NE Online Magazine Issue 24

Hi Chris and welcome to NE Magazine, for the few readers who must be living in a cave somewhere and don’t know who you are how about giving th em a quick l ow- down o n yourself?

- Hello! Can’t help but think I’m writing your interview introduction for you here, oh well… I’m a stand-up comedian from South Shields and I’m also a bit of an actor now and then… but mainly a comedian… that might not come across as well as it should in print form, but I am.

So there.

At the moment it’s hard not seeing you on the TV when we switch it on as you’re everywhere, but what has been the highlight for you so far?

- Not everywhere though am I? If you turn on QVC and I’m selling a frying pan, just assume you’ll find me floating face down in a river very soon. The highlight for me so far was probably being in Hebburn. Since starting comedy I always wanted to try my hand at being in a sitcom too so I was over the moon to do one with my mate and so close to my heart, and I got to work with Vic Reeves.

I know you had a bit of a crazy time with fans wanting pics and autographs when you were having a few drinks in a South Shields bar recently, how are you finding this, does it put you off going out?

- Not at all. Any person in that position who has been on TV or whatever and people want photos (I’m trying my best not to say celebrity here!) who pretends they hate the attention is a liar. You don’t go for a career on TV because you don’t want anyone to notice you. As long as I’m not eating or having a shit when you want a photo then it’s no problem at all… I meant, like on the toilet, not just in the middle of the dancefloor.

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Have you had any weird fan requests or incidents?

- Not really. The odd person will show up to a gig with my face on a T-Shirt, or bake me a cake, or send me a dead animal in the post but other than that it’s just photos and autographs. A little kid in Hebburn when we were filming asked me to sign his micro scooter… that was a bit weird.

As well as being a bit of a regular on Celebrity Juice, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and 8 out of 10 Cats you are now starring in the North East based sitcom Hebburn, how did that come about?

- My mate and fellow comedian Jason Cook decided to write a sitcom about the town he was from, Hebburn, and he actually wrote me a little side part which he named after me. But when it came to being made the BBC asked me to read for the main character, and when I got it, Jason took the part that he’d written for me! It came about so gradually that I didn’t really realise the enormity of being lead role in a BBC2 sitcom until I saw the advert on TV. I nearly passed out.

How has the response for Hebburn been so far?

- Overwhelmingly positive.

And we just won Best Drama at the RTS North awards too. And we’ve got a second series!

You are now embarking on your biggest tour to date, how do you feel about this?

- Yeah incredible! It’s an extension of my last tour, Feeling Lucky. I did 60+ dates in 2012 but the demand for tickets was so high and people enjoyed the show so much that I’m doing another 40 odd dates this year in much bigger venues. I can’t wait to get back out on the road.

Are there any venues on the tour that you are looking forward to playing or any you’re quite nervous about?

- The Theatre Royal in Newcastle. I absolutely can’t wait. I used to watch panto there when I was a kid. I’m

We l c o m e N o t e .

A p o l o g i e s fo r t h e l a t e n e s s o f t h i s i s s u e , b u t i t h a s b e e n a c ra z y t i m e , w h a t w i t h t ra i n i n g fo r m y f i g h t , which you can read more about in t h e F i g h t i n g F o r F ra n k i e fe a t u r e i n this very issue, then of course it is all of the other events we have had t o c o v e r, b u t w e g o t t h e r e i n t h e e n d , s o I h o p e y o u e n j o y.

As always, if you have something you want to see in a future issue then d o n ’ t fo r g e t t o d r o p u s a n e m a i l t o wayne. groves@neonlinemagazine. com P l u s r e m e m b e r t o fo l l o w u s o n Fa c e b o o k a n d Tw i t t e r fo r o u r r e g u l a r updates on events and competitions.

Till next time Ta ke c a r e Wa y n e

EDITOR & DESIGNER Wayne Groves wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine.com

SPONSORS Cineworld Boldon www.cineworld.co.uk The Theatre Royal Newcastle & Newcastle City Hall www.theatreroyal.co.uk/ Ocean Beach Pleasure Park www.oceanbeach.co.uk Quasar Elite South Shields www.quasarsouthshields.co.uk For all queries or if you would like to feature or advertise in NE Magazine email wayne.groves@neonlinemagazine.com Unless stated otherwise all competition entries should be sent to win@ neonlinemagazine.com Plus you can catch up with us online for news, events, blogs, competitions and more at www.neonlinemagazine.com Follow us on Facebook - www.facebook. com/pages/N-E-Online-Magazine join us on twitter @NEOnlineMag

CONTRIBUTORS Ian Berry Photographer www.ianberry.co.uk info@ianberry.co.uk Martyn Jones Photography www.martynjonesphotography.co.uk/ martynjonesphotography@hotmail.co.uk Derek Brettle www.facebook.com/ lastlaughcartoons lastlaughcartoons@gmail.com Roly Todd - Hero Images Facebook Roly Todd LeeNemsPhotography www.ne-ms.co.uk

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P6 Manhua Cha! Bubble Tea P12 Strange Vs Big Sexy P16 Meet Doctor Strange P20 The Hillbilly Horror Show P24 KingCon at the Stadium Of Light P34 Blue Eyed Devil Retro & Comic Shop P40 F.F.C. 13 - Fighting For Frankie

P46 Fighting For Hope P52 Cinderella P56 Funny Girl P60 Shagpile P66 Cineworld Boldon Film Round Up P78 Ryback Hits The Toon P82 Shade In England

Hi Dave and welcome to NE. Well the first question is an easy one, can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi Wayne. My names Dave Hall and I’m the owner of a new North East based bubble tea company called Manhua Cha. I’m originally from South Shields but live in Newcastle with my Mrs and business partner Carine and our massive collection of comic books and memorabilia.

You are causing quite a stir with your new venture, Manhua Cha, tell us a bit more about what it is exactly?

We’re a mobile bubble tea business.

We’re mainly hitting comic conventions up and down the country serving our special, super powered bubble tea from our custom built trailer.

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And what exactly is Bubble Tea? So here’s the spiel. Bubble tea is a cold and refreshing fruity or milky tea based drink.

What makes the drink very

unique is in the bottom of the drink you have juice balls, or you could have flavoured jelly chunks or tapioca. The drink is drank through a fat straw so the bits in the bottom come up the straw. Its kind of like an edible drink.

Not a lot of people know this but bubble tea has actually been around since the 80’s. It originated in Taiwan and has been growing in popularity since.

Fun fact for you. The name bubble tea doesn’t actually come from the juice balls that are in the bottom of the drinks.

It actually comes from the bubbly foam that’s formed on the top of the drinks after they’ve been shaken.

What would you say is your best seller so far?

Our best seller so far is blueberry flavoured tea with strawberry juice balls.

Or if you follow our comic book universe and menu, Ice breath with a robotic suit.

What would you personally recommend that our readers try?

My personal favourite is Taro milk tea with coconut jelly. It tastes like cookies and cream!

Not only do you have your Manhua Cha Bubble Tea trailer but you also have your own comic book to go with it, what was the reason for this?

With bubble tea growing in popularity we looked at the market and realized that if we want to be serious competitors with the big boys we had to do something different to make us stand

out. We both absolutely love comic books so decided to write one to go with our brand.

So the comic tells the story of me and Carine as super hero’s based in Newcastle. But we realise that the life of a super hero isn’t as glamourous as it’s made out to be and when we hit our 30’s decide it’s time to step down. In our retirement we open a bubble tea shop in the centre of town.

But it’s a bubble tea shop with a difference, I develop a formula that gives the drinker of certain flavoured bubble teas different super powers. Like I said earlier, blueberry tea with strawberry

juice balls is ice breath with a robotic suit. Green apple gives you super strength like the hulk, and mango gives you the power of flight.

How has the response been like so far?

Everyone who comes to the trailer and reads the menu thinks it’s amazing that they get to create a super hero instead of deciding on drink flavours, and when we tell them that it all ties in with our comic book they love it. It’s something fun and different.

We currently have issue #0 of our comic book available that tells the story of our final battle across Newcastle city centre.

You can grab a free copy of that from us at the trailer or CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE COMIC! Did you do all the writing and art?

HAHA. No unfortunately not.

I wrote the story with Carine.

I did all the story boards in stick figures and sent if off to our artist/branding guy Alan Brown. He’s worked with some big published like IDW comics and I’m sure he’s worked with Disney and Warner Bros before

too. Think he’s a lecturer of comics at Teesside Uni as well.

He gets himself about a bit.

Not only did he draw the comics from my shocking stick figure

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story board, which is a massive achievement in itself, he also helped us create our whole brand and menu. Bit of an artistic genius really.

Alan Brown www.zombeeillustration.com So where did the idea come from for Manhua Cha? The idea came about when Carine couldn’t sleep one night, god it feels like years ago now. But she came up with the idea of opening a new bubble tea shop in Newcastle. We looked into various different locations, including Eldon Square, but the rents and rates were astronomical, and for a new business who had at that point never even made a bubble tea it was impossible.

Enter Tedco, a north east based business support organization, I’d highly recommend anyone who has a business idea to get in touch with them. Anyway…… we got allocated a business advisor, Tracy Clarkson, and through many MANY hours of discussion we decided to go mobile. So we can take our super powered bubble tea to the customer.

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And the name, does it have a meaning?

Manhua (pronounced Manwah) are Chinese comics produced in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. So we

thought it fitting to name our comic book themed business after comics which originated in the country the drinks came from. Cha means tea. So ‘Comic Tea’.

What has been the hardest part in setting up your new business?

Remaining focused. It’s not easy starting a business, you have to make a lot of sacrifices.

And I mean a hell of a lot. We never hit the point where we were living off instant noodles, but we came close. Some days you wake up and think, “Should I just go back to work”. You have those days, I still do now, but you have to look at the bigger picture and look further down the line that right now.

What advice would you give to anyone that wants to set up their own business?

Ask questions and get a business advisor. These are things I’ve became very passionate about.

If you have a business idea you will need help to develop it.

So ask as many questions as you can. I remember when we first had the idea to go mobile we went around Tynemouth market and asked food traders where they got their trailer from. We ended up going with a company someone suggested and couldn’t be happier. Get a business advisor, it’s great to have an independent person to keep you level headed, when I get a crazy idea I often run with it, so business advisors help keep you reined in and are there to give you any support you need. There are plenty free north east based companies providing support, whether its help with business plans, or finding funding, get in touch with them. www.tedco.org www.pne-enterprise.org www.transmitstartups.co.uk When you are not busy working how do you like to spend your free time?

I love reading and collecting comics. I’m so out of touch

these days but when I get the chance I binge read. I’ve got a pile on my bedside cabinet waiting for me to get through them. I play video games too, anything with a gun and zombies and I’m sold. Need to prepare for the apocalypse somehow.

23rd October. We’re also at St James Park festive fayre 12th and 13th November. Further afield you can find us at The Lakes Comic and Art festival in Kendal, Thought Bubble in Leeds, MCM in London, J Con in Derby, The Linc-con in Lincoln, all over really.

Tell us 3 random facts about yourself?

I have my right nipple tattooed.

Yes, the actual nipple.

One of my favourite meals is chicken feet in black bean sauce.

I have a zombie apocalypse survival plan.

Can people follow you and keep up to date with you and your events?

You can find us on most social media. Look for us, everything is just @manhuacha. Also keep an eye peeled for our website which will be launching mid-

November. www.manhuacha. co.uk. We’re going to be running a mega giveaway for the launch so it’s worth following us on social media to be in with a chance of winning.

Is there anything you would like to add?

If any of your readers see us at an event and tell us that they read about us in NEOnline, we’ll give them a free drink upgrade .

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us and we look forward to having some Bubble Tea at a future event

So what are your aims for Manhua Cha? World domination. No really we’re looking to open shops soon. So watch this space.

Where can people find you?

Locally you can find us at KingCon at the Stadium of Light on Saturday 22nd and Sunday

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STRANGE Vs big sexy

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Thursday afternoon I get a call from the editor of the NE online magazine asking if I could cover an event- That event turned out to be an evening with Kevin Nash ran by NE sporting events (@ Leebellerby_d16). Upon arriving I was greeted by Lee and escorted to a VIP area where I met up with some fans of ‘Big Sexy’ Kevin Nash waiting to get a few minutes to chat with their hero before the event started.

Waiting patiently to the side I overheard the gasps of the fans as in walked ‘Big daddy cool’ after greeting his fans and taking the time to chat to them each individually once this has been done the fans went to take their seats downstairs for the event. It was now our chance at NE online to ask a few questions to the man who had won 21 Championships during his historic career in Professional wrestling.

I walked over to the table and introduced myself, I was greeted with a smile and a firm handshake their was something about Kevin Nash that just made you feel welcomed and relaxed when talking

to him; given everything this man had accomplished in his life he was a very down to earth guy.

Tim Strange: It’s great to meet you Kev, thank you for taking the time to chat with us today.

Kevin Nash: Not a problem man.

Tim Strange: I’m just going to ask you a few questions.

Kevin Nash: Ask away man.

Tim Strange: I know you have travelled the world over your career, but how do you find that the Northeast of England differs from anywhere else you’ve been?

Kevin Nash: I love it in U.K, all over England is great man, I remember travelling over here and being in Aberdeen and having the best pint of Guinness I’ve ever tasted it was lovely and the barrel was only three days old. I mean I have travelled the world but their is something about the UK... I mean you go to Australia and it’s a new country so their isn’t a lot of history but you come here and the U.K has so much rich history and

so much heart that it’s hard to not like it. I mean if you go far enough back in then the majority of our American ancestors originate from the U.K. Tim Strange: You have made a good point there Kev. Now you’ve wrestled some of the top names in professional wrestling over your career. Who was your favourite people to work with?

Kevin Nash: Well any of the Kliq guys would be great to work with as they were my good friends, but

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that you would have liked for?

Kevin Nash: Well I was lucky as I got a chance to wrestle the top guys like Hogan, Shawn, Bret, Hunter, Flair, Piper, Savage you know so it’s hard to look back and think was there anyone else... I mean I would have loved to have worked with Andre The Giant as I think that would have been great.

As well I never got to really do a match with Steve Austin, I mean I worked against Steve and we had that thing with the nWo and Austin but I never actually got a chance to work with him in a one on one match.

Tim Strange: Finally can I get your thoughts on the current situation of professional wrestling?

if I would have to work one man every night it would be Bret Hart.

Their was something the chemistry we had I mean one of my favourite matches was our match at survivor series 1995 where we put the match together in like 12 minutes. The WWF at the time had a no chair shot rule and the match ended up being a no holds barred match so we ended up having to make use of the resources we had.

That was the first time anyone ever got put through the Spanish announce table and when it happened everyone was like holy s**t! The beauty of it was I used a shoulder block to knock Bret off the apron through the table which was so simple in delivery but added to the reality of it all. The same when Bret tied my feet with the cabling at ringside the only problem their was it was too tight and I couldn’t get the thing off.

Tim Strange: And how many people have you put through the

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Spanish announce table since?

Kevin Nash: (laughing)I don’t know maybe about 20.

Tim Strange: The survivor series match is one of my favourite matches, was there anyone you didn’t get a chance to work with

Kevin Nash: Sure man- you’ve got some great talent coming through now on NXT which is Hunters baby and it really shows that the future is looking good. I don’t really watch a lot of the current shows live anymore because there is too much talking and not enough action. I mean if you put it down to 2hrs you wouldn’t need so much filler put in there which

hurts the show. I’m a big fan of the WWE network and have it on my phone so I watch that all the time.

Tim Strange: Thanks for your time.

Kevin Nash: no problem, you take care.

It was here our time with Kevin Nash came to an end and Lee Bellerby took us downstairs to our seats to enjoy the rest of the night.

Some of the highlights I bullet pointed below. * Kevin Nash taking pictures with all his fans for them to have a memento to take home. * Kevin Nash discussing the possibility of him featuring in an upcoming Marvel film playing Cable. * The auction of sports memorabilia which had tonnes of wrestling legends signatures framed and presented. * Kevin Nash discussing his time at WCW,WWE and TNA sharing some of the backstage stories from his many years as a professional wrestler.

The night ended but not until I managed to have a brief talk with Lee about any upcoming events; he has one on the 12th of December featuring none other than former WWE star Ryback coming to the UK to discuss his career including the reasons behind leaving the WWE and take questions from the Audience. Tickets are only £20 for this night with an upgrade option of £10 if you want a photo.

If this night is half as good as the Kevin Nash evening it will be awesome and for any little wrestling

fans out there it would make a great early Christmas gift.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed reading my article this month.

Take care and let me know your thoughts on Pro wrestling today tweet them to me @JustTimStrange.

Signing off...

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Meet Doctor Strange with Cineworld Boldon.

With the release of Marvel’s latest big screen outing due to hit screens on the 28th October it appears that Cineworld Boldon have worked their magic once again to bring you an advance preview of the movie on the 25th October with a 3D screening at 8pm and a 2D screening at 8:40pm.

If that wasn’t enough, you can also meet the Sorcerer Supreme himself before the movie starts as Doctor Strange will be there posing for photos and getting everyone ready for the film.. This will me magical indeed, so don’t miss it. Join the fun from 6:30pm at Cineworld Boldon.

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18 Collectables

Stars

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The Hillbilly Horror Show at Brocksbushes farm October 22-31 Each and every year your nightmares are brought to life when Halloween comes to Brocksbushes Farm and this year will be truly terrifying. 2016 is the year of The Hillbilly Horror Show! The big question is…‘would you go down to the woods tonight?’.

Brockbushes Halloween events

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are not for the faint hearted.

Imagine a tall cornfield like you see in those old horror movies, then picture a maze full of dead ends, traps and surprises. Now put the two things together and that is what you get at Brockbushes, only this is all done at night, in the dark, without a torch or any lights to guide you. Now if you

thought that was horrific enough, they have only went and added the woods into the equation where you might encounter the Freaky Circus, The Butcher, Creepy Camper and Cabin Fever on your way around the Corbridge attraction.

This really is a Halloween event

with a difference, a real interactive experience not for the faint hearted, so are you a wimp or a warrior? There’s only one way to find out.

Trips will take place at 6.30pm, 7pm, 7.30pm, 8pm, 8.30pm, 9pm and 9.30pm from Saturday, October 22 to Halloween itself on Monday, October 31.

Tickets, priced £10, must be booked in advance as spaces are limited. You can book them now online from the Click & Collect page of the Brocksbushes website or by phone, 01434 633100 or in the Farm Shop. There is a 10% discount for groups of 10 or more if you’ve got a fearless group of friends or colleagues.

CLICK HERE TO BOOK TICKETS

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DUEL 7

26TH NOVEMBER @ NE6 SUITE 22

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Hi Dan and welcome to NE, well start off with the easy stuff first, so how about introducing yourself?

I am Dan, managing director and co founder of Dark Matter Café and Events.

You are one of the people behind KingCon, can you tell our readers

a bit more about KingCon, what it is exactly?

KingCon is a Comic, TV, Film and Gaming convention, which has in previous years been held in Durham City. KingCon is an event, which we help bring to life with an underlying story of a gorilla who loves geek culture. Usual conventions of this style are lots of stalls and some celebrities. KingCon believes that experience is more important, so we work hard to make sure there’s plenty to do, in an engaging immersive environment, and help bring the story to life to make your experience a little more Disneyland!

We also have very strong values surrounding STEM outreach, by blending together the science behind Sci Fi encouraging our guests to seek careers in Science, Technology and Media.

How did KingCon come to life, what made you want to start your own as it has to be a lot of hard work putting them together?

It is, and sometimes it’s more challenging than we expected, we essentially began KingCon in Durham as a way to promote the

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store, and culture in Durham.

But after a couple of sell out years at Gala and restrictions around venues in Durham city we looked for the biggest venue we could and landed at the Stadium of Light. We love to do things for entertainment, and we found that we were going to comic con style events, and they were great, but they sometimes needed more things to do, so we looked at how we can develop this over years to create an immersive, fun, engaging environment, which ultimately makes people happy, brings people together, and supports some great smaller traders who attend our events, and promotes larger ones. We work together with colleges and universities to create our events and students get a real sense of commercial experience working with us, which is great for them, and their experience during their studies.

So you are now in your 4th year and things seem to be going from strength to strength with your events, how hard

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has it been putting this event together compared to previous events?

This year has been the most challenging, and we have at times considered the future for next year’s event given the pressure it puts on our small team and our other business.

Over the past few years’ con-

ventions have come and gone, tell us your thoughts on the convention scene and why you think they have become such a popular mainstream thing?

I think geek culture is a thing, which has been snowballing over recent years thanks to the cinema releases popularity of TV shows, which are relevant, and make it cool to be “Geek”.

I think people are jumping on board to create their own events to entertain their localities and this can be great for the industry over time.

Why does KingCon stand out over other conventions, big or small?

See above question You have several great guests appearing at this KingCon, but which guest excites you the most and why?

Charles Martinet voice of Mario is the most exciting for me, he’s been an icon of my life as a huge fan of Nintendo, and looks like a hilarious guy in interviews.

It’s the hardest part of the event, and such a gamble as to whether people will receive the guests well… Let’s hope it pays off!

If you could have any guest past or present at a future event who would it be and why?

Ooooo tough one… Brian Blessed is someone I would love to bring

to an event realistically, he’s a hugely inspirational bloke, punching polar bears and wanting to go to space to badly! But really, Tom Hanks would be my dream guest, he’s my favorite actor, along with Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart, but the chances are very slim…

Haha.

A lot of conventions seem to have the same guests appearing but you have managed to arrange for some first time guests to the NE convention scene, how difficult has it been to make this happen?

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Some of the big named events have been accused of exploiting the fans and being purely about money, give us your thoughts on this?

I have to agree to be honest, and I know that will make me hugely unpopular with other convention organizers. But we have seen some appalling examples of this at a convention in the North West last year. And you know we are a business, so yes we do need to profiteer to a degree, and obvi-

ously the more of that we do, the bigger the events get, which is great for the community too. That been said some of the large conventions are ran by great hobbyists who have a genuine passion for the culture, but then again, also love the rewards it can produce. I guess the lack of passion and care may be the driving force between conventions that stick around and those that just milk it.

venue with a move to the Stadium of Light in Sunderland?

Space, Parking, Cost, Appeal, Nationally known venue, and transport links to name but a few.

What made you change your What can people expect from KingCon this time around?

See above. In short, experience, you can take the journey to build your own game, discover space in a planetarium, get hands on with crazy creatures, take part in an escape room, solve a crime scene, take part in science experiments, listen to industry lead talks, meet celebrities, learn to sword fight with a Game of Thrones star, learn to solder and more.

What advice would you give to anyone wanting to attend the event for the first time?

Have fun, and do as much as you

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can! But save some for next time too ;-) What is your favorite part of putting on a big convention?

The day after… Haha. Seriously, the enjoyment people have drives me to do it, we are natural entertainers, and that’s what we look to do, make people happy and help them enjoy life, brining them together socially and having fun.

And your least favourite part?

The lead up to the event, the

nerves, the pressure, the risk, and sometimes managing the expectations. You know sometimes it’s difficult to convey to people that here in the North East we are far away from a lot of facilities, venue sizes, and just sheer distance for some things, so we are restricted a little at times with the kind of things we can bring along as appose to the likes of London Film and Comic Con, a lot of it comes down to they have 120,000 people paying to come through the door, and we have up to 6000, so the budgets are radically different! This is an ongoing frustration I guess.

The Dark Matter Café is a bit of a unique concept, how did it all come about?

It was always my intention to have a café, and Lindsey wanted something a little different, so we found what was currently on the increase in popularity, looked at the issues we had when we visited the comic stores, and put comics, trading cards and events together in one place. Dark Matter brings together the community, much like it makes up the dark areas in

You are also the Managing Director of The Dark Matter Family but what is the Dark Matter Family?

This incorporates Dark Matter Events, Conventions and Café, we call it a family, because I guess it is that!

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the universe.

When you are not putting together KingCon what do you get up to?

Working from Dark Matter to make the experience in store better, expanding, evolving ideas, running events from store, creating new things, and most of all Astronomy! We love it, so we tend to take our telescopes out to Kielder and look at the stars.

Tell us 3 random facts about yourself?

I hoard things. I can’t help it, I love antiques.

I was a voice artist for 14 years for various commercials, radio stations and commercial videos internationally, from BBC to Universal.

I once ran across the Tyne Bridge

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in just my underwear for a publicity stunt for a radio station Where can people keep up to date with KingCon and any future events? www.kingcon.co.uk www.facebook.com/kingconevents/

Is there anything you would like to add?

Buy tickets please Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Dan and we look forward to catching up with you at KingCon

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E N O D DONE DONE DONE E N O D DONE DONE

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Blue

Eyed

Retro and

Devils

Comic Shop dad, eldest of 4 children.

Son. Father. Business Owner.

Comic Geek

Hi Graham and welcome to NE, so first off how about a quick introduction?

Graham Brabbs im 33 years of age, im the owner of Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop, raised in “Jarra” (Jarrow), by my mam and

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You are the man behind Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop, can you tell us a bit more about that?

Still a fairly new set-up having only began trading in the October of 2015, on the back of a lifelong love for all things comic and the like, Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop initially began as nothing more than a dream. It’s a comic shop based online originally but now I frequent at least 2 events per month across the north east although this is predominantly South Tyneside and Sunderland areas. For now….

So what made you set up Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop?

Growing up in South Tyneside, there was NO place for comics, children had to travel to Newcastle

to visit one shop (although there are 4 plus nowadays) to buy your weekly fix, bi-weekly fix, whatever it was, it could be a bit of a chore.

Struggling through many a cramped metro journey, parents’ taxi services and many a geek/ nerd innuendo fired your way.

Times have moved on quite a bit nowadays, with comic book movies hitting the mainstream frequently.

So, upon “growing up” and becoming a father, I decided to do something about this, with the logo inspired by a good friends tattoo/faltering business plan, wheels were set in motion, motorcycles and parts replaced by me, comics as well as all forms of merchandise. Retro fell into place due to growing up when I did, being a real 80’s child when, im sure most people around then will agree, everything was better! And here we are.

Although I don’t have a bricks and mortar shop, I’m quite flexible and anyone with any interest is more than welcome to come and browse my stock.

I hope that the shop will come soon and I can finally give South Tyneside a comic book shop!

I drew a lot of inspiration from my little boy, the fact I had him hooked on the world of Marvel and DC at his tender age, so I also did this for him.

What has been the hardest part of running Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop or is it a dream job?

I have had to do a lot of juggling.

As of yet I’m not in the position to go full time with BEDRCS so juggling my own business with a full time job can be hard. I have my son Thursday through to Sunday every week, and every other Wednesday and still have my step son every weekend. So that can be tough as well as having time for my missus and her two children, it can be extremely chaotic. But the

sense of achievement is great.

Have you always had an interest in comics and if so how did it all start?

For as long I can remember.

Spider-Man and Batman were 2 of my first favourites but my first was definitely He-Man, I have the power and all that, it was awe-

some, even now. And good news for fans of He-Man, a new comic is scheduled to hit shelves in November – He-Man & Thundercats crossover!

As well as being a regular at conventions like Sci-fair you are also the man behind the upcoming Santa’s Christmas Market, what

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will be some product crossover but we have a wide range of traders with some unbelievably good products.

What made you want to run an event rather than just being a stallholder?

I was struggling to find reasonably priced events around the back end of November, lead up to Christmas period so decided I’d try myself so jumped in head first and took the plunge!

exactly is Santa’s Christmas Market?

Yeah, Scifair set me on a good path helping get regular business from a great bunch of people.

Santa’s Christmas Market is well, basically it’s what it says it is, it’s a Christmas Market with our very own Santa, ran by Santa visits Tyne & Wear- Facebook – https:// facebook.com/Santavisitstyneandwear/

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How hard has it been to put together?

Again it’s just another ball to add onto the juggling act. Took some time and hard work but hopefully it will all be worth it come 15.01 on the 27th November. I’m already in trouble as it clashes with my

Mams 60th birthday, so I’ve lost son points but, it has the makings of a cracking little event.

Are there any spaces left for traders, if so how can they apply?

Yes we have spaces available anyone interested can email blueeyeddevil3@outlook.com for a quick application form or visit https://facebook.com/santaxmasmarket2016/ for further information. But potential traders need to get in quick as we’re fast approaching the event.

Why should people come to Santa’s Christmas Market?

Variety! We have been trying very hard not to double up any one particular stall. We are aware there

You are also known for your charity work, is there anything you are currently fundraising for or anything that you need some help with?

I’ve tried my hand at raising cash for charities close to my heart for the whole of 2016. I started with Cystic Fibrosis, as my partners daughters suffers from this. I raised about £350 through a raffle.

This would have been more as I was due to run the great north run in September but tore my hamstring back end of July so it was a no go which was pretty upsetting but I have my place in 2017 (I hope).

After that was Miscarriage Association and resulting raffle raised around the £140 mark. Currently, its Mind – the mental health charity. Took a bit of a chance with

really.

Where can people follow you and keep up with any events you are either running or attending?

Blue Eyed Devils Retro & Comic Shop Website – http://blueeyeddevil3. wix.com/retro Facebook – https://facebook. com/Blueeyeddevils-retro-comicshop-390039464524379/ Twitter - @bed_comic_shop Santa’s Christmas Market Event – https://facebook.com/ events/1191413244212920/?ti=icl Page – https://facebook.com/santaxmasmarket2016 this one as im running a tombola alongside my stall at the market. I may be being over ambitious but hoping for around 200 prizes at win ratio of 1 in 5, 1 in 6 mark. At present we have around the 150 mark. A mention to those who have donated already but If I can take this time to appeal/beg for any donations, they will be greatly appreciated.

I have set up a crowdfunding page too – www.crowdfunder.co.uk/ blue-eyed-devils-tombola-in-aidof-mind-org/ I aiming to raise about £100 to purchase prizes, again any donation, no matter how “little” will be greatly appreciated.

When you are not hard at work what do you like to do in your free time?

I used to play Sunday football but was forced to retire at 29 due to impending birth of Louie. Four years later I was due to start up again this season. That plan is still there, the plan is just on hold due to the hamstring injury. Frequent the match quite often too.

Apart from that, kids, family, beer, friends, the usual grown up things

Blue Eyed Devils Retro and Comic will be trading at the following events 1st October - Family Event Fair Stalls Day @ Monkton Stadium, Jarrow 15th October – SciFair Doctober @ Primrose CA, Jarrow 16th October – Viking Stalls (Jarrow Market) @ Jarrow Viking Centre 22nd and 23rd October – KingCon 2016 @ Sunderland Stadium of Light 12th November –Winter Fayre @ Heworth Grange, Heworth 13th November – SciFair @ Seaburn Centre, Sunderland TBC November - Viking Stalls (Jarrow Market) @ Jarrow Viking Centre 27th November – SANTAS CHRISTMAS MARKET @ HEDWORTH HALL, SOUTH SHIELDS 4th December – GeekDom @ Nissan Leisure Complex, Sunderland 10th December – Christmas Market @ Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead (TBC) TBC December - Viking Stalls (Jarrow Market) @ Jarrow Viking Centre

Is there anything you would like to add?

Just want to say thanks to few people; Carl @ Hedworth Hall for having us Steve @ niche home décor Nikki @ red star clothing Lee @ Diamond Comics And to anyone else who has donated I may of unintentionally missed To all my family and friends, who’ve supported and stood by me both personally and financially, I love you guys Thanks for taking the time to chat with us and we look forward to seeing you at Santa’s Christmas Market.

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Fighting For Frankie

Fight Fest 13 – Fighting For Frankie was an emotional night for a lot of people involved behind the scenes as a lot of hard work went into making this a fight night to remember, also a fight night Frankie would have been proud of.

Frankie’s grandson Stephen Sinclair, the promoter of Fight Fest, did not disappoint at all. With 17 fights this was an action packed event from the off including several title fights, a charity fight and a main event that would see an end to a thrilling trilogy between 2 legends of combat sports, Romellio Da Silva and Michael Terrill.

The event started with 10 Bells in memory of Frankie, the sell out crowd at the NE6 Suite honoured him with their silence and then erupting in cheers and applause on the 10th bell, it was a great way to start the show.

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Fight Fest 13 was a show where each fight appeared to be a fight of the night…until the next fight eclipsed it, the ring saw some allout wars that’s for sure. Chad Ellis

upset the home crowd by defeating Stewart Mcbrearty to take his FFC Middleweight Title. You can watch the full fight here.

A clip that has gone viral is the incredible KO of Tom Russell by Millennium fighter and rising star John “Joker” Cairns who took the FFC Middleweight K1 Title in style. This was shaping up to be a great fight, but that one kick connected and it was good night.

Tom Russell looked great right up until that point as well, click here to watch the full fight.

Another unexpected surprise came in the form of the FFC Charity bout between Richie “Dickies Nutz” Pallin Vs Wayne “Rambo” Groves (the editor of this very magazine). This was a fight 5 years in the making as they had originally agreed to fight for char-

ity back in 2011 but due to family issues it never happened. Ritchie was no stranger to the ring as he had fought back in his twenties; he had also spent over a year training with Ian Freeman before work

commitments put a stop to that back in 2015. Wayne on the other hand had no actual ring experience other than announcing fight shows all over the UK, so this was a first for him. But both guys stepped up to the challenge to help raise money for the Coronary Care Ward 24A at the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle in honour of Frankie.

They both had 7 weeks training with the lads at The Manor Gym, who helped train them both for free and then cornered them on the night as well. With this being a charity fight and with them both being good friends I think most people were expecting a bit of a tame bout where they try and sound each other out and throw a few punches, but no, they both had other ideas and had come to win, so as soon as that first bell rang both fighters came out aggressive and throwing with intent.

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Wayne managed to take the win and the FFC Charity belt after stopping Richie in the 3rd round after several knockdowns in what was a very very exciting fight which you can watch here.

Romellio Da Silva Vs Michael Terrill was the main event and the one that everyone had been waiting for. This was an extra special main event for several reasons.

First off, this almost didn’t happen as several opponents, including Travis Dickenson, pulled out of the fight with Michael, but in stepped Da Silva. With Da Silva taking the fight it meant that would also be the final fight in a trilogy; they have fought twice before with them each winning 1 fight each, so this was the decider.

This is also Terrills final gloved boxing bout and quite possibly his

final ever fight. This did not disappoint! Da Silva showed exactly how tough he is taking punches that would have knocked out most people, how he was still standing after some of the combinations was beyond me…and most of the crowd to be fair, but Terrill really did look outstanding, it is no wonder so many fighters and supposed “champions” keep ducking him.

You can watch the full fight here.

A big thanks to PEEP Magazine for the video footage, make sure you sign up to their youtube channel to keep up to date with the best in North East combat sports.

Photos are by the incredible Martyn Jones Photography and Roly Todd.

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FIGHT FOR HOPE

Hi Lee and welcome to NE Online Magazine. You are well known around the North East fight scene but you have branched out with your own event called “FIGHT FOR HOPE”, can you tell us a little bit more about it?

FIGHT FOR HOPE is mine and my partner Megan’s charity boxing show in honour of our little girl Sophia.

On the 29th of October 2016 at BLYTH SPORTS CENTRE, around 30 men most of whom are friends of ours are stepping into a boxing ring to raise money for local children who fight every minute of every day for their place on this earth.

The money raised leading up to the night & on the night will be split between 4 causes which mean

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the absolute world to myself, Megan and Sophia.

The causes we will be raising money for – Sophia’s story

Tommy Langdown Little Miracles Ward 1B RVI Please visit our facebook page or google “fight for hope” to find out

more about our causes.

What are your reasons for putting on the show?

Megan and I have been involved in 2 very successful charity boxing shows before, raising money for other charities. From the day we found out about our daughter’s conditions she has inspired us. She’s shown us that as long as you have each other and look after one another anything is possible.

Throughout Sophia’s journey we have met some amazing people, who themselves are on an incredibley tough journey. These children deserve the very best – they have it far from easy and deserve a chance to live there life in the best possible way.

Is there any way people who can’t attend “FIGHT FOR HOPE” can still show you some support or help in any way?

Yes, people can send any donations via bank transfer (contacting admin on the FIGHT FOR HOPE) facebook page.

What has been the hardest part of putting the show together?

The hardest part is keeping up with everything that needs done

whilst caring for Sophia, attending all of her hospital appointments preparing for the worst but hoping for the best. Although it’s such hard work we both know how much it’s going to be worth it.

ple’s hearts everyone is involved.

Why should people get a ticket for your event, what can they expect on the night?

These lads have all trained unbe-

How has the response been like so far for such a great cause?

Honestly, extremely overwhelming. People have got right behind us from the start and the majority of Blyth are so excited for this night, with all of the causes being so local and close to so many peo-

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lievably hard to put on an excellent show. We have 20 fights on the night, including a heavyweight title fight and a middleweight title fight over 5 rounds. We have some pretty amazing things in our auction, including signed boxing shorts from Anthony Joshua.

Where can people get hold of tickets?

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Tickets are available from all boxers, and myself and Megan. We have sold out of VIP tickets!!

Where can people keep up to date with “FIGHT FOR HOPE”?

FIGHT FOR HOPE on facebook.

Is there anything you would like to add?

Megan and I would just like to

thank everyone for their support.

It has been non-stop from the day we decided to do this show. So thank you – every one of you. It wouldn’t be possible without you.

We look forward to seeing you on the 29th October, FIGHT FOR HOPE Photos by KH Photos

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CHRISTMAS COMES EARLY AS CAST LAUNCH THEATRE ROYAL NEWCASTLE PANTOMIME Laura Evans will be hoping to meet her very own Prince Charming with the popular children’s television actress set to be unveiled in the title role at the official cast launch for Cinderella, this year’s spellbinding pantomime at Newcastle Theatre Royal (Tues 22 Nov ’16 – Sun 15 Jan ’17).

Most recognised to TV audiences as ‘Madison’ in The Basil Brush Show, Laura recently returned to the UK from LA where she appeared alongside Lindsay Lohan in the movie Inappropriate Comedy.

She will join seasonal favourites Danny Adams, Clive Webb, Chris Hayward, Steve Arnott and Pete Peverley at Newcastle Castle (on Monday 12 September 2016) as they bring an abundance of festive magic to the city to mark the official launch of this year’s record-breaking pantomime.

Cinderella will see audience favourites Danny Adams, Clive Webb and Chris Hayward return in yet another must-see show

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which promises to delight with a sumptuous production packed with special effects, familyfriendly comedy, enchanting score, stunning sets, outrageously dazzling costumes, and that most memorable pantomime moment when Cinderella is transported to the Prince’s Ball with the help of a pumpkin, some mice and a generous sprinkle of Fairy Godmother magic!

Danny Adams, as Buttons, and Clive Webb as Baron Hardup return to Newcastle Theatre Royal for the twelfth consecutive

year. They will be joined by Chris Hayward, who returns for his tenth panto season, this year playing The Fairy Godmother, and who will bring a kaleidoscopic wardrobe and provide all of the glamour and sparkle Newcastle theatregoers have come to expect from the North East’s premiere pantomime.

Audiences are sure to laugh out loud at the outrageous Ugly Sisters who will be played by Washington-born Pete Peverley and Whitley Bay-lad Steve Arnott who complete the lead cast.

Pete is one of the region’s most celebrated entertainers and played the role of ‘Little Bobby the Cat’ in last year’s production of Dick Whittington.

Trained at Newcastle College, he is a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed for many years as part of the Northern Stage ensemble.

His TV credits are extensive and include Byker Grove, Emmerdale and Spender.

Steve will be making his eighth panto appearance at the Theatre Royal and is the villain that audiences love to hate having played the dastardly King Rat in Dick Whittington and the evil Queen Lucretia in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in recent years.

Cinderella went on sale last November and quickly surpassed records previoulsy set by last year’s panto Dick Whittington, smashing through £1million sales at the Box Office before the 2015/16’s show run came to an end.

Theatre Royal pantomimes are among the fastest-selling in the UK, due to the winning combination of father and son team Clive and Danny and their hilarious slapstick routines, the special effects provided by The Twins FX alongside spectacular sets, magnificent dance routines and chroeography and the sensational musical scores. This combination is brought together

by Newcastle’s own Michael Harrison, who co-writes, produces and directs the show.

Michael Harrison, Managing Director of Qdos Pantomimes and the Executive Producer of Cinderella said: “This is considered to be the most magical pantomime of them all and we have pulled out all the stops to make sure that it is one of the most impressive and spectacular that has ever been staged in Newcastle. Laura will be a brilliant ‘Cinderella’ and gets to live every little girl’s dream of being a fairytale princess who hopes to meet her very own Prince Charming at the ball.

“Clive, Danny and Chris, who continue to smash pantomime box office records whenever they perform, will no doubt thrill audiences at the Theatre Royal once again. No one will want to miss this production of Cinderella.”

Chief Executive Philip Bernays added: “The popularity of our panto is testimony to the quality of both the actors and creative team. We look forward to welcoming Laura to the Theatre Royal and are delighted that Danny, Clive and Chris, Pete and Steve will be joining us again under the expert direction of talented West-End producer Michael Harrison, who we are proud to call a close friend of the Theatre Royal.”

Cinderella is produced by Qdos Entertainment, the world’s largest

pantomime producer staging 24 productions throughout the UK this Christmas.

Cinderella appears at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tuesday 22 November 2016 – Sunday 15 January 2017. Tickets are available from £13.00 and can be purchased from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge) or book online at www. theatreroyal.co.uk.

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SHERIDAN SMITH REPRISES HER SMASH-HIT PERFORMANCE AS FANNY BRICE IN FUNNY GIRL AT NEWCASTLE THEATRE ROYAL TUE 16 – SAT 20 MAY 2017 Following critically acclaimed and record-breaking sold-out runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory and Savoy Theatre, Sheridan Smith will reprise her highly praised performance of Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.

Further casting will be announced shortly.

Funny Girl brought global fame to Barbra Streisand 50 years ago and boasts some of the most iconic songs in film and theatre history, including People and Don’t Rain On My Parade. This ‘iconic, legendary, laugh-out-loud’ (The Times) musical tells the story of Fanny Brice, whose vocal talents and comedic ability see her rise from Brooklyn music hall singer to Broadway star.

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Sheridan Smith reprises the role of Fanny Brice. Her other theatre work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Michael Grandage Company at the Noel Coward Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Old Vic), Flare

Path (Theatre Royal Haymarket – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress, Evening Standard Theatre Award and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress), Legally Blonde (Savoy Theatre – Ol-

ivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical), Tinderbox (Bush Theatre), The People are Friendly (Royal Court) and Into the Woods (Donmar Warehouse). For television, her credits include Blackwork, The C Word, Cilla, The Widower, The 7.39, Dates, Mr Stink, Mrs Biggs (BAFTA Award for Best Actress), Accused, Scapegoat, Little Crackers, Jonathan Creek, Gavin & Stacey, Larkrise to Candleford, Grown Ups, Love Soup, Two Pints of Larger and a Packet of Crisps, The Royle Family and Wives and Daughters; and for film, The Huntsman, Powder Room, Quartet, Tower Block and Hysteria.

Director Michael Mayer’s West End credits include Spring

Awakening (Lyric Hammersmith and Novello Theatre) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Shaftesbury Theatre). For Broadway his work includes Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Tony Award nomination for Best Director), On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, American Idiot (Drama Desk Award for Best Director of a Musical), Spring Awakening (Tony Award for Best Direction of a Musical), Thoroughly Modern Millie (Drama Desk Award for Best Direction of a Musical) and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Direction of a Musical). For television, his work includes Smash and Alpha House, and for film his credits include A Home at the End of the World, Flicka and

currently in post-production, Chekhov’s The Seagull. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut with a celebrated new production of Rigoletto.

Funny Girl plays at Newcastle Theatre Royal from Tue 16 – Sat 20 May 2017. Tickets are from £23.00 and can be purchased at www.theatreroyal.co.uk or from the Theatre Royal Box Office on 08448 11 21 21 (calls cost 7ppm plus your phone company’s access charge).

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Hi Jason and welcome to NE, how about a quick introduction?

Hi there NE and thanks for letting me stop by for the chat! So .. I’m Jason or Shaggy as most people know me! I’m from, and still live, in the lovely little town of Bedlington in the South East of Northumberland where I have been for my entire life. Bedlington is an old mining town and also known of course for breeding the lovely little ‘Bedlington Terrier’. I’ve been here forever and love the place, people and the lovely surrounding areas.

Some readers may be thinking “who is Jason?” because you are well known by something completely different, tell us how Shagpile came about and why you go by that?

Hahaha.. good question!! I get asked this quite a bit and I have a few different answers but the real reason is.. heading through my life and mischievous school days I had quite a bit of hair on the old noggin. It was bleached blonde with an under shave and tied up in a ponytail (cringe) mostly but when it was out it was all over the place!

The name started somewhere around middle school and as the internet became alive with forums and chat rooms I needed a name online. Shagpile was born and it just all came together as I started playing more music... That’s my story and I’m sticking with it

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write material for my band Growing Robots along with the lads in Now you are no stranger to the a completely different way and I love to write solo as usually it’s a pages of NE as you have featured a few years back as one of the Duo lot more personal and more about myself getting rid of something “We Steal Flyers”, is this a break from that or just another extenI need to talk about. I then also perform at weddings and differsion of your musical repertoire?

We Steal Flyers never have a break. ent ceremonies with my beautiful and hardworking missus Maria as We are working as hard as ever we form the duo Rings True and and as I write this I’m sitting in last year we had the privilege of a hotel room reception in Derby being asked personally to perafter a brilliant festival yesterday form during the wedding service and we will be heading off to of the lovely ITV’s Ali & Declan Ashbourne in Derby as soon as I get this finished ready for tonight’s Donnelly. We didn’t get to start off with ‘Lets get readyyyyyyyy to show. I am always involved in lots of music as it’s what keeps me rumbleeeeeeeeee’ alive. I am always writing in different ways as it’s my true passion. You have just smashed your target with your fundraising for “Music I write songs alongside Derek and apart from We Steal Flyers, I In Hospitals”, can you tell us a anyway!

bit more about that and why you chose that charity?

The real reason behind choosing the charity was that I was looking for something a little more music related to help with. Music is my entire life and pretty much in everything I do. When I read about ‘Music In Hospitals’ and their mission I just felt the need to give them a call and chat with someone and find out more. I spoke to Sophie who was absolutely amazing on the phone and turned the phone call into a magical ball of excitement and actually in turn made me a lot more excited about the project. I put the phone down and that was the point I knew this was the right charity to work with.

They were excited and knew the benefits and possibilities that music can create. So yeah... Sophie... she did it! Hahahah!!

What has the response been like for this fundraiser?

It has been absolutely amazing!

When something like this happens you always forget how amazing and generous people can be. I have some amazing friends and family around me that support me in what I do but I also have some amazing fans around the world that jump in and love being part of whatever is happening. It’s amazing to see it progress and people coming together in the online world of social media and just last night I received a donation of £100 from a good friend in Switzerland which has pushed me nearly to raising nearly £500 to date!

Todd Music Shop in Bedlington as they were looking for local artists to film using Tanglewood Guitars in local shops. Mark from the music shop rang me up and it all unfolded from there. They build lovely guitars but the best thing for me is the support. They share everything and keep an eye on what is going on and they are always by the phone on a personal level if I need help with anything.

I got to meet the lovely Tony who is the big boss man down in Leeds and it makes so much difference to be on such a personal level with people who you feel want to help you succeed. I spoke to them regarding the charity mission and they donated a lovely little Tanglewood Ukulele to give away free

to one of my lovely donator’s. So yeah... Tanglewood.... Great!

‘These Boots’, is it a one off or can we expect an EP or Album from you soon?

I have 4 solo albums so far and this single will be part of my 5th solo album which I am currently working away on. My last solo album ‘Outside In’ did really well with people and I am always working on the next album. I love words and music and when they come together it is such a magical and mysterious thing listening back. Sometimes I’m not quite sure where some of it comes from and when it feels like there is something or someone else at work somewhere it can be an

You teamed up with the Tanglewood Guitar Company for your fundraiser, how much of a help have they been for you?

Tanglewood are a fantastic company and earlier this year I became one of their ‘Tanglewood Artists’.

I did a couple of videos in Dennis

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amazing and wonderful intimate experience. Did I sound like I lost the plot a little there??

What other musical projects have you got coming up?

Apart from my solo material, I am also putting together an album with the band Growing Robots which can be a little more complicated at times as there is four of us and the 4th We Steal Flyers album is about to begin its work after we just released ‘Applecart’ . I record all of my solo, We Steal Flyers and Growing Robots material in my own studio ‘Shagnut Studios’ in Bedlington so there is never a hurry for anything. It just all comes together when it is time.

I am working a lot with other people and their music too in the studio which is always a fun thing for me to do.

When you are not making music what else do you get up to in your free time?

When I’m not making music I’m usually performing and touring music, recording music, listening to music, thinking about music or going to watch other people perform music. When I am away from that I love pretty much anything that keeps the creative juices flowing and I love art, photography and design work. I also have two amazing little daughters, Olivia and Macey, which when they are around can either be involved in it all as they love being a part of things or completely take me away from it all and give my brain some down time. They are magical little creatures my little ‘half pints’ Tell us 3 random facts about yourself?

1. Marmite is my favourite food in the world! I love it on absolutely anything and if you turned up to the interview covered in it,

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I wouldn’t hesitate to lick you to death!

2. Guinness is my tipple! I did the Guinness factory tour in Dublin a few years back and since then... I can’t get enough of the black stuff!

3. I once played a 3 hour show in Grindelwald in Switzerland up in the Alps and the barman filled me with so much drink to keep me going through the gig that when I headed back to the hotel room, I took off my clothes, hung my flowery underpants behind a picture on the wall and placed the picture back, fell asleep on the floor naked and was awoke by the cleaning lady being disgusted in opening the door and seeing me flat out on the floor. I often still wonder if the underpants are still behind the picture at random times in my life.

Where can people keep up to date with you and your music/gigs? www.facebook.com/shagpilemusic www.facebook.com/westealflyers www.facebook.com/growingro-

bots If anyone is in Twitter land you can follow and chat to me here www.twitter.com/_shagpile Is there anything you would like to add?

I’d love it if anyone has a little spare something to donate to the charity! You can stop by my Just Giving page here and even if it’s just £1 its just as amazing as every penny counts towards the cause and of course you still get the chance to win the lovely Tanglewood Ukulele. Thank you for taking the time with the interview and hopefully I will see you at a gig somewhere in the future! https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/shagpile-music Well thank you for taking the time to talk with us and we wish you luck with “These Boots”

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Ever wondered how you would escape if you were swallowed by a whale or buried alive in an airtight coffin… with only an angry beaver and a foot-long hot dog to help you? Well, we’ve got something special for you.

A delightfully dark party game known as Bucket of Doom.

The game begins with a single scenario card. These cards describe a wealth of troublesome scenarios, such as “You wake up and you’re the backend of a human centipede” or “You’re a sperm and you’re not winning this race”.

Upon reading out the scenario, you are all (unfortunately) placed into peril. Each player has eight object cards at their disposal. The challenging part, however, is that these objects tend be as useless as possible, such as a “Duck Whistle” or a “Valentine’s Card for someone called Ian”.

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Armed with your arsenal of impractical objects, you must devise a cunning plan to escape the

scenario at hand. Since the round ends with a vote for the most impressive getaway, you’ll need to get creative if you hope to come out on top.

For example, suppose the game began with the following scenario: “Walking home after a night out wearing Lady Gaga’s

meat dress you are attacked by militant vegans”. One player, thinking quickly, brings out his “Defibrillator” card. Using it on himself, he quickly revives the meat dress into a healthy cow, pacifying the vegans. Another player grabs her “Soft Rock Power Ballad” card, channeling the spirit of Michael Bolton to fight off the angry activists.

Once each player has presented their equally-impressive escape to the group, everyone votes for their favourite. The player with the most votes takes the scenario card for that round.

New object cards are distributed, a new situation is read out and the next round begins. The first player to successfully collected three scenario cards is the winner.

The perfect preparation for unexpected emergencies, Bucket of Doom is a constant reminder that when the s**t hits the fan, you need a plan.

To buy BUCKET OF DOOM visit

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We have double the fun now as we have teamed up with Cineworld Boldon and the new Cineworld Dalton Park to give you a quick run down on a few films that are coming soon and really have got us excited.

Plus make sure you check out their Facebook page to keep up to date with their daily competitions and updates. Boldon and Dalton Park

Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 18 November 2016 Eddie Redmayne seeks magical creatures in the first part of an amazing new Harry Potter spin-off series.

It’s 1926, and ‘Magizoologist’ Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in New York City for a meeting with the Magical Congress of the United States of America.

He doesn’t arrive alone, however – in his magical suitcase live a menagerie of dangerous creatures. But when the beasts escape, officials from the Magical Congress send the wizarding authorities after Newt, as the peaceful relationship between magic people and Muggles comes under threat.

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David Yates, director of four Harry Potter movies,

is at the helm of this hotlyanticipated spin-off movie, written by Harry Potter creator JK Rowling (her first ever screenwriting credit!).

A host of famous faces join the Academy Award-winning Redmayne, including Colin Farrell (Saving Mr Banks), Katherine Waterston (Inherent Vice) and Samantha Morton (Minority Report). Fantastic Beasts is

the first of a planned trilogy of magical adventures!

Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Dan Fogler, Ezra Miller, Samantha Morton, Colin Farrell Director: David Yates CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Doctor Strange Release date: 28 October 2016 Benedict Cumberbatch is a sorcerous superhero in Marvel’s latest all-action extravaganza.

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Doctor Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a brilliant yet arrogant neurosurgeon whose life is turned upside down when he barely survives a devastating car accident. Embarking on a journey of self-discovery, he travels to the Far East where he becomes the protégé of the mysterious Ancient One (Tilda Swinton). A mystical being she opens Stephen’s mind to extraordinary alternate dimensions, which Stephen eventually learns to manipulate in his new guise as superhero Doctor Strange.

Soon Stephen’s abilities are put to the ultimate test when villainous Kaecilius (Mads

Mikkelsen) threatens the future of the entire world.

With Sherlock superstar Cumberbatch taking his first steps into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a host of dazzling special effects and an all-star supporting cast also including 12 Years a Slave’s Chiwetel Ejiofor and Spotlight’s Rachel McAdams, Sinister director Scott Derrickson’s magical

Marvel adventure promises to be one of 2016’s most unforgettable.

Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Mads Mikkelsen, Rachel McAdams, Tilda Swinton Director:Scott Derrickson CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Rogue One : A Star Wars Story Release date: 15 December 2016 Rebel fighters plot to steal the Death Star plans in the thrilling first new Star Wars anthology film. Taking place shortly before the events

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of the original 1977 classic Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Rogue One charts the desperate resistance mission to seize plans for the terrifying Death Star. It’s the first in an exciting new series of stand-alone spinoff films under the Star Wars Anthology banner.

Cast: Felicity Jones, Mads Mikkelsen, Diego Luna, Riz Ahmed, Forest Whitaker, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Alan Tudyk, Ben Mendelsohn Director: Gareth Edwards CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Release date: 21 October 2016 Tom Cruise races against time to expose an elaborate conspiracy in this thrillpacked action sequel.

Formidable ex-military badass Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) returns to Virginia to meet up with Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), the head of his former unit. There’s considerable mutual admiration between these two uncompromising individuals, and perhaps a little more. But when Reacher arrives, he finds that Major Turner has been arrested on an espionage charge. He quickly realises that she’s been set-up as part of a dark, far-reaching conspiracy that also results in him being charged with a crime that was committed nearly two decades ago. But the resourceful, unstoppable

Reacher refuses to play by the rules and sets off on a high-octane cross-country chase to uncover the truth.

This spectacular sequel to ‘Jack Reacher’ sees the great Tom Cruise develop one of his most mesmerisingly hardbitten characters as it hurtles

towards a nail-biting climax.

Cast: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Robert Knepper, Danika Yarosh Director: Edward Zwick CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE TRAILER

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Unlimited Card Love Cinema. Join the club - £16.90 a month. You will receive...

Preferential Discounts Unlimited members get 10% off all food and drink bought in-cinema at any time of day, every day!* Plus, you’ll also receive discounts for all nonfilm screenings such as Live Opera in HD, Live National Theatre, Live sport in 3D and live gigs etc. (All discounts subject to terms)

Unlimited members benefit from exclusive deals set up by their local cinema*. These offers vary from cinema to cinema, but are a great way to save pennies. (All deals are subject to terms) *Until further notice Watch as many films as you like Are you mad about movies?

Feed your fascination by

watching as many films as you like at Cineworld every month from just £16.90.

There’s literally no limit to the number of times you can visit!

Apply for your card now at www.unlimitedcineworld. com/uk/pages/apply. aspx?step=1 using promo code RAF-63KG-29XM-00SB31WU.

Get access to Exclusive advance screenings As an Unlimited member, you can be among the first to see great movies at our special screenings. Just keep an eye on our Unlimited newsletter for your invitation.

Discounted Meals & Shopping

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STEPNEY Tyres

new premises Unit 4, maurice road ind est Newcastle upon Tyne, Ne28 6by

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NE Sporting Events would like to invite you to their next big wrestling spoken word event with former WWE superstar RYBACK on Monday December 12th at the Federation Breweries Lancastrian Suite.

“BIG GUY” will reveal all from his time spent in the biggest

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wrestling company in the world, his title reigns, and “that” feud with CM punk!!

There will be a 70 minute interview followed by a question and answer session, as well as photograph and signature opportunities with Ryback himself.

Event entry tickets are priced at only £20 with photo & signature combos priced at £30.

Kids under 10 go free with every paying adult (1 free child per 1 adult) Book tickets early to avoid disappointment. www.nesportingevents.co.uk/

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A darker SHADE of Black for Halloween

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One of the world’s leading figures in dark cabaret, Joe Black, will head to Gateshead’s Prohibition Cabaret Bar on Friday 21st October 2016 with SHADE. Joe has toured extensively across the UK, Europe, Australia and America. He has raised the roof at the British Library in London, astounded the rock elite at the ‘Kerrang!’

Awards and headlined music and arts events worldwide. He has also toured and performed alongside the likes of Eddie Izzard, The Tiger Lillies, David J, Voltaire, Toyah Wilcox and Duke Special.

The gin drinking cabaret darling and acid tongued ringmaster is making a much welcomed return to the North East when he joins Newcastle’s Shady Bunch for SHADE In

England – promoting the best drag artistes the British Isles have to offer. Joe is the latest star to take the Shady stage after the local misfits have brought Crystal Lubrikunt, Charlie Hides, The Vivian, Anna Phylactic and Cheddar Gorgeous to the region.

Elle O’Bouys, SHADE resident performer said ‘Joe is a unique talent who always packs the house and we are thrilled to have him for this intimate Halloween show’.

Living somewhere between the stages of music, theatre and comedy, Joe takes an audience firmly by the hand and guides them into a place where the strange and unusual reign supreme. Add to that performance from Shade’s top talent (Venus Dimilo, Mutha Tucka, Elle O’Bouys, Beauty Killer,

Crystal Meth and Anna Morphic) and you have an evening which promises to be like nothing you’ve seen before.

Advanced tickets £13 available online or tickets on the night £15 (please be aware this event may sell out before the night of the performance). For further information and to purchase tickets head to the SHADE Facebook page.

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