We interviewed Julie Graham; she loves theatre but can’t afford to do because it just doesn’t pay.
Exactly.
So when you’ve done it the other way round, earned few quid on TV, that’s when you can start doing a bit of theatre.
That was always my aim, that’s what I wanted to do so I could do theatre because then I can just produce my own shows, that’s basically what I’ve done with Sid’s Show. Sid’s Show was on the road touring the UK but I produced it, I self-funded it.
You’re based in Brighton, what do you like about Brighton?
I love Brighton. What’s not to love about Brighton?
Well, that’s going to be my next question.
I came to Brighton 24 years ago when I first made a visit to see a friend who used to have a flat in St Margaret’s and he introduced me into the ways of Brighton life. It was a little bit seedier than it is today. There weren’t too many people of colour in those days so I was a bit like a real novelty. I got a lot of attention for it and it was the days of Eddie Murphy and I think I had a moustache; I might even have had an Eddie Murphy ‘tache. So here was I being the Eddie Murphy of Brighton, getting a lot of attention and I was quite successful, you could say, with the ladies. So I kind of quite liked coming down to Brighton and it wasn’t long before I met the woman who became my wife. I found Brighton really interesting because it had the whole seafront thing going on as well. It was like a seaside resort, like a really cool hip trendy one. I quickly got onto the name Soho on the Coast and I used to go to Soho clubbing all the time and I was like, “Yeah, I agree, it’s definitely like that here.” The first place I lived in Brighton was on London Road, in a nice sort of posh little flat. The theatres were around, the clubs were around, the cinema was around and there was a kind of this newness and you kind of felt the sense of it becoming a city before it got city status. So those are the things that I really loved about it and still do today and I’ve discovered more since becoming a permanent resident. The pace of life was so much different to London and that was what I really
liked about it. It’s quickened now but the air’s much cleaner. What I love about Brighton more than anything else is I don’t have to plan anything, just open the door, step into the street and it’s going on.
Yes, a very good one I must say.
So what don’t you like about Brighton?
I wish it was more culturally mixed. It has this tag, this label of being very culturally diverse but, actually, it isn’t. So I don’t like the way that they sell the cultural diversity when it’s quite obviously not as culturally diverse as it says it is. I don’t like seeing the beggars on the street and I don’t like seeing people who seem to be genuinely homeless. I see them get ignored a lot, I see people looking down on them. I don’t like chuggers in Brighton.
Thank you very much. And that was predominantly for Rockinghorse and Hilton in the Community.
Yes.
Do you do a fair bit with the Rockinghorse charity?
The great thing about the Rockinghorse charity is it’s a local charity and my time locally can be made available as and when. So I will always do what I can for them because I actually do believe strongly in what they’re campaigning for as well, and that’s the thing for me. I’m an ambassador for the Family and Childcare Trust. They’re much more about legislation, campaigning in parliament for families and children, families from old down to young but it’s mainly parenting and issues to do with childcare and stuff like that. The Rockinghorse Appeal is one of those charities that I think are vital particularly in terms of how they help the Alexandra
You’re a very charitable guy. We first met at a charity fundraiser when you were a judge and I was a dancer in a jive competition… [see Jiving Jason]
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