Mister Maker and the Shapes on their way to Canberra
Mister Maker will be on a very special search when he arrives in Canberra later this month to perform three shows. Not for a piece of card or texta or glitter glue either.
"I had the best cup of coffee in the world in Canberra," he said, with his trademark enthusiasm.
Mister Maker aka Phil Gallagher is coming to Canberra.
He couldn't remember the name of the cafe but did remember the general location in Civic and has vowed to track it down again.
Mister Maker aka Phil Gallagher has seen a lot of the world in his 10 years fronting the hit BBC show which shows him making art and craft - and having a lot of fun doing it.
This is his fourth tour of Australia in two years, doing his show live to hundreds of thousands of children. There's also been tours of the UK, New Zealand, Singapore and Hong Kong.
In his first tour to Australian, playing at the Sydney Opera House, it quickly became clear the extent of his popularity.
"Thankfully, it went so well and we sold out every single seat in 16 shows so we decided to come back and do a bigger tour," he said.
Mister Maker and the Shapes will be performing at the Canberra Theatre Centre on January 25 at 11am, 1pm and 4pm,.
Tickets are at
https://canberratheatrecentre.com.au/show/mister-maker-shapes/
Gallagher must be one of the nicest guys in show business, emphasising his gratitude for achieving his childhood dream of becoming a TV presenter.
"I'm a very, very lucky boy," he said.
Gallagher studied radio, TV and film and English at university and did a stint as a radio sports reporter before working his way up in television.
He started as "the work experience boy", became a Disney Channel presenter and eventually worked as a director for the BBC before decided to audition for Mister Maker.
"The brief sounded like me so I decided to give it one last shot and I'm so glad I did," he said.
Gallagher said the appeal of the show was in the simple joy of making something.
"We hope the kids learn something new but they're so busy they don't even notice," he said.
And, yes, he does make everything himself. A design team helps him come up with ideas and he then practices for weeks on each of about 100 items he makes per series.
He was sounding a little wistful being in Australia on Friday while his mum was celebrating her 70th in the UK but he would be back home in February in time to celebrate her milestone and his own - turning 40 in early March.
Not that you would know it in his trademark colourful waistcoat and with his youthful exuberance.
Megan Doherty is a reporter for The Canberra Times