Jez Rose

Jez Rose (born March 29) is an English stand-up comedian, Psychological Consultant and ventriloquist/puppeteer. He has made numerous appearances on British television, on radio and also in printed media. His own television show which was made for ITV1 in 2006 was entitled "Jez Rose:All in Your Mind". As a Psychological Consultant, he lectures and consults to business on customer service and positive psychology adding his humour to create interesting and entertaining presentations. He also still works as a comedian and is best known for his four main puppets, those being the young dragon named Boo, Carmen, the drunk Italian opera singer and the two French sheep, Franck and Lindie. His previous entertainment career was as a mind magician.

Biography

Jez was born in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire. He is quoted as "never having found ventriloquists particularly entertaining" and it was not until 2006 that he began to use puppetry with his comedy. From the age of 5 years old he became very interested in magic. This hobby was encouraged by his Grandfather who would often make things disappear and re-appear from behind Jez's ears! As Jez grew older, he became fascinated with the effect magic had on those watching it and its ability to be used as an unusual medium for comedy. While still at school, Jez entered and got through to the finals of The Magic Circle's international Young Magician of the Year Competition. When he left school at 18, Jez subsidised his studying by working as a magician.

Jez's Father, Chris Rose, had worked for Jim Henson by moulding various puppet characters for such films as "The Muppets Take Manhattan" and so, Jez admits, "an interest in puppets was always there, however, at the time, I lacked the foresight and imagination to foresee how entertaining live puppetry could be - simply because I hadn't seen anyone doing anything with puppets that grabbed me as much as magic did". After a healthy career in magic, Jez decided on a change and began to look at puppetry and ventriloquism. A creative process which Jez says took "about 12 months" to complete, saw his new act, Jez Rose & Company, develop into what it is now - "a comedian with props... that talk and move". He tours UK theatres with this comedy show.

Television Shows

"The Mysti Show" (BBC1)Although Jez's first television appearance was on Channel 4's hugely popular "Big Breakfast" when he was only 12 years old, it is the more recent appearances which provide an interesting insight into his diversity. "The Mysti Show" ran every Saturday morning for 21 weeks on BBC1 during 2005, as a piloted alternative format to the more traditional Saturday morning children's television format. Created and produced by Mystical Productions, the show only ran for the one series.

Over the course of 60 minutes, each episode had both a magazine element (with celebrity interviews, outside broadcasts etc) and a drama element (which was a mini-series with characters from the show) following the antics of the already popular fairy Mysti as featured in the children's story books. It was on this show that Jez interviewed Jackie Chan and Steve Coogan about their latest film release at the time, Around the World in 80 Days. He also interviewed pop duo Sam and Mark famed for their Pop Idol success amongst others.

The show also featured [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0827664/ David Sterne] who has recently appeared in "Pirates of the Caribbean".

"Loose Lips" (Living TV)Jez has been invited to do many guest appearances on a variety of television shows ranging from BBC1's "Heaven and Earth" show through to programmes like this in 2004. Melinda Messenger's chat show for Living TV, co-presented by Richard Arnold, invited Jez onto the show to promote a 12-part series filmed for Trouble called "Playing Tricks" in which Jez featured as the mind magician.

"Playing Tricks"(Trouble)This 12-part series produced by Zeppotron (part of the Endemol Group), was the most successful television programme ever for the channel's time slot. It was still being regularly repeated even over a year later! Filmed in 2004 in various locations within London, the programme followed a team of 6 magicians performing magic tricks and stunts 'undercover' using hidden camera technology, on members of the public.

"Jez Rose: All in Your Mind"(ITV1)In 2006, ITV commissioned a 60 minute special of Jez's own show, produced by [http://www.talenttv.com/ Talent TV] . With a theme of love, sex and attraction, the 60 minute show was an entertaining and humorous look at the psychology of the three topics, using Jez's skill as a comedian and mind magician to provide an interesting and unusual dynamic to the psychology. Jez has made numerous other appearances on television, radio and in printed media including but not limited to: BBC Radio Oxford, BBC Radio 4, The Professional Footballers Association Magazine, GO! Magazine, TV Times, The Stage, Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Sun, Mizz Magazine.

Theatre Show

Jez's latest live offering is the theatre show 'Do I Look Stupid?' which tours the UK for 5 months. This will be filmed and footage will be used to form part of Jez's new DVD.

"Have a Crap Day"

Jez has written a humorous but educational book about customer service entitled "Have a Crap Day" - perfecting the art of customer service. As a keynote speaker and presenter on his specialist subject of customer service (following a brief period working with The Walt Disney Company), it is due to be published in late 2008 and will be available worldwide.

Trivia

* During filming for Jez Rose: All In Your Mind, Jez also made a DVD called 'You Can Be Mental, Too!' teaching 10 mind reading tricks and stunts. This DVD is still available to buy and is sometimes sold by him on eBay.
* While filming The Mysti Show, Jez very nearly interviewed Britney Spears, allegedly a big fan of fairies and thus the show. However, the interview was scrapped at the last minute due to Britney's filming commitments.
* Jez has performed for and worked alongside the likes of TV presenter Jonathan Ross, comedian [http://www.alancarr.net/ Alan Carr] , Pink Floyd's guitarist and lead singer David Gilmour and Sir Elton John.

References

* [http://www.jezrose.co.uk/ Official website]
* [http://www.comedycv.co.uk/jezrose/index.htm/ Comedy CV]
* Interview in GO! Magazine

External links

* [http://www.jezroseandcompany.co.uk/ Official website of Jez Rose & Company]
* [http://www.jezrose.co.uk/ Official website of Jez Rose]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jezrose/ Official MySpace site for Jez Rose & Company]
* [http://www.alancarr.net Comedian Alan Carr]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0827664/ Actor David Sterne]
* [http://www.talenttv.com Talent TV]