STARRY names, a table of awards and 300 excited guests.
DaDaFest continues to grow and grow, and the awards ceremony I went to at the Crowne Plaza on Thursday night confirmed what a lot of talent there is out there.
Poor Corrie actress Ali Briggs had eaten a dodgy egg sandwich at a kids' party the night before and had to cancel her appearance as co-host.
After hearing that, I looked at the home-made (by me) egg and tomato sandwich I’d popped in the fridge at work for lunch today and decided it was going in the bin!!
NWDAF creative director Ruth Gould stepped into the breach to co-host alongside actor and comedian Mat Fraser - he has an acerbic tongue, but enough cheek to get away with it.
A (Cheshire) councillor presenting an award tried to make a quip about being under the spotlight and Chinese water torture which unfortunately went down like a lead balloon.
Unperturbed, Mat made ‘there, there’ noises because, as he said, we all know the councillor has MS.
As I said, only he could probably get away with that one.
Personally, I was chuffed when Bert Massie - the Scouse head of the national Disability Rights Commission, praised the work of disabled film-maker and activist Liz Crow.
She wasn’t up for an award last night, but maybe next year someone will nominate her and she’ll be shortlisted?
The reason I was so pleased?
Liz is my cousin, and although I haven’t seen her since we sat in her bedroom and played Kerplunk as children, I do hear through the family grape vine what she’s up to.
Incidentally, although she’s based in Bristol, Liz is half-Scouse.
Her mum, my auntie Barbara, was born here, brought up in Bootle and went to Merchant Taylor’s. She’s a fabulous, Slade-trained artist in her own right.
So if Liz does get shortlisted next year, remember to vote for her!
