Studious cavalier Mr Andrew Hunter Murray is preparing to tour the country with his delightful podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, and he and his well-read colleagues have just published their latest book, the all-encompassing mirth-bible The Book of the Year 2018.
Miss Charlotte Gittins is fleeing the country to improvise in French at a big impro festival on the French island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean; which may be the biggest threat to international relations since Napoleon. She is also delighted to be working on a documentary series with Jeff Goldblum, a gentleman of no little renown.
Those seeking Miss Amy Cooke-Hodgson can find her gracing the stage with another literary treat Bumper Blyton, and How to Date a Magical Creature over the coming weeks and as part of Vault Festival.
Mr Graham Dickson has just released a new short film, Down From London. He continues to perform and teach at The Free Association and is busy overseeing the theatre’s move to a brand new venue in 2019, which is quite the talk of high society. He will also be performing his most recent solo show, Timber, at Soho Theatre in Spring 2019.
In quite sensational news Miss Cariad’s Lloyd’s acclaimed Griefcast won a most prestigious ARIA for Best Podcast. What’s more, she’s just finished filming Lee & Dean for Channel 4, and the panto she has co-written – Dick Whittington – is now on at the Lyric Hammersmith (oh yes it is!).
Mr Daniel Nils Roberts launched his humorous short documentary about the Victorian theatre architect Frank Matcham Bombastic Rubbish with an event at the Hippodrome, and has skewered Scandinavia in another short film about the mysterious Jante Law for BBC Ideas. He’s also all a-fluster preparing to perform his new solo show The History of the World in 1 Hour in Australia. Who ever heard of blazing sun in February?!
Miss Rachel Parris can shortly be found doing a Christmas Show called There Will Be Christmas Cake, at the Omnibus in Clapham, from 18-23 December, and her glittering performance on Live At The Apollo recently aired, and is now a must-watch on the iPlayer.
Some say Joseph Morpurgo can be seen wandering the North Downs at night, a wraith-like figure wreathed in mist, incandescent eyes blazing through the gloaming, and a primal howl falling from his foaming jowls. He may just be enjoying the festive season at home though.
From Portsmouth to Peterborough, from Leicester to Lancaster, we restored some of dearest Jane’s more esoteric works to the
Great British public. There was the mouthwatering musical Willoughby Wonka (replete with poorly-paid Oompa Loompas), the spine-chilling Mr Darcy & Mr Hyde (the Gothic horror thankfully diffused by replacing the potion with God’s milk), and the incomparable experience of Something Nasty in the Woodhouse (let’s just say we’ll never look at B&Q, soup or hats the same way
ever again).
To our splendid audiences, our sincerest thanks. You were truly wonderful, and we can’t wait to see you again next year,
suggestions at the ready!
In the mean time, you can catch us back at the Savoy Theatre in London’s West End, with extra December shows to celebrate the Christmas season!
What fun we had enacting such eye-widening tales as Periods & Patriarchy, The Murder at Wobblescotch Manor, and the decidedly risqué When Cousins Marry, in the grand surroundings of the beautifully restored McEwan Hall.
We also mustn’t forget that much-loved staple of the Edinburgh Fringe calendar – Crosstentatious. A one-off special edition of the show where the ladies don the garb of gentlemen and vice-versa! This time around Rebels & Responsibility raised several thousand pounds for the excellent local charity Waverley Care. It also featured possums, jacuzzis and more recreational drug use than we think Jane would normally have included in her novels, but if you put Andrew Hunter Murray in a dress what more can you expect?
We shall have but a short rest in front of the blazing hearth before we set off once again, gallivanting across the country on our national tour, popping back only to frequent London’s Savoy Theatre for our monthly West End shows.
Thank you kindly to everyone who packed out the Hall, and see you next year, Edinburgh, you beautiful beast!
Although we return to the Edinburgh Fringe in August, and shall traipse around all corners of the nation come autumn, we have been restricting our recent activities to a monthly spectacular in London’s glittering West End.
How have we been filling our diaries in the meantime, we hear you incredulously demand?
Well, funny you should ask. Here are the myriad other performative places our eight proficient players are popping up:
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The endlessly diverting Miss Rachel Parris will be performing a solo musical cabaret show on a grand piano (no less!) in the heart of London’s theatreland. Make your way to the gilded galleries of Zedel to hear her sparkling melodies on the 18th July.
Ever the oracular equilibrist, Miss Charlotte Gittins has been gallivanting all over Europe to grace the stages at international improv festivals in France and Austria, and shall shortly materialise closer to home at various fixtures of the London improvised comedy calendar.
Our very own smouldering cardsharp Mr Graham Dickson is currently perfecting a new solo show for Edinburgh, titled Timber. This Hollywood-set dystopian character-comedy fantasia will be playing at the Fringe at 5.30pm every day, and in the meantime London previews can be descried on 24th May, 9th June, 13th July, and 25th July.
In a stroke as appropriate as it is unheralded, the audaciously unblenching Miss Amy Cooke-Hodgson could recently be stumbled upon teaching MPs how to improvise at the Houses of Parliament this month, as part of a campaign to Save Arts Subjects in the school curriculum. Sans state duties she can also be caught devising the magnificent Bumper Blyton – An Improvised Enid Blyton Adventure at the Brighton Fringe this May ahead of their Edinburgh Fringe run.
Bashful grandee Mr Daniel Nils Roberts can be occasionally glimpsed at such comic evenings as Criminal Improv, Stand Up History and Bright Club in the near future, and is setting his house in order in fevered anticipation of a full Edinburgh Fringe foray with returning improv anarchists Racing Minds.
Spirited farceur Miss Cariad Lloyd, meanwhile, has been setting the airwaves alight with her snowballing success story Griefcast, which has graced the inky pages of The Times, The Independent and The Telegraph, no less. Not content with her own hit podcast, she has also popped up on another – guesting on Adam Buxton’s prestigious audio effort for good measure.
Angualar fabulist Mr Joseph Morpurgo is on the road throughout the hazy summer months with his critically acclaimed solo show Hammerhead: part Frankenstein adaption, part lunatic spoof of the post-show Q&A. After a sell-out Edinburgh Festival run, and a month’s residency at London’s Soho Theatre, this “uproariously funny” (The Guardian) comic extravaganza will be touring cities and shires alike.
And finally, brazen inveigler Mr Andrew Hunter Murray has this to say: “I’m in Australia with No Such Thing As A Fish. Don’t touch my stuff while I’m gone.”