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Life is a cabaret for Philip
The old cliche goes that life begins at 40. But as Philip Barnett proves, it can also change dramatically in your 50s. Neil Davey finds out how a company MD and marketing consultant ended up singing – and asking questions – for his supper
We've probably all been to a quiz evening, be it a local pub event or a corporate distraction as part of a 'team-building' exercise. And there is always someone who gets a little too competitive. For most of us, such people are a petty annoyance. For semi-retired marketing consultant and business manager Philip Barnett, such people were a catalyst.
"Having been to a lot of these quiz suppers," Philip explains, "I found some of the tables were getting terribly serious and there would always be one table desperate to win." From this observation sprang Philip's new venture, Entertaining People.
"When I was 18, I wanted to go to music school, as I was quite a useful singer," he reveals, "but my father said no, and in those days you did what your father said or, at least, I did. So I had a conventional career – but I continued singing."
Over the years, Philip has performed in a number of light operas and has clearly enjoyed this alternative musical career. A couple of years ago, however, Philip had his moment of epiphany. "I was in my early 50s when I thought: 'I don't have to work until I keel over. Perhaps I can engineer a way I can have an entertaining-singing career.'" The result was what Philip calls 'Quiz Cabaret' – "my wife tells me she came up with the concept and I'm not going to disagree," he adds with a laugh.
The concept is an interactive musical performance and quiz: Philip and his team perform musical items and then use those as the starting point for the questions – which, he stresses, are not all about music. This musical angle is not the only innovation Entertaining People has introduced: and that's where that overly-competitive player proved so inspiring.
"I wanted something that was fun," explains Philip, "where, if people are cheeky, they get extra points. People can get extra points too by making the organisers happy. At a recent event, the scorers were given drinks and chocolate and the pianist got a big bunch of flowers from one table.
"There's a lot of singing too, a lot of audience participation." (The company also provides singing workshops: "One of the things I feel very passionate about is that there are proven health benefits to singing," Philip explains. "Singing together can be a great morale boost.")
The model of the quiz cabaret has been perfected over the last few years as Philip has organised them as fundraisers for churches, PTAs, local groups, etc. Now, with a modern flourish – "I've just started a blog" – and a bit of forward-thinking – "we carbon neutralise all our performances and encourage clients to do the same" – Phil is casting an eye to the corporate market. "I want to entertain but I want to earn money as well." He laughs. "Does that sound awful?!"
On the subject of money, Philip is philosophical. "I know I'm not going to earn what I earned before, but I think people ought to do in life what they feel in their hearts they want to do That's got to be good. Life's not a rehearsal, as someone wiser said before me.
"I think the generation after us are taking more chances, but they need to be encouraged. And that's something I think our generation needs to do."
Philip is currently doing his bit, and encouraging his daughter, an up and coming playwright, to follow her muse. "I think she's benefiting from my father's decision that I couldn't attend music school," adds Philip, with another laugh. She's also provided some inspiration to her father's new career path. "I looked at her and thought 'Why should she have all the fun?!'"
For further information, take a look at www.entertainingpeople.co.uk
This article was created: 10 May 2007.
This article was last edited: 10 May 2007.
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