If Chris Tarrant and Bill Bailey could have a child, it would probably be something like Rob Deering. Part quiz show host, part musical comedian, Deering is back at the Fringe with The Rob Deering Experience, his first stand up performance in several years.
Not content with only one string of shows, Deering is also bringing his “live music game show” Beat This to Edinburgh during the weekends.
Regarding Beat This, Deering told STV:
“It’s late night, much more of a free for all, with other comedians, and shenanigans, carousing, that kind of thing!”
Previous participants in Beat This include established names like Frank Skinner and Danny Wallace, as well as TV presenter Ed Hall.
Deering gave STV a breakdown of the show’s format:
“Beat This is a panel game with two teams of two playing against each other, but me being me it’s a proper quiz. It’s all in good fun but people do play to win, it’s quite exciting. It’s like the kind of quizzes you do on the radio during the day time, with me playing all the music live.”
STV wondered if Deering ever had ambitions to be a quiz show host as a child. He refuted:
“Not a quiz show host at all, but doing quizzes yes. In my family, we always did quizzes instead of emotions and interaction, so Christmas for example was a week of doing all the Christmas crosswords.”
Deering isn’t exaggerating. His official website reveals that he made his TV quiz debut at the tender age of 12, on TVam’s Crack It. Despite being beaten at the final hurdle, Deering has since learned from his mistakes and in 2007 won a special edition of The Weakest Link, answering every question correctly.
Regarding his stand-up return, Deering was enthusiastic:
“It’s great; I’ve really been looking forward to it, which is brilliant because I’ve done it so many times. It’s nice to freshen up, and it’s three years since I did it. It feels like a generation to me.”
Deering has put himself through a rigorous training regime to prepare for the festival:
“I’ve been staying up late, drinking, going back and watching The Crow Road in a drunken stupor ‘til about four in the morning. So in about a week, I think, I’m going to die.”
If you fancy catching Rob Deering before his untimely end, Beat This will be running from the 19th to the 27th of August. The Rob Deering Experience will run also run from the 19th until the 28th of August. For tickets and more information on both shows, see the Edinburgh Festival website.
