NEXT week will see the Liskeard and Looe Rotary Club holding a Grand Charity Concert for Christmas in aid of Rotary charities.

The concert is due to take place on Friday, December 10, at the Methodist Church in Barn Street, Liskeard, at 7pm and it will compered by Tank Sherman, who describes himself as a comedian and “professional nutter” and has headlined shows at the Babbacombe Theatre in Torquay, has won ITV talent contests and performed alongside such stars as Westcountry comedian Jethro and in panto with Jimmy Osmond.

The Liskeard Christmas concert - the 68th concert that John O’Driscoll has organised - will also feature Matt Monro tribute singer and comedian Steve Laister. Steve is a multi-award-winner, his accolades including Encore Comedian of the Year and the Norman Wisdom comedy award.

John O’Driscoll says they are extremely fortunate to have such a professional act taking part in the concert. As the Rotary Club flyer states: “Steve’s mind is a dictionary of comedy as there is no subject he doesn’t know a joke about. No two shows are the same with Steve, as he adapts each one to suit his audience and has performed across the country in major hotels theatres and corporate events, plus on some of the major cruise lines.

“Industry professionals have likened facets of his style to Bob Monkhouse, Peter Sellers and Ronnie Barker with his ability to performs a selection of characters within his show like Confucious the Chinese philosopher, live god Ricky Martinez, the Doctor of Laughter and many more.”

Other performers at the concert will include talented local soprano Janine Wright, a singer/songwriter who hails from Torpoint. Janine is a classically trained singer but covers a wide range of genres from Pop, Musical Theatre, Classical and also Opera. Janine plays guitar and piano, and also started to compose some songs of her own during the COVID lockdowns.

Also taking part will be the Looe-based Keltique choir, whose singers come from and perform around South East Cornwall. Keltique is a thriving and passionate vocal group of women of all ages and musical abilities, who share one thing – a love and enthusiasm for the music they sing, from rock and pop and songs from the shows to gospel and traditional classics. The members of the choir say: “We always aim to present a versatile musical repertoire but, most of all, we just love singing together.”

The concert will also see the winning ticket being drawn in the Rotary Club’s raffle to win a football shirt signed by Pele, the man named the greatest player of all time by FiFA. Edson Arantes do Nascimento, the Brazilian Portuguese footballer now better known as Pele, was born on October 23, 1940, and his glorious career saw him being named in 2000 as World Player of the Century by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS), and joint winner of the FIFA Player of the Century title. His total of 1,279 goals scored in 1,363 games is an achievement recognised in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Travelling to South East Cornwall to pull the winning ticket out of the hat will be a

record goal scorer in the South Gloucestershire League - scoring 66 goals in a season - Tony J Brady, who is now aged 86 and, says John O’Driscoll, is delighted to have been invited. John himself originally hails from the same Forest of Dean area of Gloucestershire where Tony now lives.

John says that there are still tickets available for the Pele football shirt raffle, priced at £1, and the shirt comes with a certificate of authenticity.

As for concert tickets, they are priced at £9.50 in aid of a selection of Rotary charities and are available from Liskeard and Looe Rotary Club; Woolacotts in Pike Street, Liskeard; Liskeard Tourist Information Centre, also in Pike Street; and from the Keltique choir.

Please note that with social distancing in mind, numbers to this year’s concert in the Barn Street Methodist Church will be restricted to 200 - so buy your tickets now while they are still available.