‘It’ll be something between a crazy Christmas panto and a TED talk!’
For most performers, preparing for a tour might involve getting fit and learning lines. But wildlife presenter and adventurer Steve Backshall is going to extreme lengths for Deadly Live!, so it is as visually spectacular as possible.
The tour, based on the hugely popular CBBC series, will see Steve tell the story of the world’s most formidable predators, from dinosaurs and sharks to birds of prey and big cats. It will be brought into life with the help of huge screens, high-tech experiments and cutting-edge audio effects.
Deadly Live! is coming to Connexin Live during half-term at 2pm on Sunday, November 2. “If we’re going to arenas, there’s got to be a reason for doing it there and we’ve got to make use of the space,” Steve said.
“So there’s going to be a giant screen filled with the most beautiful aesthetic wonders that our natural world has to offer, an amazing sound system so that you can hear and even feel the vibrations of the footsteps of a T-rex pounding over the ground, and life-sized animatronic dinosaurs striding about the stage.
“There’s also going to be plenty of slapstick and circus skills and stunts and experiments. If I’ve got these dinosaurs striding about with their tails slashing around, I am probably going to be swept off the stage by that whip-like tail.
“And I’m probably going to get hosed from head to toe in Dino-poo. The opportunity for me to get gunged is endless, and that’s something that I won’t shy away from.
“I’m in the process of learning how to breathe fire, how to throw axes and daggers, how to use whips. It’ll be riotous chaos.”
So, forget the vocal warm-ups and the learning lines – in fact, Steve has prepared an intense regime to get ready for the tour of his life. “I’ve set up an axe-throwing alley in my back garden,” he says.
“I practise every day because I’ve got to be good enough to do it on stage in front of 14,000 people and not make a complete fool of myself – or skewer one of the crew backstage. I’ve been practising fire-breathing and so far I’ve burnt all of the hairs off my forearm.
“There’s going to be a bit of everything in there. It’ll be something between a crazy Christmas panto and a TED talk!” Tickets for Steve’s previous Ocean Live tour sold out at some venues in less than 24 hours, and he realised there was a huge appetite for people wanting to learn about natural history while being entertained with an electrifying spectacle.
So he hit on the idea of taking Deadly on an arena tour for the first time ever: he’ll be travelling to arenas around the country during the October school half-term and staging most shows in the afternoon, which is great for families.
“We wanted to do something that is completely mega and massive,” he says. “It’s going to be intimidating, standing on stage at arenas where rock bands and pop stars have played, and talking about animals. I mean, it’s flipping madness, but I can’t wait!”
The show will tell the story of our planet’s greatest predators, starting with the first light 600 million years ago, to the very first cephalopods and the early sharks to dinosaurs, the first reptiles and birds, through to the last Ice Age and culminating with the modern animals that are seen today.
As well as being a history of evolution, the show will include as much cutting-edge and up-to-date science as possible, with Steve potentially tweaking the script right up to the last minute to reflect new findings.
For example, he has added a section about a recent sighting off the coast of Monmouthshire in Wales where onlookers observed a phenomenon known as bioluminescence, where waters and any nearby wildlife – including, in this case, sharks – glow bright green.
“I’m writing a scientific paper about it at the moment,” he says. “And I’m really keen to include it because the footage is absolutely breathtaking. The opportunity to talk about that, to show it on the screen for the first time, is going to blow people away because it’s stunning.”
Steve is known and loved by all generations and he’s keen to make sure the arena tour appeals to all of his fans, regardless of age. But that doesn’t mean dumbing down, he insists.
“We have everybody at our shows from three-year-olds up to professors of marine biology,” he says. “We’ll be making sure there’s something in there for everyone – there are intriguing, hardcore science jokes that only the adults will get, slapstick the kids will love, visual wonder for everybody – and science.
“The thing that takes some people by surprise is the level of science that kids are prepared to listen to and understand and be thrilled by. There’s more factual content in my kids’ programmes than there is in my so-called grown-up programmes, so we won’t be reducing that.”
Anybody who knows Steve’s work knows he has a limitless enthusiasm and energy: and as he talks about the Deadly Live! tour, he’s typically awe-struck and excited about the challenge ahead.
He says: “When I first toured Australia, I had nine shows at the Sydney Opera House, and I can remember walking up the steps of this iconic venue and calling my mum then crying like a baby when I went into the dressing room where The Rolling Stones and The Beatles had been.
“I had a sense of standing on the shoulders of giants and following in the footsteps of all these absolute icons. What an opportunity for someone like me who genuinely spends their days wading around in hippo poo, you know?
“It’s crazy but it’s fantastic that there are enough people out there who are interested in the natural world, that we could even consider doing this. I can’t wait.”
Tickets can be booked on Connexin Live.
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