Our Story
How and Why the Show Began - by Liam Collins
After missing out on the Olympics in Athens in 2004, having ran a personal best in the first race of the season and being ranked in the top 10 in the world early on. I would now have to wait another 4 years to try again. I was injured, demoralised and ready to throw the towel in. I had bought a house in Loughborough knowing I would be there for another 4 years for Beijing 2008 and had saved the money for the deposit to buy it from dancing on the streets the previous summer on my own.
I faced the reality of yet another summer alone of putting my body through the physical endurance of up to 500 high energy street shows so that I could continue to train at a world class level and give myself the best opportunities in athletics just like those in other countries who were government funded.
After the Olympic trials when I ran injured and finished outside of the qualifying places I was depressed for a few days before I decided to pack my busking kit into the back of my Bedford Rascal and hit the streets in search of a sponsor once again. I put on my white John Travolta suit and sneaked out of the house. I was after all the landlord of the 3 tenants there and they were totally unaware of my “sideline job”. I did not wish to go through the embarrassment of explaining why I was dressed in a John Travolta suit with a load of cardboard cut outs of oversized celebrity heads!
Just when I was about to leave the driveway, the 900cc Rascal campervan would not start. I tried a few times and my tenant at the time Richard came running out to help. He looked at me with curious eyes. “Why are you in a John Travolta suit? And where on earth are you off to?” I explained what I did and how I had done this every summer for years to raise money to be able to compete and to buy the house so that one day if I had enough houses the rental income would allow me to train and I could stop dancing. He told me this was weird and told me to wait there. I was aware of the weirdness of the situation but I now feared the worst that he was now rounding up the other tenants to come and mock me! To my utter amazement and total relief he was talking about the weirdness of the coincidence that would follow!
He bounced down the stairs and out onto the driveway in a full WHITE JOHN TRAVOLTA SUIT! Now I know at this point it sounds like total rubbish but this is the god’s honest truth!! Richard had played the part of Tony Manero from Saturday Night Fever in a play and had not returned the suit due to his love for the film and was studying drama at Uni. He went on to explain how he had watched the film over and over and taught himself the moves just as I had. What were the chances? Stunned and delighted I asked him what he was doing that summer and he explained how he was raking bunkers at a golf course in Leicester to pay off his overdraft. I said go in tomorrow and tell them you won’t be coming back. I’m going to teach you the routine tonight as this show is much better as a double act and if you’re any good we will make a fortune together traveling round. I said I warn you, I’m a workaholic and this will be the hardest thing you have ever done and may ever do in your life but mark my words if you allow it to, it will change your life and everything you do from here on in!
The next day we hit the streets of Coventry. Richard was so frightened but did so well and picked it all up so fast. We toured round from city to city pounding out the shows sometimes 15 per day and often 14 days on the road without a rest. We would follow the sun on the weather forecast even if it meant driving from Bournemouth to Newcastle through the night. Richard and I would share the driving, the counting and bagging of the cash, the cleaning of the clothes and the making of the masks. We would always start the day on the pitch, well prepared and have a McDonalds Breakfast. A tradition that we keep to this day. Sausage and Egg McMuffin, hash brown and a large coffee. We would set out our props and at about 11.00 we would begin. Sometimes we would be moved on for the music levels other times we would be moved on for our audiences being too large and blocking the passageway. Most of the time the councils really supported us as it was providing entertainment to the crowds and also they were aware of our goals. It always went down well as it cut through all language and religious barriers and could appeal to all audiences young and old.
Richard was amazing support to me. I am not always the easiest person to be around as I suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and always have since I was a young child. It means I have an ability to concentrate for elongated periods of time on any given task but everything has to be perfect to the point of obsession. It can make life very difficult for others as I find it difficult to strike a balance. It is a gift in that it has always allowed me to take my mind and body to levels perhaps others cannot always do but it is also an illness, which can make you quite unhappy as well as those around. My mum thinks that because when I was born I couldn’t breathe for a while that I was starved of oxygen and this affected me for a long time growing up and at school. There is probably some truth to it but no real way of finding out. She tells the story better anyway and it’s a bit embarrassing to write about.
Richard and my family has always been there through all trials and tribulations but it really was not until I saw Rich perform in his University play as Danny from Grease that I realised the magnitude of his talents. He could sing, act, dance and all along with me he had been given the small parts in the show as Liam’s mate helping me raise funds.
One day after I saw him perform and woke up to his talents I realised I had not been fair to him. We sat down and agreed going forward everything would be 50/50. This was not the Liam Collins show with his mate helping out. This was Liam and Richard AKA Faces of Disco and the partnership was born.
That summer after more than 500 shows in 10 weeks of busking and having overcome so many obstacles including having milkshakes thrown at us, a pig’s head thrown at us, birds crapping on the mouthpieces without us knowing, spilling battery acid on our sandwiches the list is endless! Finally we were spotted in Portsmouth by a talent scout and he convinced us we should enter the South Sea Talent Show. We went along for a laugh and ended up winning it ahead of some seasoned professionals and full time acts. It was a summer we will never forget. We became great friends and I convinced him that despite the hardship, give it a few years for the memories to marinate and we will look back in awe at what we did as two young lads out to pursue a dream of representing our country in athletics and if this is what it would take then this is what we would do!
That was the first time that we both dared to dream that perhaps this act was more than just a means of raising some cash for our athletics but perhaps that one day the act would become something much bigger.
