An Interview with Neil Hurst

Ahead of his turn in one of Yorkshire’s biggest pantos, Goldilocks and the Three Bears at Hull New Theatre, panto legend Neil Hurst, who plays Joey the Clown, sat down with Roger Crow for a chat…

Neil, tell us about your Goldilocks character, Joey the Clown. Is he as much fun as he sounds?
Yeah he is. He’s in love with Goldilocks. Always trying to win her heart, but will he get it? Who knows? You’ll have to buy a ticket to come and see.

Is Joey a nice clown, and quite ‘wise’ with his ‘pennies’?
(Affecting a Pennywise voice). ‘Hello Georgie’. (laughs). My daughter’s obsessed with Pennywise, though she’s shouldn’t be watching ‘It’. She’s 13. No, I’m not a creepy clown.

Pantos like Goldilocks are such slick productions these days. It’s good to see how much things have changed compared to some shows from years ago.
Over the years panto has had a bit of a bad reputation as cheap, nasty theatre, but actually the money that’s put into it nowadays is big, big bucks, and the money it brings in helps so many venues up and down the country, so it survives when there isn’t that big show coming in.

What’s the best thing about creating a panto?
The audiences. When you’re rehearsing, you don’t have that final character there, which is the audience. Then when you get on stage, they’re there. And their reactions are different every night. So it influences us every night and makes our reactions different every night. You watch it at the beginning of the run and then at the end of the run and it’s a different show.

You and Jack Land Noble (Betty Barnum) have worked together before. What’s his most annoying habit? And what’s his superpower?
Being funnier than me is quite an annoying habit. He’s a lovely, gentle guy. What’s his superpower? Not laughing when I make a joke; he’s very good at holding it in.

I’m guessing there will be laughs for little kids, adults and wobbly grandmas, but has there ever been a gag or word you had to avoid because you couldn’t stop laughing?
The stuff I said which has come out of my mouth and I’ve thought, ‘Oh why have I said that?’ I do think of it as a family show. A lot of places think of it as just for kids, and it partly is, but that’s why I do some of the riskier jokes that do go over the kids’ heads. You’ve got to do it for mum and dad and grandad and grandma. They’re all paying for the ticket, and it’s important you tick all the boxes throughout the family. I don’t like pantos that are a bit namby pamby and just do safe. There is a line, and over the years I think I’ve become better at knowing where that line is, but you can go very close to it.”

One of my favourite jobs of yours was where you didn’t say a word – the tea advert with Sean Bean.
One of my favourites as well.” (laughs). “We shot that in March 2019, and it came on (TV) in April 2019. And by 2020, we couldn’t make any more adverts (because of Covid), so I got paid again. And then in April 2021, Sean Bean was in a TV show at the time, so they said, ‘We’ll run it again’. So three years for that one gig!

If you could work with any stage or screen star, who would they be and why?
The Rock. I’d like to be in a movie with Dwayne Johnson, like a buddy cop movie. I always get more starstruck when I work with people from my childhood. And you think ‘Whoa, that is crazy’. If Timmy Mallett was to walk in here right now, I’d pass out.”

Finally, if there are three magic ingredients to a hit panto, what would they be?
Laughter, laughter, laughter. People wait all year for this. They book their tickets in January, or as soon as they’ve seen the last one. They look forward to it so much, and people work hard all year. You have to give them a good time.

‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’ is at Hull New Theatre from December 11-31