JACK Gogarty has come a long way since he was a wannabe actor with the Princes Youth Theatre in Clacton.

Back in the Noughties, the then teenager was already winning rave reviews in the Gazette for performances in shows such as We Will Rock You and Disco Inferno.

"We did panto every year, where quite often I was the Dame or the double act with Tom Ellis," says Jack, now 26.

"That all encouraged me to go to drama school and I got a place on the Italia Conti Acting Academy at Clapham

"I was there for three years before graduating in 2012.

"Since then I've been getting more and more acting work, but I also direct and write.

"For the last two years I have been head of second year at Italia Conti so I direct there in between acting jobs, which is great.

"I get to be creative all the time which is lovely and it helps me become a better actor."

TV credits include Silent Witness, Stalker, Horizontal and Kim and Kourtney Take Miami.

Other acting roles have been as wildly diverse as panto's Dandini in Cinderella and Satan in the short film Afterlife.

But his career has increasingly moved towards writing and directing, as well as being a member of comedy theatre company Last Chance Saloon for the past four years.

They've already had smash hits with Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom and Frankenstein: UnBolted.

Now Jack - along with Sam Dunham and Jack Faires - are about to unleash latest show Curse of the Mummy on Edinburgh Fringe Festival audiences.

"We did Frankenstein: UnBolted at Edinburgh in 2014," says Jack.

"That sold out throughout the month and we were getting five-star reviews from people like the Edinburgh Evening News, which was fantastic, and this is the first show we've done since then after we went to pursue our own projects.

"It's a much, much bigger show.

"Much more is being spent budget-wise on props and songs - everything is much better and we are doing it throughout the festival."

The trio play a huge array characters in the course of the whirlwind adventure.

Unwitting hero Montana Jones is on a quest for archaeological fame, but a love-cursed Mummy and a Nazi spy - played by Jack - threaten to destroy everything he hopes for in a frenetic hour of riotous theatre comedy, with shockingly catchy pop songs, obscure Eighties ballads and an intriguing interpretation of world history.

Jack describes the show as a mash-up of Vaudeville, Monty Python and Morecambe and Wise-esque humour.

"As a group we did a lot of sketches which built up to these shows which are based on serious Gothic horror stories that go seriously wrong."

"I play the Nazi. We try to make it look as serious as possible, but he is incredibly camp and wears a sleeveless swastika vest."

Jack still remembers his Clacton roots and returns when he can.

"I went back to the Princes a couple of years ago to host Youth Takes A Bow and in September I'm doing an audition workshop for people who want to pursue acting or go to drama school.

"I would love to take Curse of the Mummy to the Princes Theatre. It would be great to do because it is such a great space."

  • Curse of the Mummy is previewing in London at the Hen and Chickens Theatre this Friday and Saturday and next Tuesday at 7.30pm. Admission is £10.