And with a tail

My friend Chris Mayo has written a play called “Between Ten and Six” which is being put on at The Leicester Square Theatre.

“BETWEEN TEN AND SIX is a brand new, one act, dark comedy written by Cuckoo Bang founder Chris Mayo

Two strangers, Charlie and Ed sit in a dusty flat in North London. Charlie an anxiety ridden 20 something and Ed his socially awkward live-in Landlord. One needs a roof over his head the other just wants a friend. A late running parcel, delayed girlfriend and stilted conversation build the tension in the room. Just how much can the two tolerate before one of them snaps.”

This is his Kickstarter page:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/38685147/between-ten-and-six

If you can pledge any money it will help him to bring his play to the stage.

This is ‘The Kingsnorth Lobotomy’ Christmas special podcast that we made about two years ago. Rather than our usual collection of sketches it was our the very first sketch-play high bred.

This retelling of the ‘Scott of the Antarctic’ story featured all new music by Ed Field and the first appearance of new cast member; Glenn Burton.

Anyone who has been directed to this post because they searched for “Scott of the Antarctic” or “Terra Nova” please be aware that whilst being inspired by true events this podcast does play around with the tale of Captain Scott for both dramatic and comedic purposes, so please do not send me e-mails pointing out the inaccuracies.

Here is another podcast from ‘The Kingsnorth Lobotomy’ vault.

This podcast was released on the occasion of my thirtieth birthday. It’s a little down beat in terms of tone, but I rather liked that at the time.

Sketches Include: Opening Monologue, The Three Musketeers, Jack, Hit & Miss, Devil Dog, God in the Coffee Machine, P.C. Cake, Bad Guest, Dry Cleaner and Astronauts.

Here is another episode of the Kingsnorth Lobotomy from the vault, and it’s the Ladies Night special. It’s your usual dose of comedy sketches and slightly to much music but with more lady folk.

I think this Podcast is my favorite of all the ones we made. Recorded just over 18 months ago. Its is the fictional “50th Anniversary special” of The Kingsnorth Lobotomy Podcast.

Starring: Gareth Owen-Williams, Jenny Walters, Alexandra Bond, Lawrence Robinson, Glenn Burton, Samuel Marlow and Samantha Bullock.

Lenny Bruce is widely considered to be a pioneer of stand-up comedy. He broke taboos and he openly talked about himself and his life on stage when most other comedians of the time where doing “take my wife, please” material.

Now, while there is a lot of audio records of Lenny Bruce’s act out there, there is very little in the way of film. There is one “Performance Film” which was his second to last gig and didn’t show him at his best. There is also a documentary called “Without Tears” which gathers together pretty much all of his guest appearances and interviews throughout his career. It runs less then ninety mins.

But Lenny Bruce did also make a film of his own.

It was called Dance Hall Racket. It was cheap. Shot in four days. And it was directed by Phil Tucker - the same man who made “Robot Monster”.

But is Dance Hall Racket any good?

Well it’s not really a comedy. Which is surprising for someone who revolutionized stand up comedy as he did. Its like a little crime picture. Lenny plays a hood. And as you’d expect with any film shot in four days; Its bit awkwardly staged. Flatly shot and some of the acting is rather wooden. 

The film is in the public domain so can downloaded legally on a number of sites.

Now, whilst I’d be first to admit this film has more than its fair share of faults, it is not without some merit. And its one of the very few examples we have of Lenny Bruce on film.

I would love to see this film restored properly for a DVD release. Maybe someone could do a “George Lucas” on it and add some stuff. We could shoot all the cutaways shots they didn’t have time for then. And maybe CGI in some better sets. And Re dub the poorer actors (the barman in particular). And add a bit of muzzle blast to that final gun fight. And…

…Or maybe we should leave it how it is and watch the Dustin Hoffman film “Lenny” instead, which omits ‘Dance Hall Racket’ from Bruce’s life story.

And probably with good reason.

Jokes for dogs #1

I know I said in my blog a short while ago that I was not a big fan of improvised comedy, but while I was searching for the videos to embed in that short blog I stumbled across “Drew Carey’s Improv-a-Ganza”.

Running 40 episodes on the Game Show Network “Improv-a-Ganza” has many similarities to the American version of “Whose Line Is It Anyway”. A lot of the cast return and many of the games are similar, but for some reason it clicks better with me. It has a lovely glossy style and although some skits may over run the show itself never outstays its welcome.

As to be expected with improv, some cast members are stronger than others and sometimes a scene can go a little awry. But what I like is that the cast are willing to break the “rules” of a game to get things going. In the above episode you’ll see Ryan Styles coming into a scene he’s not playing in to put the rambling on track - and turns it into pure gold.

Since stumbling across this fun little show a few days ago, I have nearly watched every episode. They all zip by so quickly, have a likeable cast and such a great sense of fun to them that it is almost impossible not to watch with a smile. The musical performers are particularly impressive.

This has been the first Improv show that I have really enjoyed so I thought I’d share.

I hope you enjoy it too.

DREW CAREY’S IMPROV-A-GANZA FAN SITE

I have recently had a lot of people asking me the same question: “How much of the podcast is actually written?”

The answer is normally: “All of it”.

For some reason people seemed to think I’d gather some friends together and we’d just make the skits up in a few hours.

Now while that sounds like a lot of fun, I didn’t think we’d get podcast out of it.

But its worth a try.

This podcast is the results of two improvising sessions where the cast played improv games and rifted on scenarios.

Sketches Include: “God”, Confession, “Tails”, An Officer Comes To Call, “The Word Thighs”, Directions, “French”, New Art, The Play Write.