Giant dinosaurs and Ice Age mammoths will roam the stage at Sheffield Utilita Arena in Steve Backshall's Deadly Live! Tour (aff)
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Television’s wildlife presenter and intrepid explorer Steve Backshall has had close encounters with some of nature’s most dangerous creatures so entertaining thousands of people on an arena tour shouldn’t be scary.
Steve begs to differ. “Doing this big grand arena tour is an uplifting, exciting, challenging and frankly terrifying thing,” the multi-Bafta Award-winning Backshall tells interviewer Ashley Davies. “It’s such a weird thing to bounce from being out in the field, living in the jungle or sleeping under a bit of leaky tarpaulin to standing on a stage in front of thousands of people and having to entertain them, but I can’t wait.”
Families watching Steve Backshall’s Deadly Live! Tour at Sheffield’s Utilita Arena on Friday, October 23, will see giant dinosaurs square up to each other and Ice Age mammoths clash with sabre-toothed big cats. True-to-size animatronic models will bring the prehistoric creatures to the stage.
Fire whips, throwing knives and a demonstration in which Steve mixes snake venom with his own blood to produce a snotty mess are all part of the fun. Steve is also promising bangs, explosions and loads of interactivity which includes giving audience members a chance to respond to questions and inviting a few children to share their thoughts.
Deadly Live! is an extension to the hugely popular Deadly 60 which has been broadcast on CBBC since 2009.
Steve has suffered several injuries in his quest to get up close to wildlife. He’s had the tip of his finger bitten off by a piranha, needed ten stitches after a crocodile bit his leg, has been stung by scorpions, bitten by sharks and spiders, and had malaria a couple of times.
His most painful experience was being stung by hundreds of bullet ants woven into gloves which he wore as part of an initiation ceremony with a tribe in Brazil. Steve said: “It was hands down the most painful thing that has ever happened to me. The really intense bit lasted for maybe three hours, but it still hurt for a couple of days after that.”
He was keen to stress that the said majority of creatures will go out of their way to avoid a confrontation with a human. “The thing that is most likely to lead to a negative interaction with an animal is it being frightened, running away or panicking,” said Steve. “Any of those signs set you apart as being a potential target and that can trigger predatory impulses. And the flip side of that is that if you can be calm and confident, then you are not prey, and animals will just ignore you or avoid you.”
Tickets for Steve Backshall’s Deadly Live! Tour at the Utilita Arena cost £37.75 from Ticketmaster. The show begins at 5pm.