|
"Why
am I here? My breath chokes me and I'm sweating uncomfortably...
I'm standing in
a small, dark room in Little Venice's Canal Cafe Theatre. It's full
of wigs and props - a fancy dresser's den of delight. I'm holding
my trusty old bassoon and waiting to go on stage to entertain a
drooling, comedy-hungry audience.
| "None
of the sketches made any sense to me. I smelled a challenge.
It felt right. I was in..." |
Why am I not sitting
comfortably at home, eating cashew nuts and watching the West
Wing on TV?
My thoughts travel
back. To a meeting a month earlier with comedy guru Rohan Acharya,
who runs his own production company, Underhand, and puts on shows
at various venues, including the infamous Madame JoJo's in Soho.
Rohan had seen
me perform comedy before, and now wanted me to be involved in his
new baby, an innovative new sketch show. Aware that I was flattered,
he brandished sketch after sketch - 200 in all - which had been
written by his ten-strong team of writers.
None of the sketches
made any sense to me. I smelt a challenge. It felt right. I was
in.
childish
barristers
'The StickMen'.
That was to be our name. A fruity cocktail of two actors, Fergus
March and myself, and bright young stand-up, Matt Kirshen: Rohan's
hand-picked team of New Age funnymen.
| "Bond
villains, Bernie Taupin and a gambling Texan were all to be
tried in our first show. But would people find it funny..?"
|
After three weeks
of occasional rehearsal - often in Fergus's living room - we'd honed
some sketches and characters and a running order was devised.
Childish barristers,
Bond villains, St Benedict of Nurcia, the Perceptive Imp, Bernie
Taupin and a gambling Texan were all to be tried in this first show.
And what a wacky blend it was, but would people find it funny?
Before the big
day, we went bonding on a shopping trip: a family outing with our
director/producer paying. Yay!
I felt this was
how new boybands must feel on their first group outings - getting
kitted out in their groovy new stage-wear. This allusive bubble
thankfully burst as we found ourselves in Primark buying brown jeans
for the definitive 'StickMen' look. Oh well.
nocturnal
adventures
Opening day approached.
It was time to come out of our trenches and show what comedy stuff
we were made of.
A technical run-through
at the Canal Cafe Theatre but, as so often happens in small spaces,
that was it. No time for a dress rehearsal.
| "This
was going to be as bewildering as being on a pebbly beach full
of naked German sunbathers - with no towels..."
|
Remembering lines,
blocking, handling props and costume changes first time around was
going to be as bewildering as being on a pebbly beach full of naked
German sunbathers - with no towels.
As we hurriedly
set our props, Ro's mobile rang. Jon Plowman, head of comedy at
the BBC, had just called to offer him a job in the comedy department.
This was body-warming news and it lifted us all on our opening night.
Ro was getting
bigger on the comedy map - what about us though?
Flashback to where
I came in. Why was I here in this dressing room with my trusty bassoon?
The audience are restless...my skin's now bristling with fear and
the joy of the unknown...the nocturnal adventures of 2004 are about
to begin.
This is 'The Stickmen:
Year One'. This comedy adventure is WHY we were here."
The StickMen will be previewing
at the Canal CafeTheatre at the Bridge House, Delamere Terrace W2.
Dates: Wednesday 30 June, Wednesday 7 July both at 9.30pm, and also
Sunday 18 July at 7pm. Tel: 020 7289 6054, nearest tube: Warwick
Avenue.
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|
The StickMen is a new kind of sketch show with a handpicked
cadre of rising comedy writers.
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