Alex Garrick-Wright: A Cabinet of Curios to debut at Soup and a Show

Where did this come from?

I was initially asked to consider doing a show that combined my filmed sketch comedy, with some kind of live character work. Over the last few years, I’ve produced a range of sketch comedy (both for the BBC, and just because), both solo and with my regular writing partner, Rebecca Bain. These tended to centre around the things I’m interested in: silly characters, genre parody, an edge of dark humour, and poking fun at Shetland’s idiosyncrasies.

It seemed straight forward enough: projected sketches and comedy shorts, with live character work in between. Easy.

Right?

While I’m no stranger to getting on a stage and trying (often succeeding!) to make people laugh, this would be different: it would have a script. I’m happy to stand in a spotlight and make it all up as I’m going along, and I’m quite happy to write scripts for other people – but getting out there and performing my own written material to a live audience would be a new challenge! No chance of a second take here.

I started working with a theatre director based in Edinburgh, Jessie Syme, to help me develop the idea. The initial concept – various characters introducing their own sketches – quickly turned out to be non-viable. Some characters just aren’t built for live performance (try as I might, it’s really technically difficult to get the look and feel of a film noir private eye right when you can’t do it in black-and-white with chiaroscuro lighting and a Dutch angle), and some only make sense within the confines of their own world.

This meant that the show would need to be an entirely original piece of live theatre, very funny, and have scope for a wide range of filmed comedy while still being very much a cohesive work.

So what could connect all these sketches? Well… me?

Treading the boards

For what will be my first live scripted show (no pressure then), we alighted on the idea of turning me into a character. A heightened, ridiculous, funnier version of me. Something between Groucho Marx and John Waters. A slightly batty and egocentric character actor reminiscing about his ‘glittering career in the movies’, introducing some of the ‘films’ he’s starred in. Inside the Actor’s Studio taken to an absurd and Glaswegian degree.

It didn’t take long before this version of Alex started to take shape, an enigma wrapped in a silk dressing gown with a cigarette holder, a champagne problem and delusions of grandeur.

The first benefit of this was allowing me a much greater range of sketches- ones that were not viable for live performance were suddenly back in the mix. I tried to get a bit of variety in the types of sketches, their lengths, and have enough that it keeps the pace up. Around those, I could write anecdotes and reminiscences (some true, some partially true, some utter lies, and all of them hilarious).

The second benefit was the freedom to really go to town with the character – an entire fictional biography that allowed me to have crossed paths with everyone from Laurel and Hardy to Brian Cox. The script itself came together very quickly; a rollercoaster of snappy jokes, silly character performance and a ridiculous, romanticised life story just tumbled out, and then sharpened and honed over a couple of rewrites and notes from my director. I genuinely think this is some of the best material I’ve ever written.

Hot soup, warm reception

So with script written and cigarette holder locked-and-loaded, all that remains is to make the audience laugh. Which can be a challenge if they’re all eating hot lentil soup. But the Shetland audience is always a welcoming and a joy to perform for.

It’s been a fun process, a collaborative effort and new challenge combining different aspects of my work into one new, vibrant and silly bit of art. As to where it goes from there…who knows?

Later in June, I’ll have the delight of doing an Artist Meet Up (on sale soon) to talk about some of the process of my comedy writing, especially long-distance collaboration (which is the only reason both the sketches themselves and the show as a whole have been possible). Hopefully, A Cabinet of Comedy Curios gives me some extra material to talk about.

But for now, all focus is on opening night lunchtime. As they say – the soup must go on!

Or something like that…