Archive for category INTERVIEWS
Rachel Mars and nat tarrab
Posted by Martin in Tomboy Blues on August 22, 2011
photo credit (except pants image): Gemma Ward
ScotsGay were lucky enough to catch up with performer/writer Rachel Mars and visual artist/live artist nat tarrab, discussing the stimulus behind Tomboy Blues as well as gaining an insight to some future projects –
Although the show can appeal to anybody who has ever felt ‘other’, the focus of much of the show is gender – where did this focus come from?
The show is absolutely about otherness, and the way we create work is to start autobiographically. The focus on gender comes from a desire to playfully explore gender queerness, our experiences of it, other people’s experience of it. At the moment there seems to be a scary reprisal of rigid gender roles for young women, in pre-teen fashion, make-up and role models which we wanted to respond to (and has also prompted brilliant movements like Pink Stinks).
Harriet the Spy, Calamity Jane, Avril Lavigne – what was the criteria to gain a nametag on your set?
The names on our set are all girls and women who are doing it differently and stepping out of the box – from movie characters to pop stars, literary figures to sporting heroes and a bunch of everyday people too.
The component of the work I found most unsettling was the scenes involving the voices of science and fact, unwelcome when examining the complexity of gender and identity – did any particular studies inspire this component of the piece, and what was its intention?
The intention of the lab coated fact-wielding characters is to capture the idea of the ‘people who know’ – they appear all the time in everyday conversations (the ‘they’ of ‘they say’) but also get internalised. It is these voices that we hear on the outside from society, and from the inside from ourselves, that can make it so hard to just be yourself. They are intended to reflect a narrow minded, unwelcome, restrictive viewpoint on life, gender and identity, in direct opposition to the reality of twenty-first century queer identity. We hope that they are on the one hand alarming, and on the other hand ridiculous. We read a lot of sociological essays, spoke to psychologists, psychiatrists and paediatricians in order to gather information.
It’s refreshing to see an exploration of tomboyish behaviour, as I think there is a definite lack of such in contrast to projects revolving boys adopting stereotypical feminine attributes. Would you agree? And did you at any point consider including a male viewpoint?
There is definitely a lack of projects relating to female experience full stop – see the Bechdel Rule for measuring the massive lack of representation of female experience in film. It also may be of interest that we worked with a male director on big phases of the process. The fact that we are women writing the female experience does not make it inapplicable to men and their experience. In fact we have found that the particular quality of specific personal truth that we use to make theatre seems to speak to a massively wide audience of all backgrounds, genders and ages.
Alongside your reflection on tomboy behaviour, the piece also explores the ‘theory of disappointment’ – can you expand on this element of the work, and its relationship with the aforementioned ideas?
The Theory of Disappointment was the title of a paper about psychoanalysis which caught our imagination. We used it as a spark to fabricate a theory for the lab-coated characters to spout, which states that disappointment is an inevitable bi-product of human existence. Whilst it is relevant to all human beings, it also suggests that tomboys will go to on to experience chasmic disappointment, as their hopes and expectations for the future are often shaken at adolescence when society demands that you need to be one thing or another. We both definitely experienced massive disappointment at about 12 when all of a sudden everything we had held dear began to become a problem; that you lead you into problematising your female-ness and holding up masculinity as something to aspire to, when actually -in a ideal world- a mash-up of both options and neither needs to be celebrated.
Finally, are you currently developing any other projects?
We are beginning sub-soil germination on a new show about water, swimming across the channel, and getting our mums to train to be heroes. See www.marstarrab.co.uk for future developments.
Richard Fry
Posted by Martin in Richard Fry on August 22, 2011
Tell us about your latest Edinburgh Fringe show
It’s called The Ballad of the Unbeatable Hearts, and is about gay suicide – but also about the importance of life. It’s dark and sad but fun and uplifting too.
How many Fringe shows is that now?
That’s five one-man shows in the last four years. I started late so I’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
Do you consider your plays political?
It’s funny because I never saw myself or my shows as political, I thought I was just telling stories about things that I care about. Then I started getting referred to as a political playwright and I guess the Amnesty Award nomination consolidated that. I don’t shy away from being political; if you have a voice you should use it, especially if it can help other people.
How did you get into poetry/rhyme?
I’m a failed musician. I was always writing songs on my guitar, hundreds of them but in the end I had to admit that I wasn’t a very good guitar player so I gave it up but continued to write lyrics which evolved into my one man shows.
Which play are you most proud of?
Well, Bully got me started and enabled me to travel the world, it’s also the most personal and it actually signifies a turning point in my life. It’s where I turned a massive negative into a positive and I haven’t looked back since. I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite play but it is the one I’m most proud of for personal as well as creative reasons.
What other Fringe shows are you seeing/have seen?
Tonight Sandy Grierson Will Lecture, Dance and Box at Assembly is fantastic, very inventive and full of charm and wit. Lynn Ruth Miller is the oldest stand up I’ve seen, she’s 78, and one of the funniest. Catherine Semark is also a very funny lady, check her out plus Richard Marsh is doing a very good turn at versed storytelling in Skittles in the Pleasance Courtyard.
Do you like Edinburgh?
I love Edinburgh. It’s a total joy to come back here every year, I always make sure I room with the natives so I discover some of the local haunts off the main Festival drag.
Are there enough gay role models?
There can never be enough gay role models. There are a lot of gay fictional characters in soaps, dramas and films which is great but we need more real people. Straight kids need to see them as much as gay kids. I find it confusing and disappointing that confident, successful people in positions of influence still live a life in the closet when they could be helping so many.
Is there a LGBT Community?
That’s a difficult question to answer. I think community is the wrong word to use, there’s definitely a scene, of course. I think the trouble lies in the fact that the group tries to include too many disparate subgroups. Gay men and transsexuals are inherently different but they’ve been lumped together under the LGBT umbrella. Their needs aren’t the same. People within both these subgroups are reluctant to pull together because of the inclusion of each other. The ‘community’ tries to reach out to too many people which is a nice aim but it doesn’t lead to a cohesive unit.
Who are your biggest influences?
The people who have had the most profound effect on my life are the nasty ones. The bullies and the bastard ex-boyfriends. I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I wouldn’t be doing what I am today if it wasn’t for them. They’ve had a massive negative influence on me but I managed to turn it into a massive positive. That’s a brilliant achievement and one that now takes me all over the world doing some pretty exciting things so thanks, guys, I couldn’t have done it without you.
Iain Heggie
Posted by Martin in Iain Heggie on August 22, 2011
Tell us about ‘Love Songs for a Timewaster’
I did an experimental show 18 months ago in Glasgow and London. Wide Asleep. The unstated narrative of some of the songs in that show was the basis for Love Songs. I’ve been increasingly brooding on why the pursuit of love consumes us even while our intellects are shouting that the whole thing is a preposterous waste of time. I wanted to find a way to reach a ‘positive’ ending without the couple being the end result. Or that for adults the love pursuit should be relegated to a kind of lesser mission.
How long did it take to write?
The lyrics were written spasmodically over two years. Apart from a joke from Wide Asleep the script was much brooded on but written in a couple of days. Since then adjustments have almost entirely been small additions. The Fringe version is a truncated version for the slot time. We would like to use it as a platform to take the show on to a fuller development with a quite different ending.
Is writing song lyrics a departure for you?
I started two years ago and wrote lyrics with no specific aim in view. It was only when the question of what do I DO with this stuff that the idea of a play with songs began to occur to me. I felt like Id got out of prison. At last I’d found something I could do quickly. Its got more interesting as Ive gone on. And the number of drafts of each song has gradually increased.
How did you hook up with John Kielty (from Edinburgh rock band The Martians)?
John was in a revival of Wholly Healthy Glasgow in the 90s. I cast him nine years ago when I directed The Beauty Queen Of Leenane at the Tron in Glasgow. I was looking for a composer 18 months ago when I met a mutual friend who told me that John wrote music. I contacted him and I sent him all the lyrics that I thought could find their way into the show. He wrote music for 8 songs. Five have made their way into this version of Love Songs.
You’ve been away from the Edinburgh Fringe for 6 years. Why so long?
The fringe is very hard work and full of pitfalls. The publicity about the fringe is that it is very exciting but for the show makers it is gets harder and harder to get noticed. Reading Stewart Lee’s biography last week you see charted the rise of publicity and the end of artists making money, no matter how successful their shows.
Do you consider yourself a writer of actor first?
I performed before I wrote. My writing career took off and it took over for 20 years. But I am not and never have been a dedicated writer in the David Harrower mould. I like drama, whatever the medium and I like all the roles except producing because I am incapable of a) multi-tasking and b) understanding money.
Which piece of your own work is your favourite?
Liz Lochead has said in the past that she thinks Wiping My Mother’s Arse is her favourite Scottish play since the war. I don’t know about that but it is my favourite. It is also my biggest heartache. In spite of selling out in its original production at the Traverse its never been produced since. But theatre has changed so much since 2000 and plays are not being funded as they once were.
But I would love it to be produced again and see it on in Glasgow and London.
Who inspires you?
Playwriting the Americans, particularly Albee, Williams and Mamet and now Sam Shepard. I like Irish plays and Chekov, particularly Ivanov.
In a nutshell, what’s the difference between Glasgow and Edinburgh?
Edinburgh is the most middle class city in Britain, Glasgow the least, after Liverpool. And a castle. But I don’t know Edinburgh outside of theatre. I’ve got a fantasy that I could turn over all the dismal clichés about Edinburgh. But I haven’t done enough research to do it with conviction.
Any other festival shows you plan to see?
I usually pick up fringe shows when they transfer. In less frenzied environments.I would love to see the new David Harrower if it wasn’t sold out. The Howdens are to die for.
Neil and Christine Hamilton
Posted by Martin in Neil/Christine Hamilton on August 22, 2011
Andrew Doyle spoke to The Hamiltons
“The Edinburgh Festival is Viagra for the soul,” says Christine Hamilton, taking another celebratory sip of Prosecco. I’ve met Christine and Neil for a post-show drink in the Abattoir Bar next to the Udderbelly, a preposterous outdoor tent shaped like an inverted purple cow which, this year, is the venue for the popular chat show High Jinks with the Hamiltons! The sound of the rain thrashing against the temporary, plastic roof is ominous to say the least, but this couple are determined to enjoy themselves.
“You can have too much of sunshine,” says Neil. “At least up here in Edinburgh we’ll never get skin cancer.”
“I’ve already grown galoshes and the flippers are on their way,” says Christine.
“I think I’m developing gills,” adds Neil.
Hearing them banter with each other like this, it’s easy to make the assumption that their onstage roles are simply an extension of their married life. “Oh, I’m very much bossed about and henpecked,” says Neil, feigning a grimace towards his wife. “We’re a bit like Laurel and Hardy, you see. And I’m definitely Stan Laurel.”
“What rubbish,” says Christine, laughing. “Our relationship on stage is a rough reflection of the truth. The thing is that Neil likes to pander to the image of the henpecked husband. People ask us what the secret to a happy marriage is, and he always replies ‘I do as I’m told’. If only he did.”
It’s certainly true that Neil has a restrained, mischievous quality. His preferred response to most questions is a sly quip. He enjoys being silly, which seems to both delight and infuriate Christine in equal measure. By contrast, Christine has a vivacity that is quite contagious. “I tend to run up to people like an overenthusiastic Labrador and slobber all over them,” she says. “Neil’s a bit quieter.” I look over to Neil for a reaction. “It would be difficult not to be,” he sighs.
“A lot of people think we’re bonkers,” says Christine. “But honestly, nobody could be more normal than we are.” At this moment, I feel I have to point out that the charge of eccentricity isn’t too unfair. After all, the Hamiltons have made the astonishing transition from Conservative politics to the world of showbiz. Most notably, they’ve both performed in The Rocky Horror Show, in which Neil danced down a staircase in six-inch stilettos, a Basque, and fishnet tights. And although we can be sure there have been many Conservative MPs over the years who have indulged in similar acts, there can’t be many who have done so for a paying audience.
I take their point, of course. The eccentricity is part of their profile, a kind of trademark for their brand, and Christine accepts that they have, to a degree, embraced the image. “But it’s just fun,” she tells me. “Where does fun cross the line into eccentricity? I don’t know.”
Perhaps that line was crossed in 2009, when Christine Hamilton changed her name by deed poll to “British Battleaxe” in order to help promote their friend’s website The Legal Deed Poll Service. “I know that I play on this image as a battleaxe, but I’m a pussycat really. I haven’t changed my name on my passport or anything like that, but British Battleaxe is my legal name. It’s fun. And Neil likes being Mrs British Battleaxe. Don’t you, Neil?”
There follows a conspicuous silence from Neil. I suddenly feel as though I might be the victim of a ridiculous joke. Can all this really be true, I ask them? Neil leans in conspiratorially. “Would we deceive you?”, he says, the ghost of an impish smile forming on his lips. It’s as though he’s performing a knowing caricature of the dissembling politician. Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes Minister springs immediately to mind.
As a former Conservative MP, Neil is keenly aware of the need to maintain an untarnished public profile to ensure political success. He was a whip for Margaret Thatcher’s government, a “master of the black arts” as he describes it, and was eventually forced to resign in the wake of the “Cash for Questions” scandal. But these days he can enjoy the luxury of having no direct political affiliations, which is especially useful when it comes to writing his political columns for the Sunday Express. “I’m now in the fortunate position of being against them all,” he tells me. “I stand outside the established parties as a journalist. I have all the answers and I bear no responsibility.”
Still very much ideologically to the right, Neil nevertheless has a lot of fun playing with the public’s perceptions of stuffy, staid Conservatism. It’s a fascinating dichotomy, at once embodying and satirising his own persona. Some would call it inconsistent. Others would say it reveals a healthy degree of self-awareness. In any case, after years of media scrutiny, neither Neil nor Christine feel any need to be dishonest.
“I’ve always said it’s much easier to just be yourself,” says Christine. “It’s hard work being somebody else. Why not just be true to your own nature? That way, life’s a ball.” It’s a sentiment that could easily have been written by any gay activist, and when I ask the Hamiltons about the perceived homophobia in the Conservative party of Thatcher’s era they are quick to dissociate themselves from any such views.
“I understand that people make that association”, says Christine, “but it certainly couldn’t be more wrong in our case. One of the great things about Edinburgh and our new showbiz life is that we meet such a wide spectrum of people. And if you asked me now who my ten closest friends were, probably half would be gay. And my absolute best friend is a lesbian”.
It’s at this moment that Neil comes out with the most unexpected of comments. “I was the victim of a gay bashing.” For a moment I thought I must have misheard. Or maybe the Prosecco has gone to my head.
Neil begins to tell me about a close friend of his, Harvey Proctor, former MP for Billericay, who was “hounded out of politics because he had a dalliance with a nineteen-year-old rent boy. Because the age of consent in those days was twenty-one, he was, strictly speaking, committing an offence.” Christine interjects to point out that this was a case of entrapment. The rent boy in question had been paid by the People newspaper.
“The entrapment was disgusting,” Neil continues. “Harvey didn’t have any means to earn a living once he’d ceased being an MP. So a few of us clubbed together and helped him set up a shop selling luxury shirts. We raised the capital for him. Eventually I became the victim of a gay bashing expedition myself. This was in 1992. We happened to be in the shop one day when a couple of young hooligans came in, started messing about, making unpleasant comments to Harvey, calling him a poof and the rest of it. I told them to leave and one of them broke my nose. You’ll notice that my nose has a kink to the right now. It used to lean the other way.”
“It was terrifying,” says Christine. “There was Neil in a pool of blood, Harvey had been floored, and this one fellow has his hand up to hit me, but for some reason he drew back. Probably because I was a woman. It was extraordinary. If I’d have been a man I would have had it too. Anyway, they ran off, and I just went thundering and yelling after them, anything I could think of.”
“Gallant Christine came to the rescue,” says Neil, beaming with pride.
I have to admit to them, this wasn’t the story I had expected to hear. After all, Neil had been part of the government that had resisted gay equality and introduced the infamous Section 28. At the same time, Neil was prepared to go out of his way to support a maligned gay friend and found himself beaten up in the process. He’s also undeniably charming. Such contradictions seem somehow appropriate for a man who was at the heart of Thatcher’s Britain but now likes to flounce around on stage in outlandish garb. I cannot help but wonder how anyone can possibly sustain such seemingly antithetical lifestyles.
In addition to his showbiz commitments, Neil is a practising lawyer, works with internet companies, and is the chairman of a recruitment firm. “People can be so blinkered,” says Neil. “They put you in one department and can’t imagine you outside it. When I first qualified for the bar, a hundred years ago, I’d already fought a parliamentary election, and some found it to be an asset that I could do other things, that I’d had a life outside the narrow confines of the law. But it was an absolute block on ever getting a seat in chambers because people thought I wouldn’t be serious enough about it, because I wasn’t going to devote all my energies to boosting the income of clerks who were going to get a percentage of every fee you earn. There are so many unimaginative and literal-minded people. They go through life staring at their desk and can’t see beyond it, don’t conceive that other people can be versatile. In many cases these other pursuits don’t detract from your job. If anything they can enhance it.”
I still find it difficult to reconcile Neil’s traditionalism with his new career path. I wonder whether the influence of Christine has allowed him to open up. She’s such a vibrant character, and has no time for what she describes as “boring old farts”. She tells me about their midnight show in 2009 when, on one particularly memorable night, virtually everyone on stage was naked. Their guests included the stars of Puppetry of the Penis, The Boys in the Buff and The Naked Comedy Showcase. It’s the kind of line-up that would surely have had Margaret Thatcher fall into an apoplectic rage. Or at least tut audibly.
So are these risqué acts really to the Hamiltons’ taste? “We love it,” insists Christine. “I’m so happy to have left the boring old world of politics for the real world of showbiz and entertainment.”
“We’re likeable people,” says Neil. “Despite the best efforts of many to convey the opposite impression. In our show we try to be the feel-good factor made flesh”. Christine congratulates him on the slogan. “We should use that,” she says. As an ex-politician, Neil is adept at soundbites. So there are transferable skills, after all.
The Hamiltons are grateful for the rise of reality television. Christine was one of the first contestants on I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! and a finalist last year on Celebrity Masterchef. She believes that through such appearances she has been able to convey her true personality, untainted by media hostility. Neil explains: “If you read something in the newspaper you are experiencing reality which has been refracted through the prism of the journalist’s prejudices and whatever message he wants to convey. So it’s never going to be absolutely true. By appearing on reality television, we’ve been able to sidestep the jaundiced impression given by journalists with axes to grind.”
By way of illustration, Christine tells me a story about a visit they once had from a photographer for the Daily Express. “I’ll never forget it. This was years ago, when we were still not massively popular in certain quarters. After the shoot, he said to us, ‘I had no idea what to expect from you two. But all I can say is that there is only one thing that people should do with the Hamiltons – and that’s meet them’. It was one of the nicest things that anyone had ever said to us.”
“So my message to the world is form an orderly queue,” says Neil. Judging from the success of their chat show, people are already taking heed.
Zoe Lyons
Jodie Fleming-Stanley tracked down Zoe Lyons in between shows
What made you decide to get into comedy?
I just had an underlying burning desire to do it. I knew I could make people laugh, and I knew I could do it as a kid. I would entertain parents with little stories I’d prepared. I’m basically a slightly moronic clown.
At what point did you realise you could make a career out of comedy?
After my first gig, at the Kingshead in London. I was filled with adrenaline and a naive joy. And also because I had nothing else to fall back on. I genuinely didn’t know what else to do with my life.
Do you think being an out gay female has had an impact on your career in comedy?
I’m not sure, I don’t really think about it to be brutally honest. it is a male dominated business, but so many businesses are. There’s no point getting angry about it. It’s pointless! You can either give up, or you can plough your own path – and I like to think that’s what I’ve done.
You’ve been really successful as a TV comic too. How has that been?
There are trends in comedy which influence things. Because of the recession, there’s a lot more comedy on tv. It’s cheap. Everything’s cyclical, including people’s motivations – in the 80′s there was a big rise in comedy on tv and it’s happening again. It’s cheaper for people to stay home and watch comedy on tv.
You were voted number 81 in the list of 101 most influential gay people in Britain. How did you feel about that?
I was quite surprised! I didn’t make the most recent list though … I plummted – like a really shitty pop song, I dropped right off the chart! I went to a celebratory event at Downing Street for LGBT History Month where there were lots of discerning gay people who had achieved lots. I got really pissed and have a vague memory of telling Jeanette Winterson I liked her book ‘Bananas are not the only Fruit‘! We got asked to keep it down … and I never got voted into this year’s list!
Do you see yourself as a role model for young gay people?
No, that would be too strong a word … I never really had role models so I know how important it is for a young gay person to see people just living their lives.
You’ve had a girlfriend for 12 years … how have you managed that?
Low self esteem and lack of imagination! On a serious note, we spend a lot of time apart and so we really make sure we enjoy the time we have together. We’re also very different. In the bits that are important, we’re similar though. She’s older than me, and more sensible. You’ve got to keep creating fun and stimulating each other.
Although you discuss your sexuality in your show; you’re not all about being gay. Is that intentional?
My life’s just not like that. I’m a married middle aged woman just going around my daily life. I find it bizarre when people define you by your sexuality.
The heterosexual audiences seem to really get on board with gay male comedy; do you think it’s the same for females?
It’s a tradition in the UK that people enjoy camp comedy. There’s panto; the drag scene; we’ve always had overly camp people on tv who are men dressed in womens clothes, and people are fine with that. Gay men are a straight woman’s best friend. Flip it, and people can’t handle it! Take an even slightly stronger, not even butch, woman – and no! People can’t handle it. I like to consider myself a straight man’s best friend … I have lots more straight male friends than gay friends.
How do you feel about gay bars?
Even when I was younger, gay bars were a disappointment. They had nothing to offer me.
Is there any shows you’d recommend this year at the Fringe?
Margaret Cho – she’s really great
What else have you been doing this festival?
I’ve been cramming in lots of guest spots on different shows; sometimes up to 5 a day. I was also on Set List, which was really fun. You get shown a list of random stuff for 15 second – and then you have to do 7 minutes based on it.
Have you got anything to say to ScotsGay readers?
Come see the show! It’s about gays and slankets! What’s not to enjoy?
Vikki Stone
Posted by Martin in Vikki Stone on July 30, 2011
What is your new show, ‘Big Neon Letters’ all about?
It’s about the search for fame and recognition at the expense of meaningful relationships. It’s also a bit filthy, so don’t bring the kids. You can bring your Mum, but only if you’re prepared to explain a few things in the car on the way home.
Are you looking forward to your Edinburgh debut?
I am. I’m not going to lie, I’m nervous. I keep having anxiety dreams where I’m setting up all the equipment, and someone comes in to review me setting up.
Tell us about your band, ‘The Flashbacks’
I love the boys in my band. They are just the best. Matt Blair on drums and Andy Franklin on guitar/bass/vocals/glockenspiel. (As to be expected, the glockenspiel comes with endless, ‘go on Andy, get your glock out’ jokes.) Any spare time in rehearsals is spent trying to improve Andy’s anecdotal skills. Boy, do his stories come with swathes off unnecessary detail. And Matt, well, Matt is a comedian himself, as well as an ace drummer, but here’s the juicy stuff – he’s the son of Lionel Blair. Recently Matt was sick, and it got passed around his family, and I thought, ‘Wow, I know that Lionel Blair is having stomach troubles.’
You’ve been described as a multi-talented comedian, actress, singer and musician. What do you most enjoy?
Any of the above that involves wine. There’s nothing I enjoy more than getting drunk and belting out ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ until my vocal folds bleed.
You recently won the 2011 Soho Theatre One Night Stand Up Award.
Yes. It was sponsored by Durex. I got a lot of free condoms. And lube. I have too way much lube in my life right now. If anyone needs any during the Festival, come and find me. I also have a vibrating cock-ring, but I need that, sorry.
You appeared on ‘Most Annoying People 2010’ on BBC3. Any nominations for 2011?
Ooooh. Yes. Everyone from (the BAFTA Award Winning?!) TOWIE. Pippa Middleton. Enough about her arse already! New x Factor panel – it’s not going to be the same without Cheryl and Simon.
Do you get recognized from the Yakult, Fiat and Tena Lady ad campaigns?
No. Which is very disappointing.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Do we need so much lube in today’s consumer society? Think of other ways to stay moist people!
Which other acts have influenced you?
Bette Midler. Bonnie Tyler. Phillip Schofield.
Have you visited Scotland before? What do you think of the Scots?
I have been to Scotland many times, and I love the Scots. My brother has lived in Scotland for the last 6 years, and next summer he’s getting married to a Scottish Lady in a Scottish Castle. I’m going to enjoy watching a load of people with Midlands accents wandering round in kilts.
Jen Brister
Posted by Martin in Jen Brister on July 30, 2011
Tell us about your Edinburgh show
It’s hilarious? Is that enough info? No…. Ok, my show is about identity. I’m half English, half Spanish so I wanted to write a show exploring my roots and what it means to be British. I started writing it because I noticed that whenever I first meet someone they always want to know where I’m from. I think this is because I’m a bit sepia, because when I tell them I’m British, they usually reply, “I mean where are you from-from? You know…originally?” I’d like to tell you my response, but I don’t think you’d be allowed to print it. The last time I was in Scotland I got chatting to an elderly lady who at the end of our conversation said, “You are a really nice woman for a darky.” To which I replied, “Thank you so much!.” Now if that isn’t British, I don’t know what is.
You’re just back from a tour at the Adelaide and Melbourne Comedy Festivals. How did they go?
I had a great time in Australia, probably because the people are so friendly. They’re all so smiley and happy and up beat. Honestly enjoying life that much is exhausting. I blame the weather, I tried to stay cynical and depressed but this yellow ball in the sky made me feel good about life.
How long have you been performing stand up?
About 10 years but it feels like 110. I’m older than I look. Some of you are thinking, no you really look your age love.
It says here that you watched porn for 70 minutes with five strangers?
Yes I did. What could be more normal, right? Obviously I’d like to tell you why and how and what happened, but I think you should just come to my show. I basically act the whole scenario out and I can promise some sexy moves. I have so many sexy moves. (I have literally no sexy moves.)
You come from a strong tradition of out lesbian comedians. Is being a gay woman intrinsically funny?
I don’t think so. As an out gay woman I can make fun of certain preconceptions about gay women, but I don’t think being gay makes you funny. If you are in a minority group there are certain challenges that you face that other people don’t, particularly white middle class men. So in that respect I think gay women come on stage with a fresh perspective that people haven’t heard and are really interested in. That said I do get the odd person coming up to me saying, “Why do you feel the need to talk about being gay on stage?” to which I reply, “Because I am gay.” It’s really that simple.
Any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
I think I’m the last person to advise anyone in the area of finance, but if someone wants to right off my overdraft I think that would be a step in the right direction…
Will you be catching any other shows during the Fringe?
I will be going to see as many shows as I can. Hot tips are of course Zoe Lyons, I saw her show in Melbourne and it is brilliant. Kerry Godliman is on at the Pleasance and she really tickles me and my very good friend Francesca Martinez whose show “What the fuck is normal” is on at The Stand. I’ve seen it three times already and I never get bored watching her.
Your performances are often described as high-energy as well as extremely funny. Are you full of beans?
I do bring a lot of energy to my performance because I have a lot of fun on stage. I think it’s important to enjoy your own show because that energy is infectious. I also want to make sure that people really get their money’s worth. This will sound naff, but as a performer it’s always a privilege when people choose to see your show especially at the Edinburgh Festival when there is so much competition. I really just want my audience to have the best possible hour I can deliver. I don’t know if I’d ever describe myself as full of beans, mainly because that is conjuring up visions of a massive bean bag and I don’t fancy anyone sitting on me. Well I suppose it depends who it is…
One of our reviewers thinks that you’re the hottest women she’s ever seen. Can she have your phone number?
Yes. Hopefully my girlfriend won’t read this… ha ha. Seriously though, don’t let her read this.
Milo McCabe
Posted by Martin in Milo McCabe on July 30, 2011
What is your new Edinburgh show all about?
It’s a spoof chat show where I play the warm up man and all the guests…I’m pretty sure there hasn’t been a show with this format at the Fringe before and I was really keen to do something original…also it gives me a chance to show off a bit, show a bit of range and have lots of fun. I did solo spots as these and other characters to try and work out who the best ones were and a few characters fell by the wayside…one of them was a guy from the US called ‘Chad Fox and his Box of Props’, with the idea being that he’d lost his box of props and subsequently didn’t have an act, but went onstage anyway. It was basically a long drawn out death that was a lot of fun to play but I had to let go of it, because ultimately it was just the one joke!
Your Fringe debut was in 2009?
I was pretty unprepared. I thought I’d be ok just expanding on my Philberto character’s club set that had been doing pretty well. I didn’t have a clue and that was made worse by a really nice four star review in the first week of the festival, which definitely set me up for a fall! I lost about a stone in weight over the month and was frenziedly checking reviews every day. The numbers were pretty good and I had some nice write-ups, especially one from an important paper calling me a ‘mad comedy genius’ but I got my fair share of ass kickings too. A couple of reviewers were unaware that I was a character at all and described me as a bit of a bell-end…but when you consider that the character is a reality TV show winner and he’s supposed to be, it’s kind of a backwards compliment
Do you have a favourite character that you perform?
At the moment, I think it has to be Anthony Sixsmith, my Bongo Therapist character. He’s the newest and the campest one I’ve got…a few years ago I was doing a masters in psychotherapy and there’s certain elements of a few of my classmates involved with him, for sure…psychotherapy and comedy are two professions that attract a lot of very eccentric people so I try and bring those together with him…I slot quite naturally into Anthony (!) and feel very at ease becoming that character.
When performing stand up as Philberto are audiences always aware that you are in character? Does it matter?
This is an interesting question and one that I’ve been thinking about a lot recently… At the 2009 show and at club gigs I don’t put my name anywhere, it’s just ‘Philberto’. I end some shows with a perfect Glaswegian accent (as confirmed by Janey Godley, TYVM) which in essence is supposed to give away the fact it’s a character, but it doesn’t always work like that. Some people still think I’m a Portuguese guy who’s good at accents. At one show I had a Portuguese guy refuse to believe I wasn’t Portuguese and I’ve also been heckled into submission by angry Brazilians who realized five minutes in that I wasn’t going to do any jokes in their language. I’ve also had to politely decline interviews with local Portuguese papers and stuff…sometimes after gigs when I can’t be bothered to explain that it’s a character I’ll stick with it for a while at the bar. It even happened recently with a guy I went to school with who didn’t recognize me and was happily talking to me about his holiday in Lisbon before I said ‘ Keith you dick, it’s me…we were at Tiffin’s together’…does it matter? I’ve heard the argument from comedians that what I’m doing is disingenuous because I’m effectively lying to the crowd and I do understand that argument, but I’ve always been attracted to the idea of doing a character that kept the audience guessing…one that they wouldn’t be able to tell was real or not. My favourite films are structured such that you don’t have a clue what is going to happen next and I try to keep my act the same way.
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
I like the amazing energy that crackles in the air all the time, most of which is coming off 18 year old drama students who are finding innovative ways to flyer the Royal Mile, seeing so many mates all together in the same place, all the drama, all the gossip, the rush of a good review, seeing genuinely excellent shows that people have worked their asses off to get right and all the silly eccentric people who seem to get even sillier and more eccentric in August
I dislike 18 year old drama students on the Royal Mile when they’re in a bad mood, bitchiness and backstabbing amongst performers, the crushing hammer blow of seeing two or less stars next to a picture of yourself smiling, getting stuck in dreadful shows that you can’t walk out of due to a poor choice of seating and the dreaded ‘Edinburgh eye’ that we’re all guilty of.
PUPPETRY of the PENIS 3D
Posted by Martin in Puppetry of the Penis on July 30, 2011
What made you decide to work with 3D technology? How did the idea come about?
A dickade ago when we began, and camera and a big screen were cutting edge. Today the audience expects a lot more, and we intend to give them something new.
What inspires you to create a new dick trick and how do you go about it?
Sometimes you will see something and think ‘I can do that!” and then again sometimes you’ll be work shopping and think to yourself “hang on! What does this look like!?” The chicken and the egg really.
Who do you feel your material is aimed at?
It’s for everybody! Half of us have one, the other half is rather curious about them.
What about going on tour around the UK are you most looking forward to?
Seeing the masses trying to cuddle a penis!
Did you ever think you’d make a career out of doing it?
Oh no! Who could ever dream of this! Mind you, think a lot of men dream of traveling the world, getting their penises out for an hour a night, and getting paid for it!
Why do you think men have such a fascination with their penises?
It’s our power source. We keep it hidden, but can’t wait to share it. With it we share some of our most memorable and joyous moments. It’s just always been there for us.
Have you ever had any strange requests from fans?
Too many to mention! No, I will not sign your testicle!
How do you prepare for your shows?
Relax and think of my Nanna.
What was the audition process for cockstars like?
Fascinating. They really do come in all shapes and sizes!
Which is the hardest trick to get right / the easiest to get wrong?
Hardest – Sea Anemone. Easiest to get wrong – The Hamburger. Got to balance those buns!
Have you ever injured yourselves?
Not from performing the tricks, but an old lady did drop me on my head one night.
Worbey & Farrell
Posted by Martin in Worbey and Farrell on July 30, 2011
Tell us about your Edinburgh show.
We’ve called our Edinburgh show ‘Well Strung’ because it’s no secret that we’re not only very highly strung, we’re both also very well hung. What we’ve always wanted to do is ‘de-classify’ classical music so we’re celebrating the music of the great composers and also exposing them as real and flawed human beings.
How did you meet?
We met at the Royal College of Music in London and always thought each other a bit odd. We never dreamed we would end up working together. After we graduated we’d regularly meet for drinks and then one afternoon we got so drunk we ended up at the piano together and something just clicked. It was Kevin’s knee.
You’ve changed your name from Katzenjammer.
We’ve always liked the name Katzenjammer but recently that word has become increasing popular. There are several bands touring under that name and also bars and restaurants using it too. It’s a great word but we think may have confused people into thinking we were a German oom-pah band.
How long have you been playing the piano?
Both of us since about the age of three. We have no other skills. In fact Kevin can’t even drive – he was asked to give up by his instructor.
What made you think of marrying music and comedy?
It happens naturally for us. We make each other laugh and find it hilarous when people take music too seriously. It’s meant to be enjoyed not revered.
You’ve performed all over the world – in 138 countries. You must have some stories.
Too many. One time we decided to go to a bar in downtown Johannesburg – a notoriously dangerous area. A hijack proof taxi dropped us off and the driver said he’d be back in four hours. We arrived to find it was nude night so with nowhere else to go we took off all our clothes and went in. At least we could have a few drinks – or so we thought as when we got to the bar they informed us they had lost their licence so were only serving tea and coffee. We sat there completely naked for the longest four hours of our life sipping Earl Grey tea. When we eventually left we found the taxi driver sat fast asleep as he hadn’t even left.
Which other musicians and comedians have influenced you?
Victor Borge of course. Dudley Moore, John Ogdon, Charlie Chuck and our manager Michael Vine who we think is one of the funniest men on the planet.
Do you have any other favourite double acts?
Old fashioned as this might sound, we find ourselves creased up with laughter at Laurel and Hardy. There’s a rare photograph of them we have with their wives and the adoration they have for each other is so evident. There are loads of great double acts. We also love Reeves and Mortimer.
What do you think about Edinburgh?
We love it here. The reason we moved here was not only because it’s a great city but because we’ve had so much support here. From the many theatres we’ve played to local businesses and events such as the Spirit of Scotland awards. We consider ourselves honorary Scots!
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Absolutely. The world would be a better place if everyone as children had been given more genorous helpings of gravy. Zimbabwe’s economic crisis is a classic example. Picture Mugabe as a child delighted that his mother had given him an extra spoonful of gravy on his mashed potatoes. Zimbabwe could have been thriving like the Yumbo Centre, Gran Canaria. The Greeks don’t even have gravy – enough said.
David Mills
Posted by Martin in David Mills on July 30, 2011
You won this year’s New Act of the Year Award at the Barbican in London.
It was crazy. I think all the other comics were thinking – who’s this guy? Also I totally fucked up my opening jokes so it was a miracle I got back on track. But personally I don’t like a comic who’s too polished. It feels a bit phoned in.
Do you find working in the UK very different to your experience of American performances?
Just that the opening few minutes I find in the UK, the audience is always trying to place me. Is he American? Canadian? But he seems to know about the UK? What’s going on? Now I’ve been in London so long my accent is all fucked up so when I go back to the US I get the same thing.
What will you be up to during this festival?
Working my ass off trying to get some management.
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
The food and the weather are terrible but the people are cool. I like Leith.
What makes you laugh?
A pretty fat girl. Like Adele. If ever I’m at a party, I try to find the pretty fat girl to hang out with because they’re always hilarious. If there are no pretty ones, just give me a fat girl and I’m happy. But as soon as I find someone to flirt with it’s bye bye fatty.
Do you have any particular heroes, comedic or otherwise?
I’m not a big one for heroes but I’m definitely inpsired by certain people – famous, non-famous and infamous. Dave Allen, Joan Rivers, Paul Lynde, Tracey Ullman, Marc Wootton, Julia Davis are all comedic inspirations. Also my friends are hilarious. I’m constantly stealing their jokes and telling them onstage.
As co-host of “Scott Capurro’s Position”, what has been your favourite experience with an interviewee?
We’ve had so many great guests on the show. Christopher Biggins was a riot and very gossipy. Britt Ekland had a great sense of humour about herself. Mel C too. And Claudia Winkleman. Brian Paddick not so much. He’s so boring it’s unreal. But I get this from a lot of Liberal Democrats. A bunch of sanctimonious bores. No sense of humour, no style. That’s Brian Paddick all over. But what can you expect – he was a cop! Gay police ought to be ashamed of themselves. They have no right calling themselves gay. Gay police, gay marriage and John Barrowman will be the ruination of anything good, fun or sexy about being gay. Fuck gay police.
What do you do to relax?
The real question is – who do I do to relax? Let’s just say it’s been months since I’ve relaxed. I need to relax all night long!
Do you have any regrets?
Of course I do. Anyone who’s an adult has regrets. It’s only the super-rich, the super young and Oprah who can afford to have no regrets. I’ve got plenty of regrets – the one that got away, the one I should have let go, the wasted time and money, the gig I blew, the friendships I took for granted, stealing some shag’s shirt. I don’t dwell on them but occasionally I get a text from one of them. I read it and remember that shirt still hanging in my closet. Uggh.
Delete.
Rosie Wilby
Posted by Martin in Rosie Wilby on July 30, 2011
What is your new show about?
Its about the period in my life when I was trying to make it as a singer / songwriter with my own band ‘Wilby’. I released an album, played at Glastonbury and Ronnie Scott’s, and supported people including Bob Geldof. I documented all the parties, weird auditions and fraught band relationships in a column called Rosie’s Pop Diary in the now defunct magazine Making Music. I recently decided to read these again for the first time in the ten years since the mag folded, the column ended and the band broke up. And I hardly recognised myself. So I suppose there’s a philosophical element to the show thinking about how time changes and colours our memories and how people change. And how popular culture has moved on. The first diaries are from 1996 when the Internet seemed like a new thing. And everyone had a Filofax. It was an incredibly eventful time for me on a personal level and it seemed like enough time had passed to see the comedic side of this. Fortunately I’d saved enough stuff including old diaries, old photos, old lyric sheets, old reviews and so on to build the picture back up again.
How does it feel to move from a music career into comedy? Was it a seamless transition?
It was quite a slow gradual transition. Music was central to my life throughout my teens and twenties. And comedy had really not occurred to me until my band started to break up. I didn’t feel all that confident when I started to do gigs as a solo acoustic act so I thought I could add something by telling stories in between the songs. I started trying to make these funny because I realised that my songs were quite sad and was self aware enough to be able to joke about this and how I was conforming to the ‘wailing woman with a guitar’ stereotype. More and more people said I had something naturally funny about me. So I heard about some of the comedy competitions and entered a couple of those in 2004 and 2005 reaching semi finals in So You Think You’re Funny and Laughing Horse without really knowing what I was doing. But I was clueless about how the comedy circuit worked. I thought it was like the music scene in London where bands tended to do about one gig a month because promoters wouldn’t rebook you unless you brought about 20 friends along every time. So it was impossible to gig with any regularity. It took me until summer 2006, when I reached the final of Funny Women at the Comedy Store and as a result started getting offered more gigs, to realise that most comedians gig every night. I couldn’t get my head around it at all.
Describe your worst ever gig.
What started out as one of my worse ever gigs actually turned into one of the best ones. It was on International Womens’ Day in 2007 when I was still very new to comedy and a friend of mine had to pull out of a gig and asked me to replace her. So when I turned up I was not who they had been expecting. And the gig was not what I had expected either. It was at a Christian centre in Battersea with an audience of mostly black women. I was shown to the lectern in front of a large cross from which I was deliver my set, and had visions of them tying me to a chair and doing an exorcism like the scene in Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit. And yet, my preconceptions turned out to be all wrong. Although when I brought my gay material in, there was a woman who almost fell off her chair with shock I managed to have fun with her and challenge her ideas about lesbians. And there was a lovely connection that developed. I think we managed to unearth some of the universal things about human beings in love and relationships, gay, straight or bi. And it made me think twice about pre-judging a gig and an audience after that. Another tough one was at a night I’d been asked to compere by a website called Gay Camberwell. The first one ran at a pub that turned out to be the wrong venue for it. When I arrived the manager informed me that she hadn’t yet put the microphone onstage in case someone stole it. She then told me how people even stole air fresheners from the urinals when you could buy 3 for £1 at the shop across the road. When my friend Cilla arrived, she mentioned that there seemed to be some people in the audience that she would refer to as ‘street drinkers’. I was compering and trying to encourage the audience to give lots of applause as I brought the first act on. One member took this as a cue to run up onto stage himself and I had to hold him at arms length. By the time our headliner Julie Jepson had gone on, she found herself upstaged by a dog called Rascal (who looked like a dangerous breed to me) who decided to run around chasing his tail directly in front of the stage. After this we ran a regular night at a more suitable pub just down the road.
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
I like performing every day and the fact that you can run around doing lots of other shorter showcase spots too. Last year, I was sometimes cramming in 5 gigs a day. And of course you can go and see lots of shows too. Paul Foot was my highlight last year. I dislike the loneliness. My girlfriend for the last five years hated the Fringe and would only come for the briefest possible visit. I missed her every Aug so badly. But fortunately my new girlfriend is still un-jaded about comedy and supporting me so has three visits planned. Yay! I understand though that going out with a comedian is really difficult. We’re a weird breed with odd schedules.
What makes you angry?
Really small things like a chocolate bar getting stuck in a vending machine. This happened to me recently on a deserted platform at Market Harborough station. I put more money in thinking that I could then trigger 2 chocolate bars coming out. But still nothing. I can feel quite bereft about things like that for a long time until I feel somehow the chocolate bar has been ‘replaced’ ie if a friend gives me chocolate out of the blue. Maybe the chocolate has a larger life significance here?
What makes you laugh?
My best friend Rachel Holmes. We’ve always had an odd way of interacting which sometimes can include making cat noises at one another. She’s teetotal so there’s not even alcohol involved. I think she’s just always been someone who opens up my silly side. After years of bemusing our friends at parties, we decided to actually record some of our conversations and now have a podcast together called Odd Ones Out which is a spoof take on the LGBT news.
Tell us about your LGBT radio show in London.
I also present and produce LGBT magazine show Out In South London on Resonance FM. People can listen online anywhere in the world on resonancefm.com and its every Tuesday at 6.30pm. I’ve been doing it for 3 years now because I thought it was a real shame there was nothing like that on the BBC any more. Why can’t LGBT people hear themselves on the airwaves? Of course we have filtered through a bit to the mainstream with people like Sue Perkins. But she’s not the only LGBT person out there. And sometimes its nice to tune in when you know there will be LGBT issues discussed. We’ve had brilliant guests on our show including Sarah Waters, Stella Duffy, Patrick Wolf and we’ve highlighted a lot of important community issues too including homophobic violence.
The last couple of years in your Science of Sex shows you performed as a wonderful nutty professor type character. Will we be seeing her again?
Ha ha yes I miss ‘Dr Love’ too and she does pop up from time to time. I still get asked to do excerpts of Science Of Sex from everyone including the South Bank (on World Book Day) to London Zoo (for their Summer Lates).
Do you see yourself as a role model?
I haven’t really thought about it. But if I have ever inspired any LGBT people to go out there and do stuff and be bold about their sexuality, then I’d be really happy.
There are many out lesbian comedians performing at the Fringe this year and there does seem to be a lot of lesbian comedians on the circuit. Is there a reason for this?
Hmmm, yes we seem to be ‘breeding’ which is ironic as its much more complex for us to do this. Maybe someone is running around the circuit with a turkey baster filled with comedian lesbian DNA. I’m glad to see it. Up’n’coming Suzi Ruffell, Sarah Campbell and Sarah Archer have all featured heavily on Out In South London.
Mitch Benn
Posted by Martin in Mitch Benn on July 30, 2011
What is your new Edinburgh show all about?
It’s about an hour. Arf arf. No really, there’s no overarching theme or plot. I haven’t done Edinburgh on my own since 1999 and I’m just looking forward to doing something quite laid-back given that it’ll be 3pm and everyone will be wide awake and sober. Well nearly everyone. There will be certain topics that get discussed at length, I imagine – I’ve lost a LOT of weight this year (10 stone and counting) and some people have suggested I do the show about that, but here’s the thing – I’m just coming to the end of what, it turns out, was the easy part – GETTING the weight off. The really tricky part is KEEPING it off, and that’s just beginning. So any sort of check-me-out-I-got-thin show would be premature this year (and possibly tempting fate). However whenever anyone sees me for the first time in a while it’s all they can talk about, and since I’m sure there’ll be people coming this year who’ve seen me in previous years I don’t think I can completely avoid the topic. It’ll be the dwarf elephant in the room, so to speak.
Are you a comedian or a musician first?
I don’t even make the distinction any more to be honest. I guess I’ve been playing musical instruments since before I started doing stand up comedy but then THAT was twenty years ago this summer so it’s all a bit academic.
You began your comedy career in Edinburgh?
I did; I came up to Edinburgh in 1988 to do my degree and ended up staying for eight years. It probably still feels more like home than anywhere else, if I’m honest. I’m from Liverpool originally but it’s so long since I left and Liverpool’s changed so much (largely for the better, I should point out) that I hardly recognise the place now. Edinburgh I’m there five minutes and it’s like I never left.
Are you aware that you have a gay following?
Oddly I’m more directly AWARE of my lesbian following, if we still make such a distinction. I’m very gratified by the existence of ANY following. I wonder how much of it is down to the whole Doctor Who thing.
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
The hills get to you after a while. But I’m sure they were doing me a power of good while I lived here. Put SO much weight on when I moved to London.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
The American satirist Bill Maher had a neat idea – he heard about how in China, the directors of a company that made tainted baby milk products that poisoned a bunch of kids were tried for corruption – and SHOT. He thought how about we pick TWO bent bankers – just two at random – and hang them in gibbets over the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Just to keep the others on their toes.
You’re a big fan of Twitter.
I am indeed. It enables me to do stuff that just wasn’t possible even two or three years ago. For example; my podcast – I had the idea to do that on a Wed afternoon, mentioned my idea on Twitter, asked people to send recordings of funny songs for me to play and the first one was up for download on the Fri. It took two days from concept to reality; I know that in proper radio that would have taken at LEAST six months, probably nine and maybe eighteen.
You sang about Tabloid Journalists on your Radio Face album back in 2002. What do you think to the current crisis in popular journalism?
On the one hand I don’t know why everyone’s so surprised – did ANYONE think there was ONE reporter using hacked voicemails? – but on the other hand I can’t believe I’m actually seeing this happen. I thought News International had built up such a web of fear and influence around itself that nothing and no-one would ever touch it. This isn’t the end for them by any means but when your whole power base is founded on your perceived invulnerability ANY chink in your armour is significant. Like Arnie says in Predator, “If it bleeds, ve can kill it…”
If you were given the role as the 12th Doctor, who would be your companion?
Listen, if I ever got cast as the Doctor I’d be so insane with happiness I wouldn’t CARE who my companion was. Seriously. I’d be ok with anything. Hot chick, strapping bloke, granny, tin can on a bit of string, ANYTHING.
Joe Simmons & Lorraine Chase
Posted by Martin in Joe Simmons/Lorraine Chase on July 30, 2011
Tell us about Edinburgh Tonight.
Lorraine: It’s a chat and preview format show with a difference … Joe and I will be chatting with people who are up in Edinburgh and giving them a chance to preview their shows at the festival. The unique element is that every guest on the show gives away a pair of tickets to their next show (that night or the following daytime) so it’s a kind ‘try before you buy’
Joe: The show came about last year when our producer, Terry Finnegan and I had the idea of putting together a guest show with a difference that was fast-moving, and involved the audience. It’s a mix of artists from all over the Fringe and Edinburgh, the shows, the gossip and reviews with a chance for people to win tickets to the guests’ performances later that night or in the week – it rounds up a lot of what’s happening in town in a fun and fast way.
Edinburgh Tonight doesn’t just cover the Fringe does it?
Joe: No, the Fringe is obviously the biggest feature and we have some big guests lined up that will be familiar to a Festival goers, as well as some well-known friends of ours who have agreed to take the plunge and be interviewed, but we’ll also look at some of the people who make Edinburgh what it is. Last year we had a judo expert and Olympic medal hero, and this year we’ll have guests who are making special liqueurs and local fashion gurus to dress Lorraine, who is a model and will look fabulous anyway!
Lorraine: Edinburgh Tonight says what it is – basically anything that you can do, see, hear, experience in the city will be covered.
And it’s televised on the internet?
Lorraine: It’s being filmed live, and the full show will be uploaded onto the www.edinburghtonight.net website, YouTube, and also be available in bars and venues around the city.
So how did you meet?
Lorraine: I was a guest on the show last year – I was in a play (a very dark piece written especially for me) called ‘an evening with Elsie Parsons’ and Terry, the Producer asked me to come on the show. I had a lovely time, Joe was such a wonderful interviewer, he really relaxed me and was very kind and generous, and I felt looked after and respected – so when Terry asked me to join Joe as a presenter, I jumped at the chance – although I was a bit nervous – and I hope that I will be able to add to the whole experience with my own style.
Joe: I was nervous as she was the first really big name that I’d interviewed in front of a live audience but we put each other at ease with jokes and mucking around. We had an amazing chemistry so our producer Terry invited her to co present with me this year. She said it’s something she’s always wanted to do but had never done. She’d been interviewed many times including twice by Michael Parkinson! Big shoes to fill. We’ve got an opening song and have been rehearsing at her place for a couple of weeks before coming up. We’re both very excited, but very different in our styles of interviewing. And the guest list for the show is eclectic enough to match both our tastes!
You’re working again with the notorious reviewer, Kate Copstick.
Joe: Copstick is back! Love her or hate her, she says exactly what she thinks, the glory and the muck are always right there in spades. Last year, I chaired an impromptu grilling of her style by one member of the audience who completely disagreed with her. You have to remember is it’s only one person’s view, but she’s influential and takes no prisoners, just as she is on her ITV show at the moment, and of course, the audience will be getting first impressions direct from her coming out of the show so the latest hot ticket before anything goes to print!
Lorraine: I’ve never met Kate, but I know of her, and am very much looking forward to working with her – I know she’s passionate about Comedy and about Edinburgh – and I have grown over the years to really love the city and the Festival too, so I definitely think we’ll have a lot in common!
And the wonderful Michael Topping.
Lorraine: What can I say about him? ‘Those eyebrows!’ he’s just wonderful.
Joe: I’ve worked with Tops for over 10 years and he’s a clever and very funny man. He wasn’t a fixture on the show last year, as we both had our own projects, which both worked great. This year we have him full-time, he’ll add another touch of camp sparkle to the show, and he’s going to be seeking out his own ‘recommendations’ so you could say we’ve put him in the “ready-to-upstage-the-pair-of-you” position on the set.
Will ScotsGay favourites, Topping and Butch be making an appearance this Fringe?
Joe: Blimey! Well, the act is stronger than ever, we have new songs this year featuring newsy stuff like Rupert Murdoch’s troubles and even a song about the conflict in Libya (all camp fun of course), but Edinburgh Tonight is the focus. T&B will be flying around town. We’re at the Assembly Rooms cabaret ‘Best of the Fest’ on 18th and Priscilla’s bar on the 14th, we are also at Jongleurs Comedy Club on 12th and 13th and Jongleurs Glasgow the two weekends running after that, so we’ll be around, and we might even do a number on the ET show if there’s room one day.
What do you think about Edinburgh/Scotland?
Lorraine: I absolutely love Edinburgh, the Festival and the people. They are so warm and welcoming and friendly. I tell all my friends and people that I meet that they MUST come up to Edinburgh for the Festival as its just such a wonderful experience.
Joe: I like any city for its architecture, the people’s sense of humour and the quality of the alcohol – so Edinburgh scores extremely highly on every level. This is also the place that made it all happen for Tops and me which is why it’s fun to come back – when the Scottish audience is with you – it’s really just a lot of naughty fun. I’m looking forward to Lorraine getting a bit of that, and she’s single, so we have to find her a man.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Joe: Not in the space an organ like ScotsGay has to fit it.
Name your dream guests – out of anyone on the planet.
Joe: This is the ‘how queer is he’ question isn’t it!!! Here are the odd ones of the top of my head: William Hague, Evan Davies (BBC Economic Correspondent), actor Rupert Everett, Matt Smith, Stanley Baxter, Robbie Williams, Sepp Blatter (FIFA), Sarah Palin & Philip Schofield (together). I would adore to interview Posh, just because I think there’s a person inside really trying to get out I like it when the audience feels on a knife edge with every question!
Scott Capurro & Andrew Doyle
Posted by Martin in Scott Capurro/Andrew Doyle on July 27, 2011
Scott and Andrew, thanks for taking the time to chat. What are your shows about?
Scott: My show’s about my mother who was my best friend and my coke dealer. She sold me cocaine when I was eighteen. Which sounds rude – she could’ve given me a bump, but raising kids is expensive when you’re on your own. I’m not saying that all single mothers should become cocaine dealers, but if teen obesity is such a problem then giving them speed solves everything. I think my mother was more an entrepreneur than illicit or illegal and she did a bit of coke herself which probably wasn’t a good idea because she ended up with advanced lung disease. Advanced? Sounds like a compliment, doesn’t it? So that’s kind of what killed her in the end. She just stopped breathing.
And why did you choose such a dark and emotional subject?
Scott: I didn’t know how else to talk about that kind of experience other than in a comedic way. So it’s kind of a show I sort of have to do. And the audience has to listen whether they want to or not. Because I’ve got the microphone, so I win every argument.
So it’s more a form of sadism?
Scott: It is, yeah. ’Cuz I’m gay, the audience are bound and gagged by their guilt. They feel they have to stay because I’m old and clearly near death.
What about your show, Andrew?
Andrew: My show’s called Andrew Doyle’s Crash Course in Depravity. The title is a direct quotation from a review I received last year. It had never occurred to me that I was depraved, so I thought I’d look into it. So part of my show is about looking back at my own life and working out where this supposed “depravity” came from. I mean, I was beaten with a stick at the age of four by a broad-shouldered nun who spat profusely whenever she was reciting the rosary in school assemblies. She had suspiciously powerful wrists for a bride of Christ. And she had a glass eye, which meant that you could never be sure of who she was shouting at. And she shouted a lot. I suppose being stuck in a convent all day with twenty other frustrated women whose only outlet is amateur billiards must be quite a difficult life. In those circumstances, hitting a small child is probably quite therapeutic. In any case, if I do have any psychosexual problems that’s bound to be the source.
I know that both of you have had heckling and walkouts because people have been offended.
Andrew: I had a verbal death threat after a show by three young guys dressed as West African pimps. My instinct was to laugh, but that probably would have made it worse.
Scott: Audiences are cunts. They don’t want to be challenged. I don’t know why people go to comedy clubs. But if they must go, I don’t know why they choose that night to be offended. I mean, if you go to a comedy club you’re already a cunt because you cannot entertain yourself. And if you go and you’re offended then you should just start your day by shooting yourself in the back of your own pumpkin head at sunrise ’cuz it’s only going to get fucking worse. The thing is if people are willing to laugh at themselves it makes them a lot more popular. I don’t take it personally – if you want to leave my show, do it. But ideally I want people to stay so I can chip away at their self-esteem, to make them feel bad about what they’re laughing at. Like that straight guy I dragged home – well, straight to bed – and I fucked his mouth and came down his throat and he gulped “that’s a first”. That’s how I want the audience to feel. It’s the least I can do for them.
So it doesn’t bother you if people don’t like your show?
Scott: Why should it? That’s the beauty of live performance, that’s the risk every time, you never know what to expect. You could go and see a play in the West End and be offended by that. You could go and see some Derek Jacobi piece of shit where he minces around on stage, wobbly and bloated and getting his shaved testicles out, but who wants to see that? With Facebook, and Youtube and all this bullshit on line, you have no excuse now if you’re offended and want to leave. You should have looked the comic up. We’re all online. So don’t bitch about it if I talk about Madeline McCann. Some little girl gets killed by her parents and suddenly I get blamed just because I mention it on a comedy stage.
Andrew: In some sense it’s surprising that people still get offended. You would have thought by 2011 the boundaries would’ve all been obliterated. But maybe they haven’t, and maybe that’s because stand-up has become more televisual. More anaesthetised. I don’t set out to shock at all in my act, but when you choose depravity as your subject it’s difficult not to delve into some fairly dark areas.
Do you think there’s such a thing as “gay comedy”?
Andrew: I think there’s still a sense in which if you’re a gay comedian it helps if you’re camp and you rely on a lot of double entendres. That’s still what a lot of audiences expect. I’ve had audience members talking to me after shows who don’t believe I’m gay. Don’t get me wrong – I love Kenneth Williams and the whole “ooh Matron” brand of comedy, but that’s not what I want to be. I don’t think I could be that if I tried. And it’s good to see more and more gay comics on the circuit for whom their sexuality isn’t their primary focus. People like Paul Sinha, or Paul Foot.
Scott: They don’t believe you’re gay? Are they from under a rock?
Andrew: Dundee.
Scott: I think that comedy is by nature an effeminate response. Because it’s verbal. It’s not a physical response to an aggressive situation. But gay men on stage in this country are nothing new. I think the difference, with someone like Andrew or me, is that we’re not apologetic.
What made you want to become a stand-up?
Andrew: I’m self-hating. And I’m an attention-seeker. And I need validation from strangers. Although more than anything I actually love performing. I love the fact that each show is totally unpredictable, and that so much depends on how the audience takes it. It’s the only art form where hostility from the audience is expected, which is really exciting. Audience members at the National Theatre don’t shout out insults. Although based on some of the productions I’ve seen there recently maybe they should. One thing’s for certain, I didn’t get into stand-up for the money. It would be alright if I was performing at the O2 arena, or if I had a DVD deal. But who wants that? A damp attic above a pub in Yeovil is just as impressive.
Scott: I think that half hour or twenty minutes we have on stage is a really beautiful thing. And I think to ruin it by trying to make money out of it is like a Working Men’s Club with good lighting. Young people today see stand-up as a career choice, like Law, or Medicine, now that there’s a living to be made. It’s a bit delusional, but it’s truer now than it used to be. Yes, you can make a living. Yes, there is enough work.
Really? Isn’t the circuit a bit saturated?
Scott: Well, yes. It’s saturated with mediocrity which is what killed comedy in the US. For a long time comedy was rock n’ roll over there, in the late eighties / early nineties (when I started), it was huge, and then the clubs started closing. For one reason, because people started drinking less, which will never happen here. People’s homes in Britain are far too small to entertain, so they have to go out to a pub. But also they started putting any cunt on stage and the quality of shows became less and less.
So do you think that’s happening here?
Scott: I’m not sure how some comics get out of bed in the mornings. I’m not sure how they memorise their material. So much of it is so rambling, blah blah fucking blah, and I’m left thinking “what is your point? Why are you here? Why do we pay to watch this?” I mean if you’re up on stage purely to entertain – someone like Chris Neill or Sean Meo, both of whom are amazingly creative – that’s great. But if you’re some idiot 24-year-old with eye make-up on who’s just making fun of how fucking ugly he is, I don’t know. It’s just not enough for me.
What do you think of the gay scene in Edinburgh?
Scott: I remember when I first came here in 1994. I’d just broken up with my boyfriend because I knew I was coming here for the festival and I just loved kilts. I had such expectations, and when I got here I realised that the gay scene was just beyond disastrous. It seemed like something out of a 1950s horror movie.
Andrew: I quite like it. There’s something about CC Bloom’s, with the tacky tunes and the sticky floor, it’s somehow endearing. And the demographic is so peculiar. You get these skinny, mincing, narcissistic queens mingling with bedraggled, toothless older guys who look like they’ve just stepped off the set of Last of the Summer Wine. And of course plenty of straight women who want a night out without being harassed. It’s a bit of a mess, but there’s real character there. And I like the other clubs too: Planet, Newtown Bar, GHQ, Calton Hill – oh wait, that’s not a club, is it?
Scott, you’re directing Andrew’s Edinburgh show this year. What made you want to do that?
Scott: I was tempted because I like the idea of depravity and how people tend to avoid it in comedy, when actually comedy itself is so depraved. To make fun of desperate situations, if you’re good at it, is genius. But it’s also still very tense, you know? And it makes people uncomfortable, but you can use that to your benefit I think. But also I like the creative process. For me oftentimes rehearsal is more interesting than performance.
Is this the first time you’ve collaborated?
Andrew: I’ve been a guest on Scott’s chat show in London, Scott Capurro’s Position, and I will be again during the fringe run. I also helped him make a green salad once before a dinner party. Well, I rinsed a few leaves.
Tell us about the chat show.
Scott: I host the show with another American comic called David Mills. We’ve been doing it for three years now at the Vauxhall Tavern. We just put a list together of celebrities we’d like to meet, and we call them all, and some of them actually say yes. It’s been kind of great that way. And it’s a different type of performance. It’s much more relaxed for me.
Andrew: I really like the combination of you and David. It works really well.
Scott: Stop talking. David’s hilarious. There’s something about him that is so fresh and unusual. I love working with him.
Scott, why is your show called Who Are The Jocks?
Andrew: It sounds like you’re having a go at the Scottish.
Scott: I was only recently made aware, by a drunk inbred heckling during a preview, that ‘Jocks’ meant ‘Scots’ in the UK. Or so he said. Might be true, but the Scottish say a lot of shit, and anyway who can tolerate or even dissect the Scottish accent? In their plaid drawl, ‘jocks’ sounds like ‘cunts’. In fact, every word in Scotland, including their “varied” “food” menu items, sound like ‘cunts’. But aren’t the ginger retards the first to admit they’re cunts, affectionately, and the first to be proud of their fat asses, bragging they’d never exercise, not even their rights? Since the Scottish are, per capita, devolving into the fattest country in the developed world, I’m re-owning the word ‘Jock’. I’m taking it away from them, and until they drop a few stones and circumcise themselves and stop forcing their head cheese down my throat, they are now to only be referred to as ‘cows’. ‘Jocks’ has to be earned.
Andrew: Well, that certainly touched a nerve.
Scott: Am I just an old drunk gay uncle that everyone wishes would shut the fuck up or die of gay flu or whatever?
Andrew: I suggest you find Christ.
Scott: He’s under the banquet table, scooping up lost earrings. What a scrounger.
Hannah Gadsby
Posted by Martin in Hannah Gadsby on July 27, 2011
What is your new show, ‘Mrs Chuckles’ all about?
I talk a bit about being uptight and shy. I also talk about what I would like to say when I die. I seem to mention biscuits a lot too. It’s a much more uplifting show than usual.
You’ve also got a second show, ‘Mary, Contrary’.
Yes I do. What’s it about? Well I’m glad you asked… It’s a show about the Virgin Mary in art. I kind of cover the development of western art alongside the development of Mary’s story. It isn’t a diatribe on religion… I try and remain respectful but I have no interest in whether people leave believing. It’s funny too.
You have described yourself as “miserable”. Has success cheered you up
a bit?
Not really. Success has put me up for online hate. That’s kept me tethered. This is your third consecutive Edinburgh Fringe, but your first at this venue.
What made you choose the Gilded Balloon?
Balloons are fun!
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh,
compared to your native Smithton, Tasmania?
Edinburgh seems to have much death in it’s past. That’s a positive. Everyone
who who has ever been born in Smithton is still alive. Or propped up at least.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Eat less oil.
You’re frequently on television on Adam Hills show in Australia. Do you
prefer TV or performing live?
They are very different beasts. TV is fun because you get your hair and make
up done. Live is rewarding because drunk people get angry at you. I feel I am
really contributing to society in both mediums.
Which other comedians have influenced you?
I don’t compare myself to any comic I admire. It would dilute their qualities. I am
inspired by most female comedians making a crack of it because I’ve often been
told that the ladies can’t do funny. We can and we are doing so in many different
mediums. *tipping my imaginary hat*
Do you have a girlfriend at the moment? If no, what kind of women do you
like?
I do. I am very lucky. I won her on a scratch card on a discount airline. She
looks good in orange.
If you could go on a date with a famous person, who would it be with and
why?
Detective Olvia Benson off law and order special victims unit. The character, not
the actress. I just like her and would like to chat over food instead of a special
victim.
4.45pm 3-29 August
Hannah Gadsby: Mary. Contrary. Gilded Balloon
2pm 17-19 & 24-26
Tom Allen
What is your new show, ‘Tom Allen’s Afternoon Tea’ all about?
It’s the perfect start to your evening on the Fringe, that’s what! It’s jam packed with my stand up comedy, interviews with celebrities and top festival performers and a whole host of games and stupidity to get you in the mood for enjoying what Edinburgh has to offer in August!
Name your top 3 dream guests.
Well I’m happy to say one of them has already said yes, and it’s my friend Sarah Millican. She’s a dream guest because, like me, she loves cakes. And also because whenever I do see her, we both seem to spend most of the time laughing. Then I’d also include Bette Midler just for being sassy and then maybe Rufus Wainwright, to be poetic.
You’re just back from a sell-out run in Australia at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. How was Oz?
It was a lot of fun – I performed in Melbourne and Sydney and loved both places.
There’s this sense of optimism about Australia – it feels very youthful, even the
old people seem young! It’s also a great place for eating healthily – and breakfast
there is extremely bonza – I was introduced to ‘Avocado on Toast’ which is
just sliced avocado on toast with lemon and salt and pepper (perhaps you didn’t
need this explanationH) and it’s AMAZING!
You’re currently playing Pip in Bleak Expectations with Anthony Head and
Richard Johnson. Do you prefer Stand Up or acting?
I like both, essentially because I think they’re both about story telling – you’re
bringing an audience into someone else’s shoes and taking them on a journey.
With Stand Up it’s just that it’s your shoes so it can feel a bit scarier. You also
tend to be freer to improvise, poke fun at the things you’ve noticed and laugh
about the things you’ve experienced. It feels very personal just you standing on
stage talking to an audience. Whereas with acting you’re working with a team of
other people on stage and you’re telling the story as it’s written so it’s more challenging
to make that feel spontaneous (though, at it’s best I think it should feel
that way) and of course there’s introducing an audience to a character who’s not
you.
In 2010 Attitude Magazine called you a ‘gay role model’.
Do you see yourself in that way?
I was very flattered by it, largely because I grew up feeling like I wasn’t very
good at being gay. Even on the gay scene I’ve always felt like a big square (do
people even say square anymore? Is it actually square to say square?) but I
guess that’s maybe why they wrote it – you don’t have to be good, or bad or anything
at all, you just have to accept yourself and do your thing. Maybe that’s what
a role model doesH
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
I love the trams – they’re like conceptual trams. Like a modern art project that
everyone’s participating in.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Yes – think positively.
Which other comedians have influenced you?
I love Maria Bamford from America. I was at Just for Laughs with her in Montreal
a few years ago and ever since I’ve been mesmorised by her. I’d say I also love
people who tell stories like David Sedaris and Alan Bennett and even Victoria
Wood. I also really love the playfulness of Eddie Izzard and people like Reggie
Watts and Eugene Mirman.
Do you have a boyfriend at the moment? What kind of guy do you like?
No I don’t. I think confidence is very attractive. And ginger hair. And beards. And
kilts. And a Waitrose. Oh and kind eyes.
If you had the role as the 12th Doctor, who would be your companion?
Probably a medical doctor, like Dr Quinn Medicine Woman or Carl Kennedy from
Neighbours – I’ve often worried about what The Doctor would do if he was ill.
Just like a throat infection or something. That Tardis can’t do everything.
Tom Allen’s Afternoon Tea Gilded Balloon
3.15pm 3-28 August
Heather Peace
Posted by Martin in Heather Peace on July 27, 2011
You performed in Edinburgh as part of your UK tour.
Yes. It was at Cabaret Voltaire. I loved that gig, it was the 3rd date on the tour and prior to that one in both Belfast and Glasgow the noise level in the audience was so loud that we couldn’t really hear each other on stage. But then a bit of Self policing went on among the fans on Twitter and Facebook telling each other to be quiet and it all came together in Edinburgh. The audience was really quiet and attentive and it was just such a great gig.
Your exclusive Fringe performance will feature brand new tracks?
That’s right. I’ve been in Glasgow for three months filming the next series of Lip Service and I’ve been writing the whole time and collaborating with singer/songwriter Horse, which has been both a pleasure and an education. Edinburgh will really be the first chance for fans to hear all the material from my forthcoming album “Sabotage”
You have a new band?
Yes. I have now got together the band that will be touring with me next time and
also working on the album with me. Lisa Tring will still be on drums and I’ve now
got two incredibly talented new musicians – Kelly Appleton on guitar and Sara
Farina on Bass and backing vocals. It was always going to be a case of
developing the sound I want on the album through gigging with different
musicians, but I think Kelly especially has really added something to my sound
giving it a fuller and more current vibe.
Your next album is being recorded with Nigel Wright. That’s very exciting.
I am just thrilled that he has agreed to do it. I have known Nigel since he
produced my cover single of “The Rose” back when I was 24 and signed to
BMG. He has worked with so many people over the years including Barbara
Streisand. He was also Oscar nominated for the production of the soundtrack for
the film versions of “Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita”. He is perfect for what
we want as the album will be live musicians and big vocals – and no one does
that better than Nigel.
Tell us about your online web series.
The web series was a way of us getting a tour documentary out to the fans
without the huge expense of distribution etc. We are funding all this ourselves
but still want to be able to give the fans everything that an artist with major label
backing could give. Filmmaker Patrick Stutt came on the tour with us and filmed
the performances and the back stage goings-on. We put together 4 twenty
minute episodes and the response has been fantastic. They can still be
purchased and viewed now from my website www.heatherpeace.com.
Do you consider yourself a role model for other out lesbians?
I think yes but just by default. “Out” or “In” lesbians have a serious lack of visible
gay women to relate to so if it means a young gay woman can say to her Mum
“Look she’s gay and she’s alright”, then it’s worth me being visible.
Is your first love acting or music?
It depends on so many factors, including quality of the script or music. I did not
like having to do acting jobs just to pay my mortgage, I’d obviously rather just do
work of quality and with my music career taking off I no longer have to take
those jobs. However if an amazing series or film came up I could not turn it
down.
How close to the Lip Service character DS Sam Murray are you in real life?
Erm. I am a woman. I am Gay. Erm. . . . . . No seriously, she is far cooler than
me, far stronger and thinks before she speaks. I am much more emotional, flaky
and free-spirited than Sam.
Will you catch any other performers whilst in Edinburgh?
I will definitely be checking out my friends Jen Brister, Zoe Lyons and Suzi
Ruffell who all have stand up shows throughout the month.
Heather Peace at The Edge Testival The Liquid Room
7pm 13 August
Paul Foot Interview
Posted by Martin in INTERVIEWS, Paul Foot on June 23, 2011
What is your new show about?
I called it Still Life because I wanted to explore the timelessness of art and the beauty of the palette, but the show went through a directional change and it is now mainly about the painstakingly arduous and utterly pointless continuity of life.
You have often been politely described as “eccentric”. How far do you feel this is an accurate description?
Behind my eccentric stage persona I’m actually a lot more unusual: I go for weeks eating nothing but venison, I bury chopsticks in random Buckinghamshire window boxes and I smash greenhouses with golf clubs at the dead of night.
Are you ever plagued with doubt or anxiety?
Let’s not be fanciful here, we all know that anxiety isn’t a plague. There are three types of plague: bubonic, harmonic and scenic. I never experience anxiety but I am sometimes overwhelmed with loneliness. I sit in the airing cupboard and weep.
Are there any things you particularly like or dislike about Edinburgh?
I don’t like the cobbles, they make the forward rolls quite painful after a while. Also there are too many uphill bits. If I was the mayor I’d bulldoze all the historical stuff: the castle – all the things nobody cares about, and install a massive travelator system.
Do you have any suggested solutions to the world economic crisis?
Float more origami swans on the stock market and swap share portfolios for Cher portfolios.
What makes you laugh?
Really tragic things, like at my local farmers’ market there’s this woman who sells over-priced raisins, bits of dried fruit dipped in chocolate and nobody ever buys any of it and she looks on the verge of tears – comedy gold. And once my friend hosted a dinner party and was bragging about how he cooks a killer spaghetti Bolognese, and he dropped the whole lot on the floor – hilarious.
Do you have a favourite holiday destination?
The villa of hate.
Margaret Cho Interview
Posted by Martin in INTERVIEWS, Margaret Cho on June 23, 2011
What was your upbringing like?
I grew up in San Francisco in the 70s. My parents owned a gay bookstore in the middle of the gaybourhood and so asked all the gay men to babysit me. I was raised by drag queens. My father thought that would be the best thing for me and it was!
You’ve previously described 70’s San Fran as a melting pot.
San Francisco is a very liberal and multicultural city, and also has a very prominent and powerful gay community. It’s literally where gay politics has its roots, with Harvey Milk and so many others who fought for equal rights for our community. There are many different ethnic communities there, so their influences are numerous. But I think of San Francisco as being the gay Mecca of the world.
When did you realize you made people laugh?
It was something I learned early on. I realized I could manipulate people and get my way if I got them to laugh first. It was the shortest route to power.
You got an early break opening for Jerry Seinfield.
I lied my way into a college comedy competition and ended up winning a slot to open for Jerry. He told me I should quit school and do comedy full time. Of course I was already a dropout so I was ahead of the game
How much like your ‘Drop Dead Diva’ character, Teri Lee, are you in real life?
I think we are fairly similar although I’ve never worked in an office or worn any sort of wide leg pant which Teri does all the time. Other than that we are the same.
You’ve written a bestselling book, recorded Grammy nominated albums, appeared in Hollywood movies and been the star of several TV shows… what’s next?
I’m working on a new album of majestic Beatles-esque songs about being Asian. It’s called the yellow album.
So what’s “Cho dependant” all about?
It’s about addiction to all sorts of things – drugs, love, music, power. I’m so grateful to all my wonderful collaborators – Tegan and Sara, Ben Lee, Fiona Apple, Ani Difranco. I’m so blessed.
Tell us about your work with the LGBT Community. You’ve won several community awards.
I want to work for my community as much as I can. I’m so proud of where we have come in such a short time but there’s much more to be done.
Do you see yourself as a role model?
No more of a hole model.
Have you been to Edinburgh before? What do you think of the Scots?
I came to the Fringe 10 years ago and I loved it! Can’t wait to return!
You know lots of famous people. Who do you most admire?
I love Joan Rivers!
How do you think Barack Obama is doing?
I’m happy with him for turning over don’t ask don’t tell and I want him to do more for gay rights.
What is the biggest audience who’ve performed to live?
I’m not even sure! Maybe wearing the rainbow gay pride dress on ‘Dancing with the Stars’? That’s 23 million viewers!
Did you enjoy ‘Dancing with the Stars’?
Yes but people say I was robbed which I don’t think is true! Like how? Someone broke into my home and left me $200,000?
Sum yourself up in three words.
Big old bitch
Paul Sinha Interview
Posted by Martin in INTERVIEWS, Paul Sinha on June 23, 2011
How has life been treating you since last Edinburgh?
Very well thanks. A lot of it has been focussed on my sister’s wedding last March, as well as projects which I am currently not allowed to mention. I’ve reduced my alcohol intake, not put on too much weight, and done my first ever gigs in India. Which was surprisingly fun.
What is your new show about?
In a word – aspiration. It was sparked by a chance meeting with my comedic nemesis Jim Davidson in September which did not end well. It’s a look at how comedy, society and government are increasingly punching down, finger pointing at the dispossessed rather than actively supporting social mobility. As always it’s a lot funnier than it sounds.
Are there any other acts that you would particularly recommend who are appearing in this festival?
Of course. I’m certainly not going to mention any well known names here. Too many punters fail to take a risk and stick to the TV faces. Instead try Stuart Goldsmith, Benny Boot, Andrew Bird, Elis James, Henry Paker, Markus Birdman and the incomparable Glenn Wool.
In last year’s show, you explored the attitudes of the far right. To what extent do you think they are finding a foothold in modern British society?
To be honest I don’t really know. I think that there is public concern about immigration, but I don’t think that many share the downright hostility of the BNP or EDL. Electoral results are encouraging.
Much of your material is political in nature. Do you consider yourself a “political comedian”?
Sort of. I cherry pick topics to talk about that are relatively accessible. I consider myself more of a social comedian, especially as these days it is so hard to nail your mast to any particular political party. I like to talk about “issues” rather than actual politicians. It’s important that comedians don’t overstretch themselves.
Tell us about your recent appearance on Stewart Lee’s Comedy Vehicle.
What’s to say? I am a huge fan, I was ridiculously flattered to be asked to appear, and I only hope that people enjoyed my appearance as much as I enjoyed his show.
What are the pros and cons about the stand-up lifestyle?
It’s not hard work. It really isn’t no matter how many people might try and tell you otherwise. It can however be very stressful, and the hours are hugely antisocial, given that the most money is to be earned on a Friday and Saturday night. I miss my friends.
Since we last spoke I believe you have left the medical profession? How do you feel about moving from one career to another in this way?
Just another of life’s great gambles, the kind of risk taking that everyone needs to do from time to time if they want to follow their dreams.
How does your medical background inform your work in comedy? Do you have any humorous anecdotes about haemorrhoids, for instance?
I’ve never really wanted to be the kind of person who has funny medical anecdotes. It is rather disrespectful to the patient. But it informs my comedy in that I’ve lived a life. Too many comics go straight into comedy without ever having done anything that can give them a sense of perspective. I can still remember breaking bad news to bereaved relatives. Once you’ve done that comedy doesn’t seem half as stressful as it might do. I have experienced unbelievable lows, and that really helps as a comic.
Is it better to say that you are a doctor or a stand-up comedian when you are on the pull?
The latter. Say you are a doctor and they’ll expect you to buy dinner and all the drinks. Say you are a stand up comedian and expectations are very, very low.
You have enjoyed many successes on television quizzes such as University Challenge and Mastermind. What is it about these shows that appeals to you?
Ha ha. I have enjoyed no success whatsoever on those shows! But as you may know, quizzing is not so much a hobby as an obsession to me. I have been fortunate enough in the last two years to quiz with or against most of the best in the world and this has given me a bigger thrill than any TV show has.
What do you envisage for your future career? Do you have any ambitions that you have not already fulfilled?
Everyone should have unfulfilled ambitions. It’s what makes life as rich as it is. I’d like to do solo shows where I am not paralyzed with doubt as to whether anyone will come. I’d like to appear on Question Time with Richard Littlejohn. I’d like to find a younger man who finds me hilarious and heartstoppingly beautiful in equal measure. What I don’t crave is fame and wealth. Not my cup of tea, thanks.
Is homosexuality compatible with “laddish” culture?
I’m 41, so I’m probably not the best person to ask. I’d say that even amongst über lads, homosexuality has never been less of an issue. Unfortunately we live in a time where tribalism and massive alcohol intake are the key features of weekend entertainment, and there will always be gay people who suffer verbal or physical abuse as a result. I remain optimistic that things are improving.
Paul Sinha was talking to Andrew Doyle
