Festival Previews Video Blog

Today we interview, none other… than the most zany comedy Contortionist and Escapologist, Chris Cross.  Chris is on at Fletch at St Andrews for one night only on Tuesday 12th May at 8.00 pm.  Fear not, if you miss his show you can catch him at the Edinburgh Fringe in August.  So let’s catch a quick word with Chris before he escapes our clutches…

1.    What inspired you to become The Rock ‘n’ Roll Cabaret Man:  Comedian, Contortionist, Escapologist and Magician?

My mate showed me a  magic trick when I was 10 on the front doorstep of my Nanas house! I was working semi-pro when I was 13, then turned full-time when I left School at 16. It was at this time that I figured out I could do weird stuff with my body so put a new show together and my act evolved like a Pokemon - It went from Nicemagice’mon to Crazyshite’mon! (that sounds like a bit like a Funky Flavoured Cookie Actually!)

2.    What’s your show about and what should the public expect from your show at the 2009 Brighton Festival Fringe?

My Show is “Crazy Off the Wall Stand-Up combined with my Trademark Contortionism and Escapololgy Stunts” – I Basically have a bit of a Party with the Audience and have a good laugh!  My show is Funny, Unique and a bit Mental…! Expect a GREAT Partied Up Mentally Mad Show – Don’t Miss it…!

3.    What was the last Fringe or Festival you performed at and what was it like?

I’ve worked all over the world but I always LOVE the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  It will be my 5th Year there in August, the Atmosphere, the Buzz and the Lifestyle of the Month is just FANTASTIC!! I’ll be coming to Brighton Fringe straight from Bath where I have my Venue Show in their Biggest most Mainstream Nightclub – Cadillacs (Club XL).

4.    What are your funniest and worst experiences performing in front of an audience?

Ahh man I’ve had some really funny but bad at the same time experiences in front of an audience…like they should be bad but I think they’re Funny!!!

The other week I was in the ‘Beat the Wand’ UK Cabaret Championships at the Annual Blackpool Magic Convention (the largest magic get-together in the world!)  in the Blackpool Wintergardens. During my act I stood on a table whilst drunk, fell off the table, got back on top of the table and stripped off, kissed a bloke then proceeded to dislocate my shoulders before getting wrapped up in 50 metres of cling film, escaping then eating some bread off the floor from a previous act! – I Won though…hehehe!!

I once fractured my elbow whilst performing an Escape as I slipped on some split beer on the stage from a previous act – Painful…I got back up and got out of it though – then I was taken to hospital in an ambulance and given a plaster cast for 2month! Not good like!

I was playing a gig in a Comedy Club in London just before Xmas and I was the last act on. In the Interval I went to the toilet and when I was washing my hands I noticed a bulb missing from around the mirror so decided to put my drunken finger in it for a laugh to see what would happen (DUHHH!!!) and I got an electric shock! I went back up, waited for my turn to close the show and I took the ENTIRE audience down to the Gents and formed a cue for everyone to put their finger in and get a shock – What a Way to End a Comedy Club…In a Fooking Toilet!!! Theres lots more Shizzle but that’s for another time!

5.    What’s the best and worst advice you have ever been given? And did you follow it?

BEST Advice: ‘Be Yourself…’
WORST Advice: Don’t Drink before a Show. I didn’t listen.

6. What are you most proud of and what dreams or goals would you like to fulfill?

Well I want to hit the States and do a tour of the US in 2 or 3 years after I’ve continued to “Spread the Chris Cross Word” around the UK and Europe. My Venue Show has received a 5 Star ‘Must See Show’ Review from The Stage Magazine which is an achievement.  In February I won the 2009 Cabaret Championships at The Blackpool Magic Convention too which I was proud of. I’ve been announced to be in The Top 10 Speciality Acts currently Working the circuit also by The Stage. I travel the world performing big shows and make Money and have Fun – what more could I  want?!?!   Well I wWould love to Marry Emma Bunton like… :p

7.    Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why? And what culinary dish would you prepare?

-  Charlie Chaplin (Genius, Funnyman and GREAT Businessman)
-  Harry Houdini (Escapologist & Showman Legend)
-  Emma Bunton (as I want to Marry her)
-  (Michael Jackson too if 4 is allowed as he’s One of THE BEST Performers OF ALL TIME; he puts a show on for the crowd and doesn’t just mumble or on the other hand shout down a bloody mic!!)

8.    What is the best book or books you have read and why?

Admittedly I’m more of a DVD Man but I do LOVE Comics, I also Like Magic Books, Circus Books, etc – The Ripley’s Believe it or Not Annuals are Cool too. I do LOVE Autobiographies though and read those a fair bit compared to other books…  Magazines are good to pass the time away, such as: Bizarre, Front, Nuts, Zoo, NME, Etc…

9.    Tell us 5 interesting and unknown facts about yourself?

-    Unknown at present
-    Unknown at present
-    Unknown at present
-    Unknown at present
-    Unknown at present

Hehehehe :p

Erm… here’s 5 ‘known’ facts instead:

-    I LOVE Presents and Gifts!
-    I like Women. Lots.
-    I am 6ft 6…!
-    I Like to hang Upside Down for an hour each Day.
-    I’ve Supported Bloc Party, Pendulum, Giles Peterson, The Stanton Warriors, ETC…

10.    If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

Live a bit Longer, No Diseases. More Sex, Drugs, Alcohol and LIVE Entertainment.

In the spotlight today is the award winning cabaret artist, Paul Martin.  Paul is on for one night only at Fletch at St Andrews in Waterloo Street.  You can catch his warm, witty and thoroughly entertaining show, “Wide Eyed and Legless”on Sunday 10th May at 8.00 pm.  So let’s chat with Paul…

1.    How you would describe yourself?

Put Graham Norton and Bette Midler in a blender and you get ME!

2.    What’s your show about and what should the public expect from your show at the 2009 Brighton Festival Fringe?

My long-time collaborator pianist Michael Roulston and I offer up an evening of diverse music from Hello Dolly to Tom Waits via Victoria Wood and Rufus Wainwright, with lots of silliness and comedy.

3.    What was the last Fringe or Festival you performed at and what was it like?

Edinburgh. Hideous. End of.

4.    What are your funniest and worst experiences performing in front of an audience?

I’ve blanked them all out. I only remember the pay cheques.

5.    What’s the best and worst advice you have ever been given? And did you follow it?

Patricia Routledge told me not to bother and I ignored her.  My therapist told me to go for it, but I was paying her.

6.    What are you most proud of and what dreams or goals would you like to fulfill?

Most proud to be still doing what I love after 19 years in cabaret.

7.    Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why [dead celebrities included]?  And what culinary dish would you prepare?

I would serve Paella to Bette Davis, Stephen Fry and Jeanette Winterson.

8.    What is the best book or books you have read and why?

The Time Traveller’s Wife is up there with the best of them for sheer passion and invention.

9.    Tell us 5 interesting and unknown facts about yourself?

I’ve got 10 kids via sperm donation.
I like to knit.
I’m a secret Tory.
I used to be a drag queen.
I put the ram in the ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong.

*Only one of these is untrue

10.    If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

Jeremy Vine would be removed.

Kicking off our series of interviews for the the 2009 Brighton Festival Fringe is the composer, Matt Pollard from The Rainbow Chorus.  Matt and The Rainbow Chorus are presenting their superb one night musical extravaganza called, “Choral Propaganda” .  You can catch their lively show at The Old Market in Brighton on Thursday 21st May at 7.45 pm.  So let’s put our 10 Questions to Matt to learn lots more about him and The Rainbow Chorus…

1. What inspired you to become a musical director and conductor?

I’m not a conductor, I’m a composer who started conducting because nobody else would do it at college! I ended up conducting all my friends music as well, and have continued working with brand new music - I reckon I’ve now given in excess of 50 world premieres in the last 12 years, more than some conductors give in a lifetime. I now really enjoy conducting as an activity in it’s own right. It gives you the opportunity to shape the music, and interpret in the way you wish, as well as choosing the repertoire. I take programme planning very seriously and try to come up with something inventive and enjoyable for every concert, so I have a huge collection of books and scores at home! I’ve worked with the Rainbow Chorus for about 7 years and combine it with contemporary music and a regular commitment with a brass band - I’m nothing if not eclectic …

2. What’s your show about and what should the public expect from your show at the 2009 Brighton Fringe Festival?

The Rainbow Chorus is a gay and lesbian choir, but I like to stretch our boundaries quite a lot! Choral Propaganda really harks back to the days when music was a powerful tool of social and political change. These days politics are once again big news, so it seemed like the right time to investigate this type of music.

The audience can expect a concert of two halves: in the first half they’ll experience our usual blend of glittering beauty and expressive power, including a world premiere by yours-truly. They should go to the interval spiritually uplifted!

The second half is all powerful agitprop music, so as well as being entertained, our audience may also want to overturn our decadent capitalist society upon leaving the venue – who knows? Music can be very powerful! There are lighter moments as well, with some gay Berlin cabaret thrown in for good measure.

3.    What was the last Fringe or Festival you performed at and what was it like?

Tete-a-tete Opera Festival at the Riverside Studios, London, in 2008. We were performing a small opera I wrote called “The Diary”. It was a wonderful experience because I had such a great team, including a brilliant producer and director. There was a great ambiance, being next to the river in Hammersmith. However, beware the very dodgy Spanish restaurant around the corner near the Apollo …

4.    What are your funniest and worst experiences performing in front of an audience?

My funniest experience was in a concert with the National Youth Brass Band, at the Royal Academy of Music in London. A guest conductor became incredibly enthusiastic (and sweaty) conducting Wagner. At one point, a huge fountain of sweat flew from his brow, straight into the faces of several cornet players. About half the band collapsed in giggles but we held it together!

Worst experience – undoubtedly a performance of Mozart’s Requiem that I conducted, with a brilliant choir but a ropey student orchestra. They wouldn’t rehearse until an hour before the concert, and totally slaughtered it. I wanted the ground to swallow me up.

5.    What’s the best and worst advice you have ever been given? And did you follow it?

I can never really remember advice and seem to be much better at giving it than receiving it. People tell me the same things over and over again about my conducting, mainly that I need to relax my shoulders. I’m actually a great believer in self-motivation and think that everyone needs to find their own way.

Worst advice – I hate it when people tell me I should give something up, so I never do!

6.    What are you most proud of and what dreams or goals would you like to fulfill?

I’m actually most proud of the little, one-off concerts that nobody else seems to pay any attention to. For example, the first time Rainbow Chorus tackled a big classical piece – Vivaldi’s Gloria – that was fantastic, and proved to them that they could do it! I also got a real buzz when I won a national conducting competition last year. There is so much left for me to fulfill that I wouldn’t like to single out one thing, except that I hope one day to write a really big, successful opera, a follow-up to “The Diary”.

7.    Which three famous people would you invite to dinner and why? And what culinary dish would you prepare?

Pierre Boulez – perhaps not mega-famous but an amazing conductor and composer, now 84 years old but still globe-trotting.

I’ve always had a fascination with Eleanor Roosevelt for some reason, so she could come along and tell us where it all went wrong.

It would be nice to have somebody who’s real fun as well, I can think of no-one better than Pam Ayres for some reason. What fun!

I certainly would not be cooking. I’d banish my boyfriend to the kitchen to cook his famous rolled pork and pasta, followed by banoffee pie (which he claims he invented).

8.    What is the best book or books you have read and why?

Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. It made me think about the whole world differently. I’m also a history fan, and have spent most of the last three years reading about the Russian Revolution.

9.    Tell us 5 interesting and unknown facts about yourself?

1.    I love snooker and cricket, and used to play both quite well. I have a thing about slow sports.

2.    Apparently I never learned to tie my laces properly until about 3 weeks ago.

3.    I won a national essay competition about transport when I was 15, for an essay promoting the use of rivers and canals for commuters.

4.    Following on from that, I am completely obsessed with maps. I’d far rather be a cartographer than a musician.

5.    Secretly I truly believe that everyone I know is completely mad, and that I’m probably the only sane person around. So although I pretend to interact and listen to people, in truth I know that I’m always right…

10.    If you could change one thing about the world what would it be?

I don’t know about the world, but I’d make everyone in the UK do a sort of National Service where they would have to sing in a choir or play in an orchestra, percussion group or brass band or whatever, for at least 3 years in their late teens/early twenties. At least they’d get to know one another, and it might cheer everyone up a bit (God knows, we need it). Plus it would create a lot of employment for me which can never be a bad thing. I suppose I should mention something about world peace, which would obviously be great too!

Here’s a peek at Copperdollar at the launch party.  It’s a very brief video (sadly) so don’t blink!  They’re performing Wake the Dead in the Brigton Fringe at the Black Lion.

That concludes the video clips from the launch party.  The Fringe starts on the 2nd and the next series of video clips will be of the Fringe in action.

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Here’s Miss Merlin at the Brighton Fringe Launch Party with her spectacular hula hoop display.  She’s appearing at the Interstella Circus Show at the Parlure Spiegeltent during the fringe.

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