“It’s a different level to be bringing your own baby for a significant length of time. I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m nervecited.”
WHO: Kate McCabe
WHAT: “Dames, detectives, stylish hats, “car chases”… this parody of the noir genre has got a gag rate that fires faster than a Tommy gun and is marginally less painful. If you liked Airplane, the oeuvre of Mel Brooks, dicey puns and sight gags, this show is probably for you. Written by author and actor Adam Perrott and comic and improviser, Kate McCabe, this gut-busting play is in its debut year. See it before it tours the UK.”
WHERE: Just the Tonic Nucleus – Just the Sub-Atomic Room (Venue 393)
WHEN: 17:50 (55 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This isn’t THE first, but it is A first. I’ve been coming to the festival since I moved to this country almost 18 years ago (I’m from the USA). I’d never experienced anything like it. It blew my mind. All this comedy, art, music, theatre, dance, circus, everything…all around me. Lots of it for cheap! Many of the shows were an hour or shorter. It is an absolute candy store.
I’ve ‘participated’ every year since then. I helped bring a sketch show up for a short run. I’ve appeared on compilation bills, guest-spots, fill-ins,…always accepting the hundreds of offers to get involved in small ways. I’ve done lots of that kind of work any jobbing comic can get at the Fest if they’re looking for it and available to jump in.
But it’s a different level to be bringing your own baby for a significant length of time. I’m nervous. I’m excited. I’m nervecited. I’m calculating the budget for the number of fresh fruit smoothies and clean dry socks I’ll need to make it through the month. The anxiety dreams are kicking in and I’m raring to go.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Since 2022, I’ve learned a few things. I’ve learned that sometimes you have to create your OWN thing to get the work that you want.
As a creative, I’ve also learned to stand by what I think is funny and take risks with it. I’ve got that ingrained comedian’s desire to please everyone in the room…but I think I’ve learned that it’s OK if maybe one or two of the jokes only land with a few people. Those few people, those are my people. (This will be YOU if you come to ‘Name of the Dame’ and get the reference to ‘gilt’.)
Finally, I’ve learned the difference between apes and monkeys. Monkeys have tails and apes don’t.
Tell us about your show.
The show is a send-up of film noir. It feels vainglorious to compare ourselves to artists who are LEGENDARY. But, I think if you like the type of humour in things like Airplane and Spaceballs, you’d probably dig our little festival-length diversion. It’s quick-fire jokes played straight in a genre backdrop.
This is the first collaboration of the writing team that Adam Perrott and I call ‘The Loose Cannons’. We’re just two ex-strangers who met doing screen background work, discovered we had a similar sense of humour, and went for McDonald’s breakfasts for two months straight to put together a script. My background is improv/stand-up/and comedy acting and Adam’s is acting/theatre/and publishing. We think we’ve written something that is great fun. We still laugh really hard at it, which I hope is a good sign. I ate a lot of hash browns along the way.
Sugar Punch, a theatre production company from Newcastle via Manchester got on board almost immediately. This was a massive confidence boost for us. It’s a real blessing to have professionals do lots of the heavy lifting around here and the two women who run it are brilliant. They themselves are very creative and funny and I dig it.
We are bringing it to Edinburgh as it is the UK’s best comedy and theatre marketplace. We’d be over the moon to be able to tour this play around the country afterwards and are looking to book dates in for late 2023 and into 2024. So, watch this space. Please.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
Every year I revisit some faves and I also try to see stuff that wouldn’t normally be on my radar. A healthy mix of the reliable and the surprising.
Here’s a brief list of what I’m really looking forward to:
Tarot, one of my fave sketch groups will be there doing new stuff. You can always count on them to be disturbingly funny.
One I’d LOVE to see but who unfortunately clashes with my show times is Tom Lawrinson doing his solo show ‘Hubba Hubba’. I just think he’s got something special. He fully commits to very silly things and I like that. You should go seem him even though I can’t.
Salfunni will be back for a short run. They’re a great group of Uni of Salford students who put together a super compilation show.
Cheekykita is up there this year. Wonderfully weird clowning stuff.
Harriet Dyer is another one worth the money and the hour. She’s got funny bones and is a great storyteller.
Other shows that I’d love to plug because I’m also IN THEM:
Murder Inc (Improvised Comedy Murder Mystery)
ComedySportz (Short-form Whose Line Is it Anyway style stuff)
Dorks ‘N’ Orks (Dungeon’s and Dragon influenced panel show)
This Is Your Trial (Comedy roasts of the audience)
Truly, the city will be awash with brilliant and beautiful diversions for your entertainment. I hope whoever is reading this has the best time.
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