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My journey through this wonderful business we call show began in 1992. For several years I’d been bombarding TV, Radio and Comedians with an assortment of routines and sketches with limited success. I accumulated a veritable Rivington Pike of rejected material which I put into use when I was asked to form a double act with a mate of mine , Rick Sykes, as purely a "one-off" to support a popular musical duo called "Intaglio" (Sean and Harry Brennan) at a couple of their gigs. We called ourselves ‘Spikey and Sykey’. Me "Spikey" because my hair indeed was and Rick "Sykey" because (a) It was nearly his name, (b) It rhymed with Spikey and (c) He was mental. Surprisingly we went down really well and so decided to work on the act and were very soon playing all the top northern venues, Bacup, Mosley Common, Hindley Green, you name it. Our most notable success came on Central TV’s ‘New Faces’ show where we finished a close third to a Todmorden whippet juggler and a Latvian plumber who played ‘I’ve got sixpence, jolly jolly sixpence’ on a radiator . But after reaching this zenith of achievement, S & S’s career inevitably plummeted and we split up in Scarborough soon afterwards over an argument concerning fish**. I decided to continue alone. I started off by doing the odd "Open" spot but at the time in the north there were few comedy clubs so I travelled far and wide (mainly far) taking part in Talent Shows. The logic being that if I was crap, no-one I knew would see me being crap. Fact is, I actually won "Search for a Star" at "The Riviera Centre" (oh yes) Torquay and another big one at "The Opera House" (I think) Scarborough. So of course I thought I was the next big thing. It didn’t last long. I started to get gigs at some of the less salubrious social clubs and quickly came down to earth with a bang. I was dragged off stage mid-act in Blackpool by a concert secretary who later put his arm round me and told me not to worry "I’d bounce back" and I seriously thought about trying to escape out of a window at a railwayman's club in Blackburn immediately after I’d done my first spot prior to the Bingo. I didn’t though, my pride got the better of me, and I went back on for my second set so the audience could hate me for another forty minutes. ( the same 40 minute set I’d done before – that’s all I had – they didn’t notice.) A turning point came one summer Sunday evening in 1993 when I got a phone call to see if "I could get to Blackpool in half an hour". Cannon and Ball were appearing at "The Opera House" and they needed a compare, like now. I was the only comic, not working that night who lived near enough. I dashed over and went on stage in front of a packed house of 3000 people without thinking (almost). The guests on the show were Alan somebody, a Scottish impressionist, Shahid Malek a great bloke and brilliant illusionist from Bradford, Linda Lewis (Rock a Doodle Doo) and then C&B .I did well enough, a massive surprise considering the biggest venue I’d worked alone previously was Astley Bridge Conservative Club. I then supported Tommy and Bobby on two national tours and from that I was lucky enough to work with the great Max Boyce for several years. Although these tours were great, the bits in between were depressing. My act was hit and miss in the northern club environment that existed then (and still does) but none-too-soon another life-changing moment occurred. I met Agraman the human Anagram at a comedy night at "The Octagon" Theatre, Bolton and he invited me to his club "The Buzz" where I discovered that there was an outlet for the sort of comedy I wanted to do .I did an open spot, got asked back and as more venues appeared became a regular on this small, but growing circuit. ** It was a haddock.
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