I am a writer, researcher, public speaker and tour guide based in the Wirral. I have written comedy material for performers including Steve Coogan, Simon Pegg, Milton Jones, Steve Punt and Hugh Dennis, Smack the Pony, Hale and Pace and many others. I wrote the script for Craig Revel Horwood’s recent one-man tour show and I have worked with comedian and presenter Griff Rhys Jones for over 25 years on comedy shows, documentaries and his recent live tours. In 2022 I helped legendary Liverpool comedy group the Scaffold (John Gorman, Mike McCartney and Roger McGough) put together their triumphant 60th anniversary reunion shows at the Everyman Theatre. I have also written over 60 published books.
My talks all last around 50 minutes (or can be adjusted according to requirements). They are illustrated throughout using Powerpoint which I can show via my own projector and screen.
Beatles' Early Years In Liverpool and Merseyside
A talk that takes the audience on a virtual tour around multiple locations with Beatle associations in Liverpool and Wirral. The presentation details historic moments in the early days of the greatest band in popular music and how these played out in places that are, for residents of Merseyside, surprisingly close to home.
Drive My Car - The Story of The Beatles Through The 1960s in Liverpool, Wirral and Beyond Told Through A Series of Car Accidents!
The story of The Beatles as it has never been told before! This talk follows the history of The Beatles from their beginnings in Merseyside through their worldwide success in the 1960s but uniquely this is done through a running thread of vehicle related incidents that played out on the streets of Liverpool, Allerton, Wallasey, Gayton, Barnston and beyond from 1958 through to their break up in 1969/70 .
Sex, Drugs and Queen Victoria
The story of how the most notorious and dangerous illegal drugs of the 20th and 21st centuries were first launched during Queen Victoria’s reign by well established and reputable pharmaceutical companies as mass produced commercially available patent medicines.
My Life With Griff Rhys Jones
I've worked with the comedian and TV presenter Griff Rhys Jones for over 25 years writing with him and assisting him on all manner of TV, radio and stage shows plus various other weird and wonderful projects. This presentation is a look at Griff's incredible life and career including tales of some of his most extraordinary exploits and his adventures around the world involving wildlife, royalty, historic events, extremely dangerous stunts – not to mention his much loved partnership with Mel Smith!
Comedy Legends of the Wirral
Liverpool is renowned for its many great comedians but it turns out that the Wirral has given the world an even greater and more diverse range of comedy legends! This talk is a look at the great names from British TV, radio and film comedy history who were born and brought up here in the Wirral or who have important and surprising links to the area. Includes the likes of: Paul O'Grady, Eric Morecambe, Monty Python’s Eric Idle, ITMA’s Tommy Handley, Deryck Guyler, cartoonists Norman Thelwell, Ralph Steadman and Bill Tidy, legendary film director Charles Crichton, Patricia Routledge, Glenda Jackson, Lily the Pink hitmakers the Scaffold and more!
Mike Haskins
078805 88404
mike@mikehaskins.plus.com