with a host of hit musicals and performances by top dancers such as Erin Boag and Anton du Beke.
There are a lot more top shows coming up, including International Stars of Magic and Variety on Saturday September 26th, The Full Monty starting on Monday October 5th and Paul Potts in concert on Saturday October 31st.
