By Matt Williams
SINGER, dancer, journalist. Jasper Blakeley is a Jack of all trades. The comedy supremo has also turned his hand to stand-up and magic and believes the skills he learnt through his love of theatre helped him to succeed in the world of journalism.
(Credit- twitter)
The EX-Middlesex University student spent several years as a journalist, interviewing some of the biggest stars in the world.
However, it was Blakeley’s experience in theatre that helped prepare him for the world of journalism.
“What has helped me be a better journalist through being an actor and the rest of it, is because I’m pretty fearless at doing most things.”
“I do real life Russian roulette with four revolvers, I’ve done the bullet-catch, I’ve been handcuffed under water for two and a half minutes having to hold my breath and then escape, so I’ve done stuff that’s horrible.”
Online magic lectures are like buses, nothing for ages and two in two nights! 🙂 looking forward to entertaining Zodiac Magical Society in London tonight pic.twitter.com/1BW9w12mB1
— Jasper Blakeley (@JasperBlakeley) August 19, 2020
Blakeley credits theatre for encouraging his fearless mentality.
“I never had any fear of interviewing people. Being a performer, you constantly have to approach people and start conversations from cold. It was just about creating repour as a performer.”
The Barry resident’s relentless passion towards his work has led him to meeting some of the world’s biggest stars and credits his wealth of experience in performing as a remedy for nerves.
“Beyonce kissed me on the lips, it was that time in the 90’s, then I’ve met Elton John, I’ve flown to New York for fifteen minutes to interview Mariah Carey, all this kind of stuff.”
“When I was doing that as a performer, I didn’t have any concerns with meeting people at all, so that’s what helped me.”
Blakeley says humility is an attribute valuable to aspiring journalists.
“The other thing that made me a good interviewer and a good journalist, is that I genuinely didn’t care who you were. Whether you’re the CEO of a company, I treat everybody the same, and that’s vital.”
He continued, “if you’re going to go out and be a journalist and work in media- treat everybody the same. Don’t forget the people at reception are just as important at the CEO of the company, because they’re the gatekeepers.”
“If you want to get to them, you have to get through them. Play nice with them, be friendly to them and never talk down to people.”
