THEY may have been tailenders when players, but broadcasters and former England cricketers Jonathan Agnew and Phil Tufnell — best known as Aggers and Tuffers — move to the top of the entertainment order for this year’s Wight Proms.
With a century of successful shows not out, performed around the country for more than eight years to great acclaim, Aggers and Tuffers make their Isle of Wight debut, on the turf of Northwood House, Cowes, on Tuesday, August 13.
A winning partnership, the pair will not only talk about cricket and demonstrate why the sport is so much in vogue, but also unlock some of the funny things done and said by the great and good of the game, over their fascinating careers.
Aggers and Tuffers got to know each other on the radio, on legendary programme Test Match Special — a show, which someone once wrote, “switches between idle thoughts, analysis and description, all in rhythm with the play, and where, for many listeners, the cricket is almost incidental”.
They have great chemistry and bounce off each other brilliantly — and that has transferred successfully to the stage.
Aggers, with a 35-year BBC broadcasting career, is the backbone, with great charm and not without wit, while Tuffers is the maverick, runaway train, with great natural comic imagination and always with something funny to say.
Aggers — who used to do a touring show with England legend, Geoffrey Boycott — gave the County Press an insight into what to expect at Northwood House.
“A lot of people are interested in cricket — talking about cricket and cricket stories,” Aggers said.
“But this is not necessarily for the cricket fan. It’s much more widespread than that.
“Tuffers is a very funny man. Tuffers and I have done close to 100 shows — well it certainly feels like that,” he quipped.
“They’re always different, always fun. Tuffers is someone who just lights up like a Christmas tree. You just plug him in and bang!
“It’s really nice to be coming together to the Isle of Wight for the first time.”
Aggers is no stranger to the Island — a place he has great affection for.
A pilot the past 17 years, he often flies to Bembridge, from as far as Nottingham, and spends holidays and short breaks on the Island.
Aggers, the brainchild of the show, doesn’t know if the same is true of Tuffers — but he has an inkling.
“I doubt it. When he goes for a break, he normally heads to Spain. I just don’t see Tuffers being a ‘drive to the ferry terminal’ kind of guy. I could be wrong, but I very much doubt it.”
The show, which will include video and audio clips of funny moments, will also give Tuffers a chance to lift the lid of his experiences on hit shows like I’m a Celebrity, Strictly Come Dancing and A Question of Sport.
Tuffers and Aggers will also let the audience into some secrets about being on tour with England, a confrontation with an Aussie legend, facing fast bowling, some withering sledges, and more — priceless anecdotes no cricket fan will want to miss.
There will also be a few googlies thrown in!
“We’ll go off on a tangent. That’s part of the fun. On the radio, we go off on these little adventures and don’t know where they’re going to end up — which can be quite dangerous sometimes,” Aggers joked.
“That’s part of it — and the listener goes there with you. That’s what we do on stage.”
Article courtesy of
Source link
