UK COMEDY
‘Thirty years of Mirth’ is perhaps the best way to describe the reign thus far of Blackpool’s legendary funny guy, Leye D Johns. Mark Ritchie joined an audience of five hundred invited guests and friends of this great entertainer, at his very own Viva Cabaret Theatre in Blackpool.

The crowd gathered one late Sunday afternoon to witness a Leye D Johns love-fest and that is exactly what we got. From his humble yet undoubtedly camp beginnings on the am-dram scene, this local lad became a performer armed with extravagant gestures and raw talent, before eventually developing the comedy and musical skills of the expansively camp entertainer we see today. The comedic skills have developed over time of course. The Leye D Johns I first saw, just up the promenade all those years ago was a faster zany and more frenetic kind of comedian then the one we see today.
The tribute, a great mix of live performance and video highlights, thrown onto a huge screen, brought back so many memories for so many people in the audience, some of whom had travelled from abroad and from all over the UK to attend.
There are far too many people to mention here, but it was great to see and hear tributes from some of the stars who appear regularly at Viva, including Joe Pasquale, Jay Aston and Cheryl Baker from Bucks Fizz (these days inexplicably known as ‘The Fizz’) and cruise ship headliner Nick Page. His wife the winger Tanya Tevaro was also out front, as was Nick’s Dad, the retired entertainer Barry Santana. The reason for my singling this showbusiness family out, was the appearance on stage of Nick and Tanya’s daughter Co Co Roja, who is presently a fledgling singing star. People who have been around the business for a long time and know their stuff will tell you that, when you see and hear a singer/performer for the first time and you just know you are witnessing something special, it is most probably because you are witnessing something special!
Meanwhile back with Leye, we saw great work from singer/presenter Matt Andrews and heard the voice of the late Joe Longthorne. Joe was such an influence on Leye D Johns career, as we watched a video screen on which Joe was duetting with the great Blackpool singing star Tracey Jordan. The twist was that Miss Jordan was on-stage and singing live, with her voice mixed with Joe’s famous tones. That is technology for you!
Singer Kyle Passmore walked out on stage and informed the rapturous audience, ‘Hi I’m Kyle and I’m from the Leye D Johns bedroom’! Kyle is of course the partner of our man of the moment.
We should of course mention Martin Heywood the co-owner of the Viva Cabaret Theatre, who was there on the night and has been there with Leye D Johns since the Alabama Showboat days, which the star made a return visit to, making a short film which was presented as part of the evening at Viva. Walking into Liberty’s Hotel, Leye stood on stage being filmed, standing amongst baggage. The reason was that the cabaret room is not exactly what it once was and nowadays is partially used as a luggage repository.
From little acorns big oaks do grow. Is this the end of the Leye D Johns Blackpool story? Ask me again in another 30 years.