Free spirit on Route 66

12:31pm Thursday 4th May 2006

Nothing could deter Jez Colborne from undertaking a personal odyssey across America in pursuit of freedom and a sense of acceptance. NEETA DUTTA talks to the 34-year-old disabled singer about his one-man show.

On The Verge An American Odyssey Jacksons Lane Archway Road May 12 & 13 "It was always my dream," says Jez Colborne, with a quiet sigh, as he remembers his three-week journey on the back of a Harley Davidson motorbike along Route 66. "It was just incredible. We met lots of people, just stopped and chatted to so many different kinds of people."

Jez has a big personality and this is vital for the kind of show he performs in On the Verge. The setting is Jez, a solitary bar stool and a screen on which the film of his trip in October 2004 is shown. From New York, along Route 66 from Chicago to LA, via Oklahoma and Monument Valley, the audience travels with Jez as he encounters storm chasers and massive landscapes over 3,000 miles.

Acting and singing has always been his passion and he has been working with Mind the Gap, a Bradford-based theatre company for disabled actors, for nine years. It has been a struggle at times to get where he is today.

"It's society, it's the way people look at you, people stare at you," he says. "People don't always take disabled people seriously, they only look at the outside, they only assume that they know. I had to fight because I wanted to be a performer like anyone else would. My mum is really proud of me."

Jez has Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder which means he has learning difficulties, problems with his co-ordination and balance, as well as elfin facial features.

Not that he has let his disability get in the way of living life to the full. His epic motorbike journey came about because of the openness he believes is inherent to America. In the driver's seat on Jez's motorbike was Mind the Gap's artistic director, Tim Wheeler, and riding alongside them was theatre designer and film director Jonathan Bentley. The three men bonded over the weeks and as Jez played the harmonica and chatted to anyone and everyone, he absorbed the atmosphere of the country.

"The whole spirit of America, it's being free and just enjoying yourself," he says. "Nobody glares at one another. Any weight that was on my shoulders just disappeared. The people are just really open.

"Britain is a bit closed to some people, that's what I feel. Going to America, it was really lively, friendly and welcoming."

He is determined to not let his disability affect his ambitions and while he laughs at himself constantly, he is deadly serious about the prejudices those with disability face and the obstacles he is constantly overcoming. "People can be very nasty I have been mugged in the past. People still go down that old road, he's this,' he's that,' without knowing. People have got to respect that I have a disability, respect who I am and what I am."

He laughs: "I just say you can't catch it disability and you can't pass it on, so don't worry."

He is self-aware and despite the limitations his disability has brought to his life, Jez says: "I'd never change myself. I wouldn't change how I have always been. I just want to educate people. If society could just open itself a little bit more, there is still so much prejudice. It's just mental really. If only people stopped being so judgmental."

Music is integral to the show and Jez is a talented singer, having won the 2003 European Song Contest for Disabled Artists. Enthusiasm radiates as he talks about his craft: "Performing, it's the way of expressing myself and I need it. Singing is my real passion I just love it."

This is the final tour for the show, after nearly two years on the road and the ending of such a personal journey is bittersweet for Jez.

"This is definitely my all-time favourite it's a great show and I think that people really see me for who I am," he says. "In my show, it's about seeing how I am and I am proud. I'm looking forward to coming to Archway, I really can't wait. If the people have a good time, that's all I want."

Tickets are £10/£8 and can be booked by calling 020 8341 4421.