I took my mum to see the special Valentine’s edition of Deanworld in Hull the other night.
I texted a friend when I was there, saying, “I’m out watching Dean Wilson,” and she replied, “What do you mean? Are you stalking him or something?”
I had to explain to her that I was at the venue, Toastie, in Whitefriargate, to watch Dean and his collection of weird and wonderful variety acts, rather than hanging around outside Withernsea Lighthouse or the prom in the dark, on the off-chance that Dean should walk by with a clutch of beach finds.
We’re still working on a follow-up to his popular Pebble of the Week series, but if you’re missing your regular Dean fix, you absolutely must get hold of one of the A4 poster prints that are now available here at the Gazette, or Dean’s website if you’re nowhere near Withernsea (see the story on the right).
When Dave Lee got in touch with me to suggest the Gazette sponsor the posters, I thought it was a no-brainer – what a great thing to be involved with! And the end result, by Viz illustrator Lee Healey (usually known for somewhat darker cartoons, it has to be said), is utterly joyous. Words can hardly describe how much I love it!
It needs to be shared far and wide, and I would hope it might go some way to counteracting the sort of depressing stories that we referred to in last week’s paper. So don’t hesitate to pop in and pick up a poster print. Hopefully they’ll fly out of the door – at least one of them has my name on it.
Oh, and what did my mum think of Deanworld? Well, she’s fairly broadminded, thankfully, but I had hinted at the sort of stuff she might expect, having seen a previous Deanworld variety show a few months back. It was every bit as bonkers as I expected, plus a fair few things I most certainly did not expect…
Dean didn’t do one of my favourite poems the other night, which is Clay Cliffs Crumble – a lament to coastal erosion. It ends: “So, do yourselves a favour, and treat the cliffs, and the sea, with respect – I don’t want to read your obituary in the Holderness Gazette.”
If you want to hear the full version (I recommend you do), you can find it on his spoken-word album, Sometimes I’m So Happy I’m Not Safe on the Stage, which was recorded at Wrecking Ball last year. You might just hear me going “whoop” when he reads that last line…
