WITH panto season in full swing at Llandudno's Venue Cymru, The Entertainer caught up with Aladdin's baddie Jason Gardiner to find out how his evil role is going.
"It's been an absolutely fantastic experience," said Jason half way through his sinister stint as the villainous Abanazar. "It's my first panto - I'd never even seen once before. Coming to this very British tradition and being a novice was daunting but it's absolutely wonderful."
Despite admitting he had a great deal of trepidation tackling the very British institution, getting used to boo-ing and hiss-ing audiences didn't take too long.
"Considering my role as a judge on Dancing On Ice, I'm despised by 10 million people, so to have a hundreds of children is a picnic in the park - it's wonderful. Everyone loves a good villain and I'm relishing it.
"The audience participation is the biggest difference for me. I'm not used to breaking what we call the 'fourth wall', but panto is all about audience participation. The audience really get behind the show and that's what makes panto so special. As a performer, that's taken a bit of getting used to.
"But everyone is stopping me and saying it's the best panto they've ever seen, which is wonderful for the entire cast."
What makes Aladdin stand out from the panto crowd is its use of 3D glasses within the production - something which is entertaining for the audience as well as amusing for the cast.
"Oh the 3D!" exclaimed Jason. "I remember the first 3D films which had arrows and balls coming right at your face. It's all sort of changed now, nothing really comes out at you. We've gone back to that tradition - lots of things coming at your face.
"From our point of view it's hilarious! Watching everyone dodging these things coming at them - we love it!"
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Aladdin will be showing at Venue Cymru in Llandudno until Saturday, December 31. To book tickets contact the Box Office on 01492 872000 or visit the website at www.venuecymru.co.uk