Artistic Mister Maker tells Katherine MacAlister about his craft
It took a while to realise that I’d been well and truly Mister Makered despite chatting for a good hour about his new live show, the man behind the quiff and the pressures of being such a monumentally successful children’s TV presenter.
Switch on the tele almost anywhere in the world and Phil Gallagher’s face will come beaming out instructing you how to build, paint, spray, glue and glitter your way to arts and craft supremacy.
Mister Maker has been delighting CBeebies viewers since 2007 and in 2009 was nominated for a Children’s BAFTA. Mini You Tubers watch his accompanying troupe The Shapes with an avid intensity, many clips reaching audiences of up to 40 million.
To put it simply Mister Maker is big business and yet on-screen global domination is not enough for this children’s superstar, because he is mid tour when we speak, and rather tired having done three Mister Maker Live shows yesterday alone.
So where does he get the time? “I’m working seven days a week really, flat out. Put it this way my mother worries about me and keeps telling me to take a day off,” he laughs. “But I’m living the dream – this is always what I wanted to do. I have dedicated my life to Mister Maker so it’s an absolute privilege being up on stage every day even if the theatre show has taken over my life. It’s very exciting.”
It’s a phrase he repeats time and time again throughout our interview with the intensity of a small boy, as if he still can’t quite believe that he made it to the top of the children’s TV tree, the latest in a line-up that includes some of his all-time heroes – Philip Schofield, Andy Peters, Roland Rat and Ed the Duck.
So what was it about them he loved so much? “They were real to me. They were my best friends and I would rush home from school every day, so doing this now is really exciting and means the world to me. It makes me so proud. Mister Maker is seen all over the world and I love doing what I do so much.”
He therefore doesn’t care if he’s tired or overworked, that he has no time for a personal life, hobbies or sport, that Mister Maker is taking up every spare second of his time. Why would he when he’s living the dream?
Phil Gallagher unsurprisingly always wanted to be a children’s presenter, says his school friends aren’t remotely surprised about his day job, having shunned college in favour of work experience at a TV company and gradually working himself into the right position.
When Mister Maker came up he was there, ready to take on the Tony Hart and Art Attack mantle although no one knew if he would take off. “The success of Mister Maker has been beyond my wildest dreams.
“It sounds like a cliché but I’ve always dreamed of being a kids TV presenter. Childens TV has so much variety. It’s the only place I wanted to be. I used to watch the broom cupboard and act out scenes behind the sofa with Roland Rat for my mum and dad. I always wanted to present and just worked my way up. So I’ve worked hard to get here, and don’t mind being busy because it’s taken me 20 years to get to this point.
So while others use it as a stepping stone, I’ve found my genre. I am so fortunate.”
So what about Phil? Does he get a look in? “There’s not much time for Phil, but never mind.
“I love football but don’t get to play it anymore I don’t have much spare time but when I do I spend it with my family and go for walks with them which I find very relaxing but I’m happy with where I am. My mum says I may be a 39 year old man but I’m still a boy at heart”
Back home in Kent where he grew up and where his parents still live, he’s currently revving up for the next part of his tour which sees him visit Oxford’s New Theatre to bedazzle our 0-6 year-old’s accompanied by The Shapes.
“I’m back to wash my clothes and iron my waistcoats and then I’m back on the road.”
It’s a show that took him years to craft and he refused to take it out on the road until he’d got it just right. After all the TV show is 22 minutes and the live an hour and a half. Executing all of his considerable accumulated knowledge, Mister Maker has packed the show full of singing, dancing, screens movement, as well as lots of audience participation so that his young audience never gets bored.
“There is something for everyone to enjoy with lots of jokes and comedy. It has a bit of a panto feel so the children can shout out and some of the come up on stage
So how does he do both? “It’s a challenge,” he admits, “and I’m always working on the show so although I’m working seven days a week, I’m already planning the next tour and next live shows. I’m always working ahead.
So does he worry about his longevity? “No now really but I am aware of my responsibilities.
“But Mister maker is me now. I’m not wearing the spotty suit around the house, that would be weird, but I’ve loved being him even if it has taken over my life. It’s an honour. It’s a dream come true and what I’ve always wanted to do.”
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