Additional TALKS by speakers Roger and Sandra Downton
Roger and Sandra’s life long interest and practical, hands on involvement with their subjects, gives them an exclusive, unique and extreme wealth of information, knowledge, and insight into their topics and characters. They are both seasoned performers and present an entertaining, confident and engaging talk guaranteed to inspire the imagination.
Circumnavigating the Isle of Wight by Canoe |
Circumnavigating the Isle of Wight by canoe involves negotiating some of the most challenging and unpredictable seas in the Northern Hemisphere, whilst observing the picturesque, undulating World Heritage coastline. Follow Roger and Sandra’s epic voyage with gripping descriptions of crossing the choppy waters of the Solent where they luckily avoided a near collision with a large Royal Naval destroyer, rounding the rugged waters of the perilous Needles Lighthouse close to the precarious jagged rocks on which it stands, battling through the maelstrom of rip curl breaking waves in the tidal races at St Catherine’s Point, and navigating the busy commercial shipping lanes and cross channel ferries off Portsmouth and Cowes. In contrast, they crossed tranquil sun-soaked bays and gazed mesmerised at the magnificent geology of the chalk and coloured sandstone cliffs with remarkable rock formations formed over millions of years. Hear how they were embarrassingly swept on to Queen Victoria’s royal beach of Osborne House on the north shore, and share the southern delights of floating serenely over the ledges of beautiful live coral reefs that passed inches below the hull of their canoe, ‘Sardine’. Their escapade involved rough overnight camping stops on farms with menageries, as well as a seafront 4 star hotel with red squirrels, and the dynamic Jurassic coastline near Sandown where people scramble over rock pools hoping to discover a dinosaur footprint ….. an absorbing story of raw courage, stamina and endurance.
The Development of Appalachian Mountain Music and Dance
Roger and Sandra explain that when the British migrated to America in the 18th Century to settle in the Appalachian Mountains, they took with them their anglo-celtic dance tunes, played on fiddles and accompanied by English clog and Irish step dancing. Re-shaped by percussive African (slave) rhythms and Cherokee Indian influences, a new kind of foot-tapping music evolved, based on Scottish highland reels, and often referred to as ‘Hillbilly’ ….. Appalachian Mountain music. The pioneers created verandas as an effective form of air-conditioning; as the old-timers jammed on these back-porch verandas, folks tapped the wooden planks with their heavy boots, and eventually a more sophisticated style of dance evolved from the ‘melting pot’ of step dances ….. Appalachian Clog. This fascinating and enlightening talk is peppered with examples of lively fiddle tunes and exciting dance demonstrations performed by this talented couple.
The Sandstorms - A well spent Rock-n-Roll youth |
The refreshing, amusing, nostalgic journey, revealing the creation and short lived, dynamic life of The Sandstorms rock group. This talk reveals the real buzzy life of a south coast rock band of the Duane Eddy, Chuck Berry, Rolling Stones, Beatles era. It’s a brilliant study of the aspirations of a group of young eager teenagers who, with stars in their youthful eyes, and bags of drive, for a while, succeed to bring their burning ambitions of being a working rock group to fruition. The Sandstorms’ talk stirs many memories of those ‘fab’ times, and for those who weren’t around, or are simply curious, it fills in the mystery of what it was like to be in a local band back then. It’s a story that had to be told, and now it has. Projected photographs of The Sandstorms during the era and memorabilia are presented. Another absorbing, important element: the talk is punctuated with tasteful examples of live instrumental music and songs (by Roger and Sandra) demonstrating and depicting the creation and development of the late 50’s/early 60’s sounds. Their book, with foreword by Duane Eddy, is available.
The Fascinating Story of Belly Dancing
‘Yasmin Asar’ presents a dynamic, absorbing, amusing, and enlightening talk that stimulates the imagination as it unfolds to reveal the origins and development of Egyptian Belly Dancing. Yasmin eloquently explains the history of the dance from its conception in the ancient times of the pharaohs, its place in society, symbolism, sensuality, folkloric traditions, and the involvement of men in the dance. Discover how the costume has evolved through history until the present day with its glittering and ostentatious cabaret styles influenced by Hollywood. Each section of her talk is wonderfully complimented by stirring music and an enthralling, colourful dance routine that captures the mood, and is occasionally punctuated with mystic Comedy Magic from the inimitable, international cabaret artiste, ‘Tony Risotto’. At the conclusion, the audience may be invited to take a scarf and have a go for themselves, with a little basic tuition from Yasmin ….. a good giggle for the onlookers!
Yasmin is one of the most elegant and skilled exponents of traditional Egyptian Belly Dancing having taught and performed worldwide. Great entertainment and a riveting visually embellished talk.
Comedy Legends Max Miller, W.C. Fields, and Norman Wisdom
An illustrated biographical journey into the life and career of
Max Miller – ‘The Cheeky Chappie’
“Now here’s a funny thing” …..
The intriguing story and development of one, Thomas Henry Sargent, who, with much tenacity and a lot of talent, managed to extricate himself from the deprivation and life of an urchin living amongst the grimy, Edwardian slums of Brighton to become ‘Max Miller’, one of the highest paid, colourful, and legendary comedians to have ever graced the British stage and Music Hall. A rags-to-riches story with the intrigue of his private life, working in a touring concert party, to eventually topping the bill of the Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium. His death and subsequent Will opened a can of worms and debate about his private life. For his era, and as the title ‘Cheeky Chappie’ suggests, he was one of the first exponents of risqué, irreverent, naughty-but-nice material. Max was totally unique, loved by all, and a man of the people. A fascinating, funny and most entertaining story.
Roger and Sandra not only describe the story of Max Miller, but Roger is an accomplished Max Miller impersonator who was featured on the BBC TV 40 Minutes programme, ‘The Life of Max Miller’. To the delight of audiences, Roger punctuates their talk with some of Max’s inimitable and hilarious comedy material and songs. Fascinating background, and an entertaining presentation of a very likeable peoples’ comedian.
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An illustrated biographical journey into the life and career of
W.C. Fields - “My little chickadee!”
“A woman drove me to drink, but I forgot to write and thank her” is an inherited technique and one of the many asides W.C. Fields is credited with saying.
Roger and Sandra graphically reveal the life and career of the comedian W.C. Fields. With his pleasantly portly stature and that iconic clown-like, bulbous, pock-marked red nose, Fields was a most intriguing, conflicting and enigmatic character. Born William Claude Dukenfield in Derby, Pennsylvania, U.S.A, he began his road to becoming a famous Hollywood comedy star and big bucks earner. From a modest childhood, he discovered a talent for juggling and playing pool. He wrote comedy sketches that would later be his vehicle to fame on the silver screen. In 1930 he embarked upon a remarkable world tour, and ultimately became an inspiration to many comedians.
His real life followed the pattern of the clown with comedy and pathos in liberal portions and ended as a direct result of his infatuation with alcohol. Next to him till the end was his mistress of fourteen years, Carlotta Monti. Fields was a glittering, talented and creative performer who brought so much fun and laughter to so many people. Even his death stirred up controversy, resentment from some, and court battles which went on for many years afterwards.
This informative and intriguing talk is illustrated with a presentation of pictures. A feel and empathy for the character is brought to life through Roger’s dramatic impersonations, ably fed by Sandra, from a selection of Fields’ material.
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An illustrated and physical journey into the knock-about career of
the inimitable, Norman Wisdom -
The blight of Mr Grimsdale
Many of us are familiar with the expression, “Mr Grimsdale!”, and it can only conjure up one character. Yes, the inimitable knock-about, down trodden, unrequited (never gets the girl) love, Norman Wisdom. His many hilarious films, TV and stage appearances made him a lovable household name and put him up there with all the great original comedians. As a consummate, gifted, creative and physical comedy performer, he devoted his life to making us laugh. Interestingly, there is more than one aspect to Norman the clown; his disciplines and life passage included boxing, an army career, singing, song writing and musicianship. He was determined to succeed with his comedy, musical talents and ideas, even when some high authorities in the entertainment business advised him otherwise, but he had confidence in what he wanted to present, and it proved fruitful, made us laugh and brought an admiring tear to the eye.
This fascinating talk (with Roger’s remarkable, life-like impersonation) manifests the character and the man in that ill-fitting tatty suit with the jauntily worn cap.
