Hale and Pace back on the road

By DESMOND SAMPSON

Gareth Hale is lying naked on an operating table. A surgeon hovers over him, readying himself for open-heart surgery. The tension is unbearable as he selects a scalpel and takes a deep breath. Just as he's about to make an incision he says: "Don't worry, mate, it's just a bit of plumbing."

And the audience laughs. Or the audience would if this was a Hale & Pace sketch. But it was for real, and Hale wasn't laughing.

Two and a half years after the life-saving operation, the comedian says: "I honestly thought, 'This is it.' When somebody tells you that you need a heart valve replaced you take it seriously.

"It was scary. Okay, the doctors say it's routine. But if that's the case, why is it called a vital organ?"

Since his recovery, Hale has spent a lot of time taking stock of his life, deciding what's important and what isn't.

His wife and children fall into the important category. So does his 21-year partnership with Norman Pace.

The alliance began as two friends trying to make each other laugh, and prospered with a seven-year residency at Tramshed, a London comedy venue where Alexei Sayle and Rik Mayall launched their careers.

"I don't think anybody could have predicted that out of our friendship would come such an enduring working relationship," says Hale. "I think it's down to patience, persistence and luck."

The big break came when they appeared at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival in 1986 with the sketches they'd developed at Tramshed. They were spotted by a radio producer who offered them slot on air, and that led to their own comedy series on BBC Radio 4.

Since then they've made a bundle of hit TV series, including nine series of Hale & Pace.

"We're pretty privileged to be in the position we're in now," says Hale. "We were always looking for the next rung on the ladder but we never expected to climb so high so quickly."

They don't need to go back to stage work, so why the tour of Australia and New Zealand?

"It's great fun, a real release. You get charged-up before and when you're on it's such a buzz. I'm just glad I can still perform.

"I'm really looking forward to it because we haven't been on the road for ages. And we've written stuff specifically for the tour so it'll be quite exciting to test it out.

"The only problem is learning the new material. I'll probably still be doing that on the flight over, driving everyone round the twist."

* Horse-hating Hale and Pace try to play a game of polo on TV One at 9.40 tonight in Jobs For the Boys. The duo are at the Founders Theatre, Hamilton, on April 6 and the Auckland Town Hall on April 7.