Great team interview here from the cast of The Nightmare Factory; Tim Macavoy, Gem Carmella and Carly Davies. They are on at the Joogleberry Playhouse on the 10th and 11th May and mid-way through on the 17th and 18th May. “The Nightmare Factory” is a debut comedy sketch for the Brighton Festival Fringe. So let’s hear more from Tim, Gem and Carly …and their dark twisted adult comedy…
1. What inspired you all to become performers and join the creative arts?
Tim: Nothing and no one in particular, it just seemed like a lot of fun and now I can’t stop.
Gem: I wanted to do Art at GCSE, but they put me into Drama instead. Now when I’m not writing or performing I draw cartoons with the blood of my enemies… £5 a pop if anyone’s interested?
Carly: I wanted to be a lawyer so I chose GCSE Drama to help with my confidence. Then I discovered that at last I’d found something I was mildly good at.
Tim: I wanted to be a barrister! Maybe we should start a legal division of The Nightmare Factory? Gem could be the court artist.
2. What is your show about and what should the public expect from your show?
Tim: It’s an adult comedy sketch show…
Carly: Both intelligent and immature.
Gem: They’ll come out feeling really smug or really sorry for themselves. After all one man’s nightmare is another man’s dream.
3. What is your favourite Festival/Fringes and why?
Carly: The Munich Oktoberfest. A festival of fine German Beer.
Tim: We’ve been to Edinburgh a lot and that is always fun, if exhausting. This will be our first time at Brighton – I’m hoping it is equally fun, but a bit more laid back!
Gem: I like boot sales the best, not really a festival, but it gives me a chance to top up my ‘My Little Pony’ collection.
4. What’s your best advice for aspiring artists and performers on the Festival/Fringe circuit?
Gem: Dig in, it’s hard work. You’ll get your hands dirty, but you can always wash them again.
Tim: Have fun! Socialise, that’s when you make the best contacts.
Carly: Don’t bother with TIE.
5. What is your funniest experience and also your worst experience performing or attending a Fringe/Festival?
Carly: Last weekend I went to see a friend in a fringe production of Three Sisters. It started at 7.30 and I ran into the auditorium at 7.31, just as the lights went down. I looked around and there was not a single seat so I was forced to stand for an entire hour and a half of Chekhov which hurt on many levels.
Tim: For both, camping half an hour outside of Edinburgh for the whole month to save money. I got the wrong night bus back one night (well about 5am) and ended up in the middle of nowhere crying because I had to be back on the Royal Mile, flyering at 9am.
Gem: It’s private, but buy me a few drinks and I might not care.
6. As you travel performing to different festivals/fringes, where is your favourite place to vacation/chill out and why?
Gem: Firenze! Not the centaur! Florence, it’s magical, while there I visited a pen convention.
Carly: I grew up on the North Yorkshire Moors so I feel most relaxed when I’m back there.
Tim: I prefer being busy to chilling out, so if I have a holiday it’s to a bustling city like New York.
7. Who is the person you most admire and why?
Carly: I am a huge fan of comedians/writers like Stewart Lee, Julia Davis, Chris Morris, Armando Iannucci .
Gem: Athene, she had a kick-ass helmet and a magic owl! I have a beanie hat and a pet bunny…
Tim: Joss Whedon, I wish I’d written Buffy – then I wouldn’t have had to spend a fortune on box sets and wear that blond wig when I think nobody is home.
8. What is the best tip you have ever been given?
Tim: Wash your willy, or it will fall off (thanks Dean)!
Gem: If you can convincingly blame someone else, do it. (my brother).
Carly: Never jab a goof in a twig fight.
9. What are the best books you have read and why do you like them?
Gem: Papillon, it made me want to be interred on an island, just so I could escape and have a butterfly tattooed on my chest.
Carly: Just finished War and Peace which took me forever to read but I still didn’t want it to end. I’d love to do a new version for the stage.
Tim: Hmm, I don’t like all these ‘favourite’ questions, it makes me feel bad for all the other things I like that don’t make the list. Can I just say I’m a fantasy geek and leave it at that?
10. If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?
Tim: I’d make it flat again just to spite Pythagoras – he thinks he’s so smart…
Carly: I’d make the dumb musical ‘extravaganzas’ vanish. They take up too much space and money and are the theatrical equivalent of McDonalds.
Gem: Bring back the dinosaurs – it would be better population control than throwing unwanted children in the bin, or to Ms Jolie!
