“I’m from Peterborough, and Bedford always feels like an version of my hometown from a slightly nicer parallel universe.”
WHO: Mark Hibbett
WHAT: “Indie legend MJ Hibbett – the world’s leading (and only) academic expert on Doctor Doom uses songs, jokes, slides and a unified catalogue of transmedia character components to explain how all fictional characters can be understood with stats and why on earth you’d want to do that.”
WHERE: Quarry Theatre
WHEN: 25 July 2025 @ 21:00 (60mins)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Bedfringe?
This is my first time at Bedfringe but not my first time in Bedford, nor my first time at a Fringe, so it feels like the grand resolution of a cosmic Venn diagram. I’m particularly excited to be heading towards Bedford for two reasons – firstly because I’m from Peterborough, and Bedford always feels like an version of my hometown from a slightly nicer parallel universe, and secondly because I’ve heard of the mythical all-night trains back to London, so I’m keen to have a go on one.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
The book that the show is based on came out in 2024 (and is still available – in fact, it’s very very available indeed, there is no shortage of copies) so since then I’ve been trying to convert a rigorously researched thesis on transmedia characters into a 55 minute musical extravaganza. The main lesson I’ve absorbed from that is that converting a rigorously researched thesis on transmedia characters into a 55 minute musical extravaganza is a lot harder than I thought, and probably explains why other people tend not to try it.
Tell us about your show.
It’s a musical adaptation of my book and PhD thesis which seeks to explain how all fictional characters work, using the Marvel comics supervillain Doctor Doom as a case study. I spent years working on the original research and wanted to talk about it to more people, so thought I’d have a go at turning it into a musical (I think this is how Jesus Christ Superstar got started). I’ve done various Fringe musicals in the past, but never one with a bibliography before!
What should your audience see at Bedfringe after they’ve seen your show?
I’m really keen to see Mitch Benn’s show “The Lehrer Effect”, partly because that sort of super clever loads-of-words-in-a-line type of songwriting is something I’m aiming for in my show, but mostly because I did a gig with him at the Brixton Windmill in 2005 and he lent me a guitar stand – in the rough and tumble world of rock and roll that stood out as a moment of general helpfulness which, two decades later, I still don’t think I’ve properly repaid!
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