A late start of a few minutes and an uncomfortably hot evening gave Zoe Lyons some immediate material to settle the audience in for the ride. A well-known face on our TV screens, as a regular on Mock the Week on BBC 2 and the Wright Stuff on Channel 5, she was clever and confident from the get go. Strong on accents, coming timing and with a confident stage persona, Lyons was easily able to deliver a set that is tight, well-structured and impressive. The hour is carefully crafted, and takes us on a circular tour of some of the absurdities of our modern, Western life.
The jokes however, could do with amping up a little. Although the social commentary was on point, there were some hints of class stereotyping, which feel a little dated. Relying on the likelihood of her audience being middle-class, well-educated, and equally appalled at some of the stupidity of Brexit voters, some of her targets felt too obvious. Despite this, because of her skilled acting, we could immediately recognise the absurd tourist from Bolton demanding something be done about the noise of the frogs at night in his Jamaican resort, and the ridiculous, drunk Glaswegian good-naturedly stumbling around and getting on everyone’s nerves. To be fair though, there was plenty of self-deprecating humour about the times when she has also descended to that place of being an ‘entry-level human’.
Because of this, she played a little safe with the material, mainly sticking to ridiculous situations that we can all find ourselves in from time to time, and the way that she steadily builds up to a punchline at the end of an anecdote keeps your attention. None of her jokes bombed, but the real belly laughs were few and far between. When they do come though, they are worth it. Her skits about the ridiculous ‘motivational carpet’ in her hotel room and the mishaps on a holiday to the Maldives had everyone laughing out loud. Because she is excellent at carefully painting a scene, she pulls you right into the scene; like in the story of her excruciating flight from New Zealand, strapped into a tiny seat desperately trying to escape the overly talkative, neighbour spraying cous cous onto her cheek. Because of this, she keeps your attention until the end. What is markedly impressive is the way she links the anecdotes both to wider social commentary and ties both up into a coherent narrative. As a master of her craft, she delivers an experience that is ultimately satisfying. Definitely worth a look.
Gilded Balloon Rose Theatre Aug 2-13th to 15-27th (19:15)
Material:Delivery: Laughs:
Gary Meikle has earned his stripes driving around the country from club to club, & now he’s ready for his debut show at the Fringe. Gary is no ordinary comic, but quite paradoxically its his sense of the ordinary that makes him so special. But then again Gary has led quite an extraordinary life, which forms the molten core of iron on which every joke & anecdote flourishes.
From childrens’ homes to becoming a single parent in his teens when he was still experimenting with breakfast cereals, Gary’s early days were a challenge. With early fatherhood came early maturity however, & he did the right thing & brought up his daughter as his best friend, the passage of which is presented as a comedic biopic. The longer the show goes on, & the more we get to know about Gary & his family life, the more I warmed to him. But this is no Auntie Doreen telling tales about the war at Christmas; for Gary’s cheeky, risque creativity is waiting implike in the wings of his mind to pounce upon us like Uncle Jasper spiking the festive punch.
I can’t express how amazing the feeling is of seeing and hearing a room full of strangers laugh at your life, its better than any drug and is hugely addictive. Read the full interview here…
Gary has a smart swagger about his delivery, very polished & he knows the power of his gags. He’s also an energetic storyteller, & the combination is most endearing. A flagbearer for the dysfunctional families of the 21st century, & a model of human integrity, Mr Meikle is a canny comedian to observe. His brilliant sequence about the modern females’ obsession with eyebrows is something that can only have come from his set of circumstances, & matches the best material of the very best comics. Yeah, Gary’s cool.
Claire Ford has just swapped her kagool for a cardboard box. The Mumble wanted to find out why…
Hello Claire, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking? Claire: Hello Mumble, I was born in Cambridge and grew up round Cambridgeshire and Northants. Nowadays I’m a bit of a nomad, living from festival to festival and occasionally stopping in London. It’s said that people settle back where they’re going to die so I try to avoid East Anglia.
When did you first realise you could make people laugh? Claire: Humour was a big part of our household growing up. Schools, weddings and funerals all technically had audiences, so therefore they were considered fair game. ‘And who has the ring?’ ‘I do, but I’ve hidden it well. I’ll need a rubber glove to get it out.’ (My Brother at my Dad’s wedding just before he was asked to leave by the registrar)
Which comedians inspire you, both old skool and on the scene today? Claire: Growing up I loved Ade Edmonson, Rik Mayall and French & Saunders, but my favourite was Blackadder with his mixture of dry wit and buffoonery. Today I have loads of comedy crushes. I enjoy a performer who takes risks and who’s a bit on the edge. I love Dr Brown, Hannah Gadsby, Jayde Adams, and Trygve Warkenshaw and Josh Glanc for pure hilarious physicality, loads loads loads, but I have to say for inspiring in terms of what she’s done with her career, I love Kristen Wiig and how she’s written and performed consistently funny material live and on screen. and she’s way rich.
You’ve got three famous figures from history coming round for dinner. Who would they be & what would you cook; starter, mains & dessert? Claire: I’d have all famous people from my home hood East Anglia. Stephen Fry so we can all fall in love with his voice and brilliant knowledge, Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni people, so we can tell her how she did good by us East Anglians and then Marilyn Monroe for the glamour. I’d cook indulgent food like scallops to start, Thai green curry for main and Cheesecake for dessert. I’d say ‘Marilyn, you’re not in Hollywood now girl, eat up your fill.’ and I’d say to Stephen ‘I’m sorry about the combination, pick around what you don’t want’ and I’d say to Boudicca ‘Thai green curry is from Thailand and Thailand is a country in East Asia and East Asia is.. never mind, eat your cheesecake, you’ll need the energy for all that murder later.’
You are bringing a show called UNBOXED this year’s Fringe, can you tell us about it? Claire: When I was 5 my Dad took me to his huge warehouse in the Fens in East Anglia. It was full to the ceiling with cardboard boxes and he said to me ‘one day all of those will be yours’. So I grew up happily thinking that was going to be my life. Unboxed is the story of what happened when, despite my Dad’s protestations, I changed my mind.
You were part of multi-award winning comedy duo, The Kagools, so why the solo move? Claire: We’ve always both done solo work, but it tends to go under the radar because we’re so busy with The Kagools. I started off doing characters before we got together as a double act. When we found The Kagools we loved them so much we’ve never looked back. And now we’re looking back.
What advice do you have for somebody performing comedy at the Fringe for the very first time? Claire: See loads of shows, have as much fun as possible, go to 10 to 10 in Delhi for a rest. Tears in the 3rd week are normal. Don’t put pressure on yourself to be ‘successful’. Just making it this far is more than so many other people manage and getting here is both a privilege and a success in one. What you get out of this month will most likely be unquantifiable, so just go with the flow and be nice to your tech and the door staff, they’re most likely working way longer hours than you and they will definitely tell other people if you’re a twat.
You’ve got 20 seconds to sell the show to somebody in the street, what would you say? Claire: Oh hi, do you like cardboard boxes? Great me too. I have just the show for you actually. It’s all about corrugated cartons and yes, the set is entirely made out of the brown stuff. Oh you’re free at 2pm? Well come along then, I even have a double walled 0203 I can show you. Just Out the Box room in the Caves. I know, what are the chances.
What will Claire Ford be doing after the Fringe? Claire: The Kagools are going straight to Korea for a festival and then we’re working on a pilot and finding somewhere to live for a little while, probably in East Anglia.
Who are the Lampoons? The Mumble, the Edinburgh Fringe & most probably the entire world are about to find out…
Josh Harvey
Hello Josh, so where are ya all from & where ya’ll at, geographically speaking? Josh: Well herro mumble, we’re kind of all dotted around Eng-er-land. I’m originally from Reading but we are all now based around London. We regularly rehearse in Balham though, in a window-less basement. I think that has a lot to do with the kind of material that went into this.
So Christina, how are you finding being the only lady in The Lampoons? Christina: You know what, a lot of the time I don’t even notice. Which I think can only be a good thing. We’re simply a team of four mad idiots collaborating on a script with the freedom to be silly, ugly and bold in our choices: and as a woman often cast as a dainty, innocent romantic, this is very freeing and exciting for me! So it’s a lovely experience being surrounded by a bunch of confident, expressive, funny chaps and leaving any inhibitions at the door. Though maybe ask me this question again when I’ve lived with them all for a month in Edinburgh…
Hi Oliver, so Why comedy, what is it about being funny in front of other people that makes you tick? Oliver: It’s an instant response. I can’t sing or play an instrument which illicit similar audience reactions. My parents brought me up on classic comedy like Tony Hancock, Emo Phillips and Peter Cook, so they kind of became my hero’s as a kid.
Adam Elliot
Which comedians inspire all four of you, the common comedic ground, both old skool & contemporary? Adam: The Spymonkey troupe for one are a huge influence for us, and we’ve actually been fortunate enough to have spent time training with them. Then there’s Swedish comedian Carl-Einar Häckne who is one of our favourite people ever, get on YouTube and binge watch him now! Also, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace is a solid go to, and all things Bo Burnham make us happy.
Oliver, you’re also a dab hand with a pen. Can you tell us about Robbers and Harry Potter? Oliver: Robbers started life as a scene I wrote for a friend, when they weren’t able to do it I showed it to Josh and my director friend David and we decided just to make a film together. Similarly with Harry Potter and the sketch show Josh and I recorded. We just wanted to be creative. It’s wonderful that people enjoyed watching it as much as we did making it.
Christina Baston
Since your graduation in 2013, Christina, you’ve been extremely treading the boards; but which has been your favorite play to act in? Christina: That is a toughie! I’ve been lucky to have an amazing time on every single job I’ve done. I really enjoyed working on Torn Apart twice with No Offence Theatre; a much darker story than House on Haunted Hill! I was working with an amazing team of generous, talented actors and writer/director, and the performances felt different every night.
Josh, you’re an ever present on stage & screen, but how on earth did you get the Thomas the Tank Engine gig, & did you enjoy it? Josh: Oh that was a bit of a weird one. My girlfriend’s dad, Robert Hartshorne was the composer of the TV show’s music and he knew very early on I wanted to get involved so he wrote me a song to sing called ‘Hear the Engine’s Coming’. I had a lot of fun and still find it quite funny when I see the YouTube remakes of me singing with toy trains being pushed around. They get more hits than I do!
What exactly are The Lampoons trying to achieve? Josh: We like making funny theatre, and we’ve stumble upon this unique concept of taking classic Horror Films and re-imaging them into Clowning Shows. I think it’s incredibly important to laugh and there’s a few different types of laughter, we definitely conjure up that unexpected ‘surprise laugh’.
You guys are quite well established on the London circuit, do you think you are ready for the Fringe? Josh: AAHHHHHH HOLY BALLS! IT’S A DEBUT! Yes, this is the first time The Lampoons will be hitting the Edinburgh Festival! We have lots of friends in London from our Halloween Shows each year but this will be a new born baby idiot for us to all deliver and it will be a great experiment to see how the victims… I mean audiences of Edinburgh will react… Previous B-Movie re-creations include ‘ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES’ – I’m sure you all know that one….
Adam, can you tell us about your experience with the Virgin Trains comedy campaign? Adam: Ah, now that was another immensely fun project. Every film was a different character, I got to play a Victorian Strongman, a Corn on the Cob, a Nun, and even The Godfather! Very Lampoonesque
What is it about performing live you personally love the most? Adam: Engaging with the audience right then and there is the best thing. Especially in a Lampoons show, we love to make each other endure things on stage, like spreading Branston pickle all over Tina’s face when she’s playing a dead character, or forcing Josh to eat an entire cucumber in one go, we like to make the audience feel complicit in the act and feel that they are enduring it with us
Oliver Malam
Where did the idea for The Lampoons originate? Christina: We’d been friends for a long time, and big admirers of each other’s work, but had been looking for the right project to come along. At the outset of The Lampoons we really didn’t know what we were going to end up with, but we knew we wanted to explore something beyond the more commonplace comedy styles. That’s when we stumbled upon B movie classic, Attack of the Giant Leeches; we found the script was a brilliant foundation for our whacky devising style, and following the show’s success over Halloween in 2016, in October 2017 we chose to tackle House on Haunted Hill in the same vain.
What is the creative process behind writing The Lampoon’s material? Oliver: We tend not to have a “process” so much as a continuous increase in madness. We highlight the scenes in the film we think are important for plot or character. Then over a week or so we just play around with how to tell the story in a way that entertains us the most, frequently changing jokes to keep things fun in rehearsals but sometimes locking in the ones we just can’t beat. That’s how you end up with a dancing ghost cat.
How much time do you guys spend together outside The Lampoons? Adam: As much as we can, which is not nearly as much as we would like! But we’ve got Josh’s wedding quickly approaching which will be perfect for a big blow out. I’ll be a groomsman and Ollie has the honour of being Best Man! We’re very excited.
You’re bringing House on Haunted Hill to this year’s Fringe, can you tell us about the show? Christina: We have taken the original black and white screenplay of ‘House on Haunted Hill’ from 1959, and re-imagined it starring four of the most professional idiots you will ever meet. This could well be the most ridiculously bizarre late-night show at the fringe; a thumpingly hilarious non-stop Comedy-Horror, the likes of which have never been seen. Vincent Price(s) may make an appearance, too. Plus, you get water pistols, ping pong balls and a Ghost Cat! What more could you want?
You have twenty seconds to sell the show to someone you are flyering in the streets of Edinburgh – what would you say? Oliver: I guarantee you’ve never seen this old classic.
*Regurgitates a whole cucumber and walks away*
Since I began reviewing at the Fringe, every year I’ve been to Foodies Festival to pick up my £10 bag of selected salami. But not this year, for I’ve developed an almost cultish passion for the annual visitation of a new meaty product – THE DELIGHTFUL SAUSAGE. I wasn’t the only one; a healthy room was about half full of other fascinated comedians, like when Eric Clapton held hands with Brian Jones on witnessing Hendrix for the first time.
The Delightful Sausage is a comedy duo – Amy Gledhill & Christopher-Louise Cantrill – & last year I really enjoyed the craft & the show. The thing is, & I’m quaking as I say it, they’ve got better, they’ve found an extra gear. From the posh wotsits on sticks dished out on arrival, thro’ their extremely slick stagecraft of voiceovers & videos, to their stunningly daft dialogue, The Delightful Sausage are comedy firestarters.
It’s an even stranger yet somehow more personal journey which we’ve managed to pack full with unsettling illustrations and tight, rock-hard gags. Read the full interview here.
Their theme is the candidacy of Ickleton as a city of culture for 2021, upon which bedrock is built a light-hearted Royston Vasey peopled only by the madcap imaginations & clever costume changes of Amy & Chris. They interact like two Chinese ping-pong experts in a 50 minute showcase rally. It was only show 2, & a couple of balls hit the net, but they way they weave their hiccups into the show proves they have became pure performance connoisseurs.
The chief wonder of the Delightful Sausage is the way the tendrils of their creative energies reach out into every day existence & bring back life-snippets, but converted into comedy magic in the maelstromic furnaces of their creative chemistry. Last year I gave their Cold Hard Cache straight fours, but they have bettered their material this year, & the laughter was booming, so I’m happy to give them 5 stars x
Short? Yes! Curly? Yes! Funny? Absolutely!!! Think of the Krankies, Little and Large and Cannon and Ball, but don’t be fooled by the nods to the past, this is Short and Curly, a new duo in town. Hitting the Edinburgh Fringe with a bang, this unlikely double act take us on a memorable journey from Curly’s childhood to adulthood, but with a difference. Short and Curly: Young at Start is a sketch comedy show which incorporates noticeable characters from times past, something Curly struggles with and would rather forget as he clearly not enjoying the thought of turning 40 years old. Short is true to her title; small, bossy and cheeky. As the room heats up and the tales of the past are unveiled, the laughter is hard to contain. Getting older is a guarantee we all share, but how we deal with the process is another matter, & with someone like Short always there to remind you of the inevitable, it can take its toll on you. Literally ageing you by the minute.
The art of sketch show comedy is very apparent in this production. Handmade props that could have been constructed straight out of a Blue Peter annual add to the witty atmosphere. With throwback references to Neighbors, Power Rangers, High School days, not forgetting Kylie and Jason of course, you will not be short of laughs. Short and Curly are fresh, raw, pure and simple with side-splitting moments. The research into what elements of life we as people tend to wish to forget has been well adapted into this one hour show of slap-stick humour. The acting, and in particular the facial expressions, where hilarious. Like a tug of war these two pull you back and forward from sketch to sketch leaving a trail of laughter firmly behind them. If you wish to be be moved, entertained, tested, encouraged, influenced and delighted then do not hesitate see Short and Curly: Young at Start.
The emotional bubble fest that is Sam Pressdee might just have found her natural calling. A socio-political & cultural butterfly, her many talents have coalesced into the assembly of exciting comedians like a Catherine the Great making an excellent gazpacho.
It’s a sacred space, not a safe space. I see comedy as a platform for the truth. Not just another bland form of entertainment. In a way, comedy saved me. I like comedy with depth. I believe that great comedy can inspire change. Read the full interview here
For two nights only this Fringe, our holistic hostess rules the roost for one hour in the surprisingly pleasant-to-be-in, churchlike ‘arena’ that is Dropkick Murphys. Five acts are on the cards & with last night being the first of the Fringe, each was energized with personal enthusiasms, dashing thro’ their ten minute sets like speedboats on a still Irish loch.
Mags
Mags McHugh was up first, a woman who told me & the wife before she went up that she picked up accents by osmosis. Confident, cheeky, quirky as a chipmunk, she was a smart ice-breaking start to what would become some kind of therapeutic comedy session organised by mistress Pressdee. Next up was Dan Collins, a carouseling traditionalist & a gag-merchant of some merit; followed deftly by the anarchic, plunge-in-yer-midriff fun-knives of Becky ‘I’ll go with anyone for a nandos‘ Fury. She’d hosted the Malcolm Hardy awards last year, & with her piercing eyes, her breasts out, & her dreamy stare she was an enthralling watch.
Becky
The penultimate comic was Alex Hylton, a comedians’ comedian who opens his psyche up to anyone with cudgeling honesty & invites us all just to chill out & laugh. The final act was a half-Egyptian half-Irish young lady called Zahra Barri; a buzzy fluffball of comedy unafraid to take risks, like a cute lhasapoo puppy with a surprising snarl.
And then it was done. Perfect. Five wicked acts doing cartoon-length time slots, & the wife & were I delighted we’d made the effort to go to town. And it was free, & Sam Pressdee had somehow created that vibe she’d been imagining for months. Mission accomplished, m’lady, & lets hope it goes just as well next week.
Nicky Wilksinson has just swapped her kagool for a bag of party tricks & games. The Mumble wanted to find out why…
Hello Nicky, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking? Nicky: I’m from Hull and right now I’m in Edinburgh.
When did you first realise you could make people laugh? Nicky: When I was 7 I was ‘playing out’ with my brother and three or four of our neighbours on our bikes. The aim of the game was to pedal as fast as you could and duck underneath a taught rope which was tied between two posts. It was finally my turn, I peddled as fast as I could but couldn’t duck down far enough when I approached the rope, this caused me to fly backwards off my bike, landing in a puddle with a lacerated forehead. Everybody laughed and laughed and laughed. I knew from that moment I was a born entertainer and now try to whack out a prat fall weekly… for anyone who’s watching.
How did you get into stand-up comedy? Nicky: I worked in a comedy club in London for about 5 years before I started stand-up, watching enthusiastically from the back of the room, I always wondered if it would be something I could do. One day I gave it a crack and turns out, I’m alright at it.
You’ve performed at the Adelaide Fringe & the Edinburgh Fringe. What are the differences between an Australian crowd, & a Scottish? Nicky: Mainly just the accent and the weather they’ve just come into your show from. Fortunately not much else, I reckon some of the things that make us happy are pretty universal so I’ve been able to share similar stories with audiences from both sides of the world.
You’ve got three famous figures from history coming round for dinner. Who would they be & what would you cook; starter, mains & dessert? Nicky: Amy Johnson – she was the first female pilot to fly solo from Britain to Australia and she’s from Hull. What a dude! And Julie Walters, cause she’s probably my favourite human of all time. And finally the legends that are, French and Saunders (I know that’s 2 people but I’m breaking the rules cause it’s MY dinner party). We’d all have a right laugh together. I’d do a buffet. I love a spread and quite frankly, who doesn’t?!
You are bringing a show called HAPPY this year’s Fringe, can you tell us about it? Nicky: It’s a feel good show packed with stand-up, party games, quiz questions, fun facts. I have a friendly chat with some (hopefully) lovely audience members and that’s about it. I’m not aiming to make people think too much, I’m not changing lives or fighting crime. I just wanna make some people smile, laugh and leave feeling warm and fuzzy inside.
Sounds like a bit of a funfest all that, why did the idea originate? Nicky: I did a show back in 2015 called Nicky’s Happy Hour, which stemmed from a thing I did on Twitter earlier that year. I basically tweeted about things that make me happy for one hour a day. Sometimes people joined in and it started to become a bit of a happy community. It was a lot of fun. I realised I missed that feeling and so reworked the show, and renamed it HAPPY.
You were part of multi-award winning comedy duo, The Kagools, so why the solo move? Nicky: Ah, it’s not a move, I’m still very much one half of The Kagools and things are going really well. We’re doing a show at Edinburgh Fringe too this year, so it’ll be nice to perform in two fun shows a day.
You’ve got 20 seconds to sell the show to somebody in the street, what would you say? Nicky: Free pies! (I’m hoping that’s all I need).
What will Nicky Wilkinson be doing after the Fringe? Nicky: I’ll be flying straight to South Korea – The Kagools are doing the Busan Comedy Festival, which is super exciting!
Sam Russell is coming up from London on the sleek, slick wings of the Angel Comedy night. The Mumble caught him for a wee, mid-flight blether …
Hello Sam, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking? Sam: I am from a place in South London, called Streatham. We are famous for having London’s biggest indoor ice rink, a few nice green spaces and knife crime… All our attractions involve blades of some description. Currently I am on a large bed in a room at Edinburgh Business School on my first day at the Fringe, wondering if I should go back into town or just get as much rest as possible.
When did you first realise you could make people laugh? Sam: There is an apocryphal tale that at about 4, me and cousin would stand on tables and not tell jokes as such, but say words in the cadence of jokes e.g.
‘Why is the pasta always wet?’
Pause…
‘Because of the tomatoes!!!’
This did get laughs apparently, purely due to the confidence of the delivery rather then the quality of the writing. Something I still somewhat rely on to this day!
Can you tell us about Angel Comedy in London? Sam: Angel Comedy is just a little bit magic. It started out just as many nights in London do. A free gig, above a pub (The Camden Head, in Angel), once a week. But due to the amazing talent and work ethic of the team its Aslan-like founder, Barry Ferns (see his show, ‘Barry Loves You’ every night of the fringe 9:00pm at The Tron) has assembled. It now owns the top two London comedy clubs on Trip Advisor. The original and their brand spanking new venue, the wonderful titled ‘The Bill Murray’ both running 7 nights a week. Angel runs under a great philosophy, which is basically London can be a massive rip off for everything. But not having much disposable income doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a laugh. It is still free to get in for all of the 8 o’clock shows at both venues, we have a bucket at the end and people pay what they can. What is lovely is you’ll see the student who could only throw in a couple of quid a few years ago, come back after landing their dream job and then throw in a £20. That’ the magic part! If you want to get a taste of that magic at the fringe, check out the Angel Comedy Showcase at 1:15 every day @ Espionage.
What are the differences between a bad MC & a good one? Sam: A good MC put the night before themselves. A bad MC makes the night about themselves.
A good MC is a charming waiter serving a variety of different courses. A bad MC is a waiter who doesn’t really care about the food and just wants to go outside for a fag.
A good MC is a good parent making sure the bath water is the right temp for baby, not to hot or to cold. A bad MC throws the baby in the tub willy-nilly.
A good MC doesn’t let is show how much it infuriates them when audience members say to them ‘hey, you should try stand up’. A bad MC makes a sarcastic comment.
Can you tell us about Shoot From The Hip? Sam: Shoot From The Hip is how I got into comedy. I went to Uni at Royal Holloway. There was an improv society there, which I had a few friends in. They kept asking me to give it a go and I kept saying NO. I was going to be a serious actor darling. Eventually they twisted my arm, I did my first show… and never looked back. Shoot From The Hip was born from that group of friends, and since November 2011 we have never gone a week without doing a show. This fringe is actually the longest I’m going to go without doing improv and I am already freaking out about it. The show we do is called a ‘Mullet’. Short up front, Long in the back. Basically the first half is fun improv games like ‘Whose Line’, and the second is an improvised 25 min play. We currently do three shows a week as well as one of theatre shows, for full details check out: Shootfromthehipcomedy.co.uk
What are the three main differences between an Improviser & a Stand-Up? Sam: 1. You’re alone in stand up. With improv you’re in a team.
2. I think you need to be a special breed of monster to do stand-up. But I genuinely think anyone can improvise, its just like learning to play like a kid again.
3. Stand up feel like being a great stage magician, you know all the moves to make it seem as if something miraculous has taken place. Improv on the other hand can sometimes feel like real magic. Something will happen on stage and we’ll all look at each other and think ‘How the hell did we do that?’
You’re washed up on a desert island with an all-in-one solar powered DVD/TV combo & three films, what would they be? Sam: 1. 1978’s Superman. I would want something that would make me hopful
2. 2005’s The producers. I would want to laugh and that film never fails
3. A semial piece of pornagraphic cinima. Because I am a honest man
You are bringing your solo debut to the Fringe, LUCKY BASTARD. Can you tell us about it? Sam: I started writing this show in January, about how lucky my life seemed and how I had a strange sense of guilt about it. I get to do my dream job, I am married to a very lovely woman and I’m all on the things that we in society think of as privileged: straight, white, male, middle class etc. However in March of this year, something happened that flipped this show on its head (I won’t tell you here, you’ll have to come see it). But it made me takes stock of my life and I began analysing more what luck is. Apart from adding this March event, the content of the show remained remarkably similar: Doing a Elmo voice to piss off cold callers, dealing with estate agents named Chad, meeting my hero… What changed was the perspective. The show is now about how when we are lucky we need to admit it and embrace it. Don’t always be looking for the next thing you want; wallow in the majesty of the wonderful everyday. And also when things are going shit, remember that they can always get better and that if you’ve got a tomorrow to make things better, you are a Lucky Bastard.
You’ve got 20 seconds to sell the show to somebody in the street, what would you say? Sam: “Hey guys, looking for some comedy! Awesome! Well I’m doing my first show up here, I’m incredibly excited. It’s called Lucky Bastard. Its a hour of stand up comedy that I’ve been working of for the last year. I don’t want to spoil by giving too much away, so I’ll just tell you three things that you can look forward to in the show: 1. A pitch perfect Elmo impression. 2. Handy methods for getting cold callers to never call you again. 3. a philosophical look about what really important in life and how lucky we are to all be alive and enjoy this glorious day together.”
What will Sam Russell be doing after the Fringe? Sam: Straight after the Fringe I am going to a convention in Leeds called Thought Bubble to pitch a comic book about Adam from the Garden of Eden, living thoughtout all of human existance whilst looking for his wife Eve, who has been kidnapped by God… so you know… normal stuff.
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Gary Meikle has earned his stripes driving around the country from club to club, & now he’s ready for his debut show at the Fringe. Gary is no ordinary comic, but quite paradoxically its his sense of the ordinary that makes him so special. But then again Gary has led quite an extraordinary life, which forms the molten core of iron on which every joke & anecdote flourishes.
Mumble Comedy 