Master of mimicry Alistair McGowan has stepped in to entertain North East entrepreneurs following a major business conference in the region on Thursday.The comic impressionist, best known for his impersonations of sporting and political figures, will appear at the gala dinner after the Entrepreneurs’ Forum’s annual business conference at the Hilton Hotel in Gateshead.
McGowan was the star of The Big Impression, along with female impressionist Ronni Ancona, with whom he played David Beckham to her Victoria.
The show was one of BBC1’s top rated comedy programmes for four years, winning numerous awards including a BAFTA in 2003.
From 1992-1996, he provided the voices for many of the characters on Spitting Image.
McGowan co-wrote and starred in four series of the satirical sports show The Game’s Up on Radio Five.
His interest in sport also saw him release three football comedy videos, Football Backchat, The Second Leg and Alistair McGowan's Big World Cup.
He wrote A Matter of Life and Death, an autobiographical comedy self-help book about football as an addiction, with Ronni Ancona.
He has performed in numerous theatre plays and his television acting credits including Bleak House.
He has hosted Have I Got News For You? and has been featured on the hugely popular Who Do You Think You Are?
A keen environmentalist, McGowan has never yet owned a car and is an ambassador for WWF-UK.
Carole Beverley, chief executive of the Entrepreneurs’ Forum, explained: “We are delighted to have been able to call in Alistair after John Bishop, who was lined up to entertain our guests, received a personal invitation from the film director Ken Loach to appear at the Cannes Film Festival, to promote a film he is staring in.
“Alistair is a more than worthy replacement and with his interest in football and his topical impressions from the world of politics he is sure to be a hit with our audience.”
Guests are able to attend the gala dinner at 7pm on May 20 at a cost of £75+VAT per person to include drinks reception, three course dinner and Alastair McGowan exclusive performance.
The conference itself – entitled SEVEN – has a stellar line-up of speakers including Lord Kirkham, the founder of furniture chain DFS; Jo Elvin, founder of GLAMOUR magazine; Karen Darby, who established the SimplySwitch price comparison service and since launched Call Britannia; and Edwin Booth, of Booths supermarkets.
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