Circus - Paul Mayhew-Archer

Presented by: Eastbourne College

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0	EASTBOURNE : College Birley Centre
P	Saturday 23rd April, 2022
N	6:30pm

Event information

Paul Mayhew-Archer “Incurable Optimist”
A show about a lifetime in comedy and living with Parkinson’s. Coming to Eastbourne for one night only. In 1967 Paul became a pupil at Eastbourne College. Over the next five years he developed into the third worst rugby player in the school and was so bad at cricket (couldn’t bat or bowl or field) that the teacher made him an umpire. Paul then made so many shockingly bad decisions that he became the only Umpire ever to be sent off.
Then, in the sixth form, he wrote a comedy play and his inspirational teacher, Philip LeBrocq, encouraged him to put it on. When he heard the audience laugh at something he’d written Paul knew what he wanted to do. After Cambridge and a brief career in teaching, during which he organised a school trip and got left behind, he joined the BBC and has been trying to make us laugh ever since.

His writing credits include 'The Vicar of Dibley’, “Mrs Brown’s Boys” and the screen version of “Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot” starring Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman. He produced the much loved Radio 4 shows ‘I'm Sorry I haven’t A Clue’ and ‘Old Harry’s Game’, and as a script editor he has worked on everything from ‘Spitting Image’ to ‘Miranda’.

In 2011 he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s. It’s an incurable illness that gets progressively worse and has over 50 symptoms. It is also - as Paul quickly found out - funny.

Since then he’s had some of the best times of his life.

In 2016 he made his first documentary, “Parkinson’s: The funny Side”, for which he won the Grierson Award for Best Documentary Presenter. In 2017 he started doing stand-up about Parkinson’s, first at the Royal Albert Hall then at The Comedy Store. In 2018 he took part in his first podcast, sitting next to The Archbishop of Canterbury, and performed his first ever One Man show, "Incurable Optimist”, at the Edinburgh Fringe.
In 2019 he toured the show round the UK and now post-covid, he is bringing it to Eastbourne.

"Incurable Optimist” is an inspiring show about the therapeutic power of comedy and laughter from a man who is not contagious but is well worth catching.

Profits raised will be split equally between Parkinson’s UK and Eastbourne College Bursary Fund, which offers young people the opportunity of a College education which they may not otherwise have.

A bar will be open during the interval and we will be happy to accept donations in CASH only