The grown man in the picture is Hal. Hal spends a disturbing amount of his time dressed up as Barry The Badger. And he is - by far - the most disturbing Upstaged contestant that I met. Maybe it’s the badger head he wears makes things a little impersonal…

On our first meeting, Barry tells me that the badger came about because he received a stuffed badger from his grandfather as a child. And for some reason he wasn’t able to explain, Barry Hal took it away and wrapped it in cling-film. Kinky.

I suggested that he may be to badgers what Bruce Wayne is to bats. I think he liked the idea that childhood badger-trauma might be responsible for his destiny.

For a guy in a badger suit, Hal is very intense. He thinks the badger alter-ego is an antidote to his regular job in social care which he says carries a lot of tension sometimes. Barry The Badger is a way of breaking down that tension.

Hal isn’t into over-rehearsing his act and prefers to improvise. He devised Barry last year during a community theatre project in Bristol called Artcast, and he sings the praises of Bristol’s art community.

He says he opened his first show as Barry with the line “Welcome to my set”, and only then realised the badger connection.

Anyway, I’m interested to see how Barry The Badger is received by the audience - watch the video below to see what I mean. It’s a pretty offbeat act, I don’t know if the majority of people will get it.