gurgle.com meets Justin Fletcher (AKA Mr Tumble)
So what is it about Justin Fletcher which gives him such a wide-reaching appeal? Nifa, gurgle's editor, has the surreal experience of chatting to Mr Tumble.
Nifa: Before we get started, my children wanted to ask you a question each. My eldest (5 years) asked “Are you a clown?” and my three year old asked: “Do you have a phone?”(No idea why she asked that).
Nifa: So how did it all begin?
Justin: I’ve been going now for sixteen years, but it all started when I was at drama school; Guildford school of acting where I realised I wanted to get into children’s TV and sent my showreel off. It all happened quite quickly after that, I worked with a brilliant guy named Ian Lockland who created The Tweenies, he took me for a drink and said, you’ve got a big career in children’s television in front of you!
Nifa: How on earth do you switch off from being Mr Tumble?
Justin: Well, I’m not just Mr Tumble, I’m all sorts of other characters, (he is 26 different characters in GiggleBitz) but I’m also ‘Justin’ on TV too. I do find it easy to switch off; I enjoy the challenge of becoming all the different characters but once I get home I’m just me.
Nifa: You’ve been in children’s TV for sixteen years now, do you think you’ll ever do more grown-up stuff?
Justin: Yes I do think about doing more grown-up stuff, comedies or even drama and I’m exploring those areas, but my commitment is always with children’s TV and there is a lot I still want to do!
Nifa: Do you have children of your own?
Justin: I’m not a dad yet, although I’d love to be one. I spend a lot of time with my niece and nephew. In fact my four-year-old niece Lara is finding it hard to make that connection that I am Mr Tumble. I was out with her and someone said, ‘Hello My Tumble’ and she started looking around and asking where Mr Tumble was!
Nifa: A lot of our gurgle members were excited about their children actually meeting you. Where can they find out if you are touring or appearing in something near them?
Justin: I’m doing lots of live shows this summer so if they check justinfletcher.com they’ll be able to see if there is one happening near where they live.
Nifa: The other question that keeps coming up is about whether there will be a Mr Tumble toy for kids?
Justin: There are talks happening at the moment and I think there is going to be a Mr Tumble doll and other merchandise!
Nifa: I'll tell that to our gurgle.com members who will be thrilled. What do you think it is that makes children everywhere (and parents) adore you?
Justin: I was taught by Ian Lockland who told me the secret was clarity, content and commitment. I think children believe in me and a lot of that is down to the fact that I try to be myself, to be natural and to be genuine. I also love what I do so hopefully that comes across. With Something Special, I’ve had situations where a child hasn’t spoken for five or six months and they start speaking when they meet me.
Nifa: What TV programmes did you watch when you were a child?
Justin: I loved Playschool, but I also loved animation like Hong Kong Foey. I used to watch a lot of silent comedies and loved Charlie Chaplin and Laurel and Hardy so there is a lot of that in my characters.
Nifa: Is that where you got your inspiration from for all those different Gigglebitz characters?
Justin: I mostly get inspiration from observing people in everyday life – I notice how they talk and how they move and I take a bit of that for my characters. Olly the little white van is a good example of this – it’s what I’ve been working on. It’s high end CGI animation about an enthusiastic little white van called Olly who lives in a town called Bumpton. It’s very engaging for children and I do Olly’s voice but all the other voices too.
Nifa: Who is Olly the little white van for?
Justin: It’s for one and half to two year olds and it’s edgy with great music. It’s a bit of a rollercoaster journey as it’s only on for ten minutes and it’s full of energy. It’s got great storylines but it will also appeal to parents; I even mimicked Lord Sugar as one of the characters called Mr S. It’s great visual comedy that will hopefully appeal to parents too.
Nifa: Your programmes are no doubt seen by children all around the world now – is it hard to go on holiday?
Justin: It is strange to travel thousands of miles and to have someone tap you on the shoulder and say, ‘hi, Justin, can I have a picture’, but I don’t mind it. I appreciate my fans and love meeting them. I did a live event at a festival recently and 23,000 fans turned up at the show. I always put everything into my shows because I think people deserve a great show when they’ve made an effort to be there. With my TV shows, it is the kids who are stars of the show; we don’t script the shows we just ad lib on the day. It produces incredible moments. I’ve had experiences where a child who has never spoken before suddenly speaks me; it’s because they see Mr Tumble on their screens every day so they feel I’m part of the family.
Olly the little white van is launched on Sunday, June 26th at 06:25. on mini CiTV. It will run weekly, every Sunday until September and then on week days at 09:45am/12:45pm. For more information visit ollythelittlewhitevan.co.uk
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