THOSE who were in the audience for Billy Pearce's Adult Evening at the Albert Halls, Bolton, earlier this year need have no qualms about the type of jokes he will be delivering when he plays the title role in the pantomime Aladdin at the Palace Theatre, Manchester. "Unless I make a mistake and forget where I am, the humour will he very different," he said. The fact is this most professional of entertainers will make no mistakes at all.

"I won't be using any material that is not suitable for children," he stressed. "I want to please the kids first and then the mums and dads afterwards,"he added. "I don't want children sitting there wondering why all the adults are laughing".

He should know what he is talking about. This is his ninth pantomime and he has appeared in Aladdin before at the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford.

This Aladdin will be different , though. One of its stars is the amazing Mr T - who played BA (Bad Attitude) Baracus in the hit television series The A-Team.

"I'll have to do some re-writing to accommodate him," Billy said.

Billy sees himself as very much the lead player in the panto team.

"My job is to make everybody gel together, " he said.

You sense that the affable and friendly Billy could become a different personability entirely if, as he put it, "anyone fights against me".

Billy took one of the well-trodden roads into showbusiness - that of a Butlins' Red Coat.

He qualified for the final of the Central TV's New Faces series and later appeared with Les Dawson, Cannon and Ball, Max Boyce and Jimmy Tarbuck.

In his first series for BBC Television You've Got To Be Joking he did an impression of George Formby singing Status Quo. It's a memory that still makes him chuckle. And he did an impromptu and very good impresssion of the Lancashire ukelele player for me.

Although he pays tributes to such "greats" as Max Miller and Tommy Cooper, Billy denys he has based his act on any of them and dislikes being pigeon-holed as an entertainer.

"I can sing, dance, play instruments and tell jokes," he pointed out. "I can work a stag night or do a family show."

He acknowledges the part television has played in giving him exposure to a wide audience, but theatre is his first love. He has paid his dues in the clubs and is no stranger to doing his act when people have been drinking at a "free" bar and want to throw balloons and streamers during his act.

"It can be a bit hair-raising, " he admitted.

Appearing with Billy in the show as the Emperor of China is Bolton magician Richard De Vere with his dog Schnorbitz . Claire Cattini is the Princess. For two years Clair appeared in The Billy Pearce Laughter Show at seaside resorts.

Aladdin opens at the Palace Theatre, Manchester on December 15 and runs until February 17, 1996.

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