Join us on this captivating journey into the fascinating world of live entertainment. Host Adam Sternberg brings you engaging conversations with remarkable entertainers, from magicians and jugglers to aerial artists and contortionists. Discover the unique stories behind their extraordinary careers, the challenges they have faced, and the motivations that drive them. If you are passionate about live entertainment or simply curious about the lives of extraordinary performers, this podcast is a must-listen.

In this episode, Adam welcomes Reverend Bazil Meade, founder of the London Community Gospel Choir, widely recognised as a pioneering force in British gospel music. Bazil traces his path from a childhood on the Caribbean island of Montserrat to becoming one of the most influential figures in UK choral music. He shares moving and sometimes dramatic stories about migration, racism, faith, early musical mentorship, the formation of LCGC in the early 1980s and its rapid rise to performing on global stages and collaborating with major artists including Paul McCartney, George Martin, Luther Vandross, Foreigner and Madonna. Basil also breaks down the sound, history and emotional heart of gospel, the distinction between spirituals and modern gospel music, and how improvisation, movement and community inform the choir’s world-renowned style. We hear candid reflections on creativity, the transition to handing leadership to his children, unforgettable stage moments and a live lesson in singing that leads Adam to his first gospel duet.

Key Discussion Points

• Origins and Early Life in Montserrat: Born in Montserrat in the Caribbean, raised in a small wooden house and living largely off the land and the sea.
• Migration to the UK and Culture Shock: Travelled alone at age nine on a two week boat journey to Southampton, experiencing seasickness, unfamiliar food and the tight communal conditions typical of early Windrush-era ships.
• Early Musical Influences and Church Community: Grew into music through church life in Hackney and Dalston Lane.
• A Dramatic Escape and New Beginnings: Recounted a frightening confrontation with his stepfather that led him to flee the house, land in Leicester Square and impulsively leave for Germany with a group selling encyclopedias to US bases.
• Founding the London Community Gospel Choir: Co founded LCGC in 1982 with Lawrence Johnson, John Francis and Delroy Powell.
• Weekly Rehearsals and National Influence: Wednesday rehearsals began in the early years and continue to this day.
• Gospel: History, Sound and Soul: Explains the origins of Negro spirituals in slavery, the emotional weight of songs reflecting suffering, longing and coded expressions of hope.
• Improvisation, Movement and Choir Culture: Contrasts gospel with classical choral traditions, emphasising freedom, spontaneity and connection.
• Collaborations with Major Artists: Shares vivid stories from working with Paul McCartney on Give My Regards to Broad Street and with producer George Martin who had Montserrat ties.
• Recounts multiple recording and rehearsal sessions with Madonna, describing her intense focus, high standards and direct creative involvement.
• Reflects on an unforgettable collaboration with Luther Vandross, praising his warmth, respect and genuine connection with the choir.
• Passing the Baton to the Next Generation: Bazil’s children, Leon and Venetta, now lead LCGC. He speaks honestly about the challenge of stepping back after four decades, learning to let go and trusting a new creative vision.
• New Music and British Gospel Identity: Previews tracks from the upcoming LCGC album written by Leon and...

Join us on this captivating journey into the fascinating world of live entertainment. Host Adam Sternberg brings you engaging conversations with remarkable entertainers, from magicians and jugglers to aerial artists and contortionists. Discover the unique stories behind their extraordinary careers, the challenges they’ve faced, and the motivations that drive them. If you’re passionate about live entertainment or simply curious about the lives of these extraordinary performers, this podcast is a must-listen.

Episode Highlights

In this episode, Adam welcomes circus artist, director and producer Katharine Arnold, an aerialist with two decades of experience who has performed with La Clique and Cirque du Soleil and appeared as Mary Poppins in the Olympic opening ceremony. Katharine traces her path from a Brixton childhood and early ballet training to discovering trapeze at university. She explains the decision to leave a sensible office job at Bloomberg for life on tour, the variety of company experiences from collaborative outdoor shows to large scale revue productions, and the creative process behind her own company show Sophie’s Surprise 29th Birthday Party. Katharine shares candid stories about major surgery, recovery and returning to performance, the thrill of live risk, a hilarious rigging mishap involving a cable tie and her hair, and her views on sexualisation, costume and creative freedom. We also hear about training routines, the practical differences between small cabaret shows and huge productions like Cirque du Soleil, the challenges facing the London cabaret scene, and why she believes showmanship, narrative and audience interaction matter.

Key Discussion Points

• Origins and Early Training: Born and raised in Brixton; ballet from age three; school plays and early love of music and movement.
• Discovering Circus at University: Performing arts degree at Middlesex University with a physical theatre focus; Fevered Sleep visit brought circus equipment and a first taste of trapeze.
• Adult Classes and Formal Training: Evening trapeze classes at Circus Space, now the National Centre for Circus Arts; the choice to pursue circus alongside a degree.
• Career Turning Point: Working at Bloomberg briefly for financial security then auditioning for Giffords Circus and choosing the touring, performative life.
• First Companies and Variety of Work: From Giffords to an outdoor rock and roll flying trapeze show with live music, to Berlin’s Friedrichstadt Palast revue show, illustrating the spectrum from collaborative creation to highly directed large-scale productions.
• Working with Major Companies: Reflections on Cirque du Soleil as aspirational and legitimising; differences between being in original creative casts and joining established productions.
• Creating Sophie’s Surprise 29th Birthday Party: The concept of an immersive, comedic ensemble show where one audience member becomes Sophie; influences from Punchdrunk and late 90s, early 2000s pop culture; audience games, karaoke and direct interaction.
• Choreography and Music First Process: Katharine describes how music often drives her choreographic choices and how she builds acts around musicality.
• Act Construction and Subversion: Examples include the plastic surgery parody act that unexpectedly morphs into a moving hoop piece set to a Postmodern Jukebox cover of Creep.
• Injury and Recovery: Open account of major abdominal surgery during the pandemic to remove a tumour and the long rehabilitation that followed, plus the emotional impact of thinking performance might be over.
• Training and Maintenance: The difference between building strength as a beginner and...

Join us on this captivating journey into the fascinating world of live entertainment. Host Adam Sternberg brings you engaging conversations with remarkable entertainers, from magicians and jugglers to aerial artists and contortionists. Discover the unique stories behind their extraordinary careers, the challenges they've faced, and the motivations that drive them. If you're passionate about live entertainment or simply curious about the lives of these extraordinary performers, this podcast is a must-listen.

Episode Highlights

In this episode, Adam welcomes silhouette artist Charles Burns a performer–artist whose entire show fits into a pocket: paper and scissors. From a bruising boarding-school experience to art college and the Covent Garden piazza, Charles charts how drawing led him to live silhouette cutting, why imperfection makes entertainment memorable, and what it felt like to interrupt Queen Elizabeth II (successfully!) to cut Her Majesty’s profile. He explains his mirror-free, one-line cutting technique, the psychology of likeness, why some people “don’t look like themselves” in profile, and how lockdown sparked his global Zoom silhouette studio. We also hear about AI silhouettes, Disney’s influence on the American style, and an 18th-century automaton “artist” with a human under the table.

Key Discussion Points

• Origins & Early Training: Growing up in Somerset; boarding at Ampleforth; bullying; sanctuary in the art room with sculptor-teacher John Bunting; discovering that drawing was the foundation.
• Art Education: Foundation at Exeter; time at the École des Beaux-Arts (Lyon); degree at Wolverhampton; art as communication vs. art-therapy.
• Artist vs Performer: Why most artists perform (and most performers create art); Charles sits “on the cusp,” literally performing portraits in front of an audience.
• Covent Garden Beginnings: Late-1980s street portraitist; a visiting Spanish cutter inspires the switch to silhouettes.
• Technique & Tools: Pocketed papers, white backing sheet, cutting largely in one continuous line; right-profile preference for a right-handed cutter; rotating the paper, not the scissors.
• Work & Temperament: “One of nature’s self-employed”; office life felt like returning to school politics.
• Neurodiversity: Son’s diagnosis led to Charles’s own autism-spectrum diagnosis in his 40s; reframing meticulous preparation as a strength.
• Everyone Can Draw: Fear often comes from bad early teaching; skill = motivation + hard work; drawing as the base of all visual art.
• Royal Encounter: Cutting Queen Elizabeth II at a Ritz Golden Jubilee party—nerves, etiquette, and simply stepping in; other high-profile sitters mentioned by Adam include Nelson Mandela and President Clinton.
• Capturing Likeness: Children who won’t sit still; poor lighting at events; self-image vs. profile reality; audiences often “rescue” a likeness because they see you as others do.
• Entertainment Over Perfection: Some silhouettes are better than others—human variability is part of the show; the joy of imperfection and the retelling (magicians’ lesson).
• Live Demonstration: Charles cuts Adam’s silhouette on-air—narrating chest→chin→nose→glasses→hair; occasional “back-cutting” fixes; speed builds with warm-up.
• Human vs. Machine: Low-tech authenticity matters; guests often expect equipment and are astonished it’s “just scissors.”
• AI & Automation: Experiments with AI-generated silhouettes; yes, a laser could cut them—but the human...