Video: Clarkson, Hammond & May gear up for the new live arena show

“Who dropped my piano on the Austin Marina?” asks Captain Slow


Top Gear Live is postponed in Norway

DEATH-DEFYING stunts, groan-worthy one-liners and a piano “accidentally” falling from a great height onto Captain Slow’s car: it can mean only one thing – the Artists Formerly Known as Top Gear are back on the road.


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To promote Clarkson, Hammond & May Live – the successor to the Top Gear Live arena tour, which starts in Belfast next week – the trio reunited recently to film video sections for the shows and to create promo clips of themselves putting the finishing touches to their plans (and not to plot a new Top Gear-style TV show, as some other news organisations had speculated).

It’s a serious business with a lot at stake: since the BBC decided not to renew its contract with Jeremy Clarkson, he and his fellow presenters have been forced to strike out on their own. Fortunately, they appear to have found time to cock about.

Clarkson says he “used to be Jeremy Clarkson”, May suggests their live show should be called James May & Special Guests and Hammond argues for An Evening with Richard Hammond.

Deciding that May’s demands for a piano in the green room are excessive, Clarkson “accidentally” drops it from a great height onto an Austin Marina. At least it wasn’t the Ferrari 458 Speciale that May bought before losing his job. Warning: there is a swear word in this video.

And when Clarkson climbs aboard a Reliant Robin, it tumbles, inevitably, onto its side.

Here’s Hammond’s idea of reducing a car’s weight…

Clarkson, Hammond, May and horses do not mix.

The Clarkson, Hammond & May Live shows start on May 22, with tickets priced from £35. The full tour dates are:

  • May 22-24: Belfast
  • June 5-7: Sheffield
  • June 12-14: Johannesburg
  • June 19-21: Stavanger, Norway
  • July 18-19 & 25-26: Australia
  • October 24: Warsaw
  • November 28-29: London