“I remember sleeping on the floor crammed into a room somewhere near the Meadows and feeling this magical Edinburgh Fringe feeling that I’ll never forget.”
WHO: Tom Greaves
WHAT: “A brutally funny dark comedy about boarding school. Through the character of Fudgey: your quintessential, tone-deaf man in a suit (you know, the “harmless” type… until you find them running the country), award-winning, Gaulier-trained Tom Greaves explores the complexities of his own privilege in this mind-bending, tour-de-force debut. As Fudgey’s reality hits breaking point, Greaves embodies a carousel of personalities and puppets in an anarchic and virtuosic performance, ultimately facing Fudgey’s past to find his own (Tom’s) future. Strap in for a thrilling ride of laughter, tears and transformation. ‘Funny, clever, and disturbing’ **** (TheatreAndArtReviews.com). **** (MervsPOTFringe.com).”
WHERE: Assembly Roxy – Downstairs (Venue 139)
WHEN: 17:55 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
No, and my first Fringe experience goes way back to 2002 when I came to visit a young company doing a Greek tragedy made up of people from my school. I remember sleeping on the floor crammed into a room somewhere near the Meadows and feeling this magical Edinburgh Fringe feeling that I’ll never forget. I saw a surreal sketch comedy duo called ‘Nice Mum’ which was my first flavour of weird comedy. Now I’m making weird comedy myself. It took 20 years but I feel lucky to be doing it.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
The amount of f%&ing admin you have to do to make work. F%&k me! I did not sign up for this, can’t I just perform?! Getting things done on time, like writing the answers to this interview, I find difficult though necessary and inevitably rewarding! It’s part of the job and it does get easier/you get better at it. The fact I can say that is nothing short of GROWTH!
Tell us about your show.
FUDGEY is about boarding school and how it messes you up because it’s traumatic and everyone tells you it isn’t, in fact, they tell you it’s the best! It’s a dark, silly satire of the world of privilege I’m from that flips it on its head and rubs its face in its own shit. I wrote it coming out of a therapy group for lost, institutionalised men like myself looking for answers. Having just graduated from Gaulier I’d learned all this life-changing, funky new stagecraft and FUDGEY naturally (and painfully) emerged. My beautiful, talented partner and director Lara Ciulli has directed/supported me through it all and I’ve also had amazing input from physical comedian Trygve Wakenshaw. Building on last year’s work in progress ‘Goodbye Uncle Fudgey’, which was a word of mouth success and won a Mervyn Stutter Spirit Of The Fringe Award, this year we’re hoping to transcend 🙂
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
If you like your comedy absurd and a little crude, go see THE SISTERS FIG. Lara Ciulli and Blaise Wopperer are two of the best individual performers I’ve ever seen on stage. They’ve come together and created pure character comedy magic. Just go, it’s unlike anything else you’ll see at the Fringe. Also, Trygve Wakenshaw’s back and I can’t wait to see his new show… He’s just exceptional.
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