John Sharples & Barry Pugh are
Bitter and Twisted!
The make-up and costumes are two of the four integral elements of Bitter and Twisted’s show that capture an audience’s attention. Even more Impressive is that the guys make 90 per cent of their own outfits.
However it is their body language and choice of music that keeps the audience laughing and on the edge of their seats, wondering what’s coming next.
The music is mixed and remixed in their own studio and they are always updating the numbers in the show and tweaking them to add an extra laugh or gimmick.
2007 -2010
Best Variety Show
2006 Best Comedy
"A Superb Comedy Mime Drag Show. These Guys are Fantastic ..... why see the rest when you can see the best, and they are the best .... the very best"
E-mail - themajestic@live.co.uk
To find us on Google Maps, click the right hand map below below!
Welcome to The Majestic
This is a view of the stage. The photo is taken from the bar area!
Two of the specially commisioned paintings that hang in the bar
A view of the Bar and the raised seating area
The Majestic can seat 100 people comfortably.
As the entire show is mimed, it is critical to their performance that they are able to act out the skit so that the audience misses nothing. These two gentlemen are so good that you would believe that they have rubber faces. Their eyes are wonderfully expressive and their body movements, while being economical, are precise and timed perfectly to appear entirely natural and unplanned.
Whatever the music, you can be guaranteed that Bitter and Twisted will give it an entirely new and outrageous meaning.
It’s a fast paced show that will keep you laughing and totally entertained.
Bitter and Twisted bring together the elements that make their act such a success seemingly effortlessly.
It is the hard work and dedication to their craft that makes them the most sought after act in Tenerife. When on the circuit, they actually had a waiting list of hotels and Venues who had requested their show. That is surely an unusual yet enviable position to be in
Bitter and Twisted is a top class quality show that should not be missed!
Current Opening Times
We are currently open on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights.
Doors open at 8pm for a relaxed drink in a friendly and very comfortable atmosphere.
The evening hots up with our drag DJ plus entertainment with
"Bitter and Twisted". This is tenerife's award winning comedy drag show,
Drag-a-oke .... Give us a song
Ballroom Dancing on some nights from October
Pub Team Quiz Nights
Theme Nights
and much more!!!!!!!
The Majestic is the ONLY place in the North of Tenerife that you can see this incredible show
THE BITTER AND TWISTED STORY
John Sharples had no interest in drag acts. He didn't feel that any talent was needed to dress up as a woman and mime to someone else. He didn't like the live acts either as he felt that they were hiding behing the makeup. He couldn't see why a man would dress up as a woman and then sing like a man.
All that changed when he saw Lily Savage perform one night. It was long before "Lily" was a household name. John was transfixed. "Lily just held the audience, I was amazed at the talent on stage".
It would be easy to say that Bitter and Twisted started at that moment, but it didn't. It started many years later.
It was 1995. John was Entertainment Manager at Pontin's in Southport. He decided to run a whole night in the Adult bar without the live band or any Cabaret. It was a risk for the Camp because they had always had a live band in the Ainsdale Bar. People who came to the holiday amps weren't fans of change.
John takes over the story, "I had an idea in my mind that was based around the "Noel's house party" TV show. I wanted people to come in and out of a door on stage and make the whole thing a party night with fun entertainment provided by the resident team of entertainers.
We performed a comic version of the Chippendales, The page 69 girls, a fun quiz and Drag Cabaret show that I put together with Darren Elsey, one of the team. The night was a great success and really took off. Infact it was the most popular night of the week"
Our drag numbers weren't exactly fantastic, but it was a beginning and the show grew over two seasons. Phil Lorking came to work at the camp in 1996. He took over where Darren left off.
Phil had performed drag many times over many years. He brought some great numbers into the show that I had never heard of and we had a ball performing them every week. Little did we know what was to come.
The costumes were dodgy, as you will see by the photos, but in those days we didn't know how to make our own.
Click on image for full size view
It was when Phil and I moved to Airtours that the show began to develop into what it is today.
We had both worked at Pontin's for many years and were both ready for a new challenge.
We arrived at "The Alcudia Pins Hotel" in 1997. It was a shock to the system. The budget for entertainment was very small. We had to put on our own shows without a band and it wasn't easy.
We rehearsed new drag numbers and interspersed them with live comedy and singing to backing tapes. The shows were a great success and we started to learn how to make the costumes. Things were starting to look a little more professional.
Click on image for full size view
It was during our time in Gran Canaria that I began to think that we had something a little different. We were working in the "Monseñor Apartments" in Playa del Cura. There was no entertainment in the resort and we had to provide it all in the hotel.
Phil and I were always making new costumes and providing shows which were a mix of live and mime. They were a great success and the customer questionnaires reflected their success.
I had mentioned to Phil that we were more than good enough for the Cabaret Circuit, but he wasn't too sure, so we carried on performing for a pittance whilst working for Airtours. Although the money was bad, the job and the fun it brought was fabulous.
We moved to Tenerife in 1999. The show suddenly grew into something special. We knew that it was good. We didn't realise how popular it was until we were awarded the top entertainment award for Airtours. Number one in the world! That was some feat considering that Airtours was an enourmous company at that time with entertainment in hundreds of hotels worldwide.
We were both happy and the teams that worked with us were happy too. It was great going to work and laughing every day and night.
Phil decided that he wanted to live back in England. I decided to stay in Tenerife, but it wasn't the same without my best buddy to laugh with.
I took a year or so out from entertaining and got involved with local radio.
Then, one day, like a bolt out of the blue. Phil called and said that he wanted to come back and form a cabaret with ,me, doing the old drag stuff and some new items too.
Finding a name wasn't easy. We went through lists of them. At one point we were called "Minge and Brackett" and "Mop and Bucket"
Finally the name Bitter and Twisted was chosen and we set out to make our own costumes and to find work.
It wasn't easy in the beginning. People thought that we would be a blue act. In the first two months we only had a few gigs.
Then, all of a sudden, the phone went crazy. We were working almost every night of the month. The reaction was incredible. People loved the show and we loved performing it.
THE
BITTER
AND
TWISTED STORY ...
COMING
SOON
