+3 Interview: Yianni Agisilaou: Pockets of Equality

Posted in EdFestivals 2017, Plus 3 2017 - Features, Written Interviews by

“Why should she have no pockets just because she’s a woman?”

WHO: Yianni Agisilaou, Performer/Writer 

WHAT: “Yianni accidentally wore his girlfriend’s jeans and discovered that when it comes to pockets, women are far from equal. A funny show about men, women and society’s double standards.”

WHERE: Banshee Labyrinth (Venue 156) 

WHEN: 14:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s actually my FOURTEENTH Edinburgh Fringe. My first Edinburgh was in 1947, where a war-weary Edinburgh welcomed a rag-tag collection of Abbott and Costello knockoffs and blackface minstrels for two weeks of frivolity at the very first Fringe festival. There was a single flyerer named Rory who handed out pamphlets for everyone and the award for best comedy went to a poorly written drama production that was so bad it was good.

But seriously though, I’ve been to the Fringe many times since I first came in 2002 to do a multiple bill show of newer Australian comedians called Raw Prawns (geddit?) I’ve performed at paid venues and free venues, and in 2013 whilst doing a show called Think Big about ambition, I booked the 1200 seat Edinburgh International Conference Centre for a one off performance on the final day and spent the entire month trying to sell it out*

* In answer to your question, no I didn’t. I still sold about 500 tickets though, more than I’d ever sold to anything.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called Pockets of Equality and it’s about the funny little rules and double standards floating around society depending on whether we’re men or women. The title comes from the day I accidentally wore my girlfriend’s jeans (yes, accidentally!) and was amazed at the size (or lack thereof) of her pockets. I thought, ‘Why should she have no pockets just because she’s a woman?’ So, having walked a mile in her pockets, it got me to thinking what other situations life makes harder or easier depending on what bits we’ve got. Unsurprisingly, there are hundreds.

I wrote it, and my girlfriend is producing it. We’re being sponsored by Levi Strauss (not really, it’s Calvin Klein). We performed it earlier this year at four festivals in Australia and it got nominated for best comedy show in Perth. Afterwards, we’re going to try to modify it and pitch it to high schools.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Oh, there are some amazing things on this year. Red Bastard is doing a new show and I recommend going to see it. He’s one of those characters you’ll either love or hate, but people who love it love it so much that it’s worth shelling out the ticket money and taking a chance.

Eric Davis who performs it is an extraordinary ‘bouffon clown’ (In normal clowning, the butt of the joke is the clown. In bouffon clowning, the joke is on the audience) It’s confronting plus it’s improvised and interactive so it’s different each night and very unique to each audience. Definitely worth catching. Love it or hate it, I guarantee you’ll talk about it afterwards a LOT.

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