IN TODAY’S MINI-INTERVIEW with an ABSOLUT Fringe 2011 figure, we throw five rapid-fire questions at musical comedy duo Frisky and Mannish.
Their show, Pop Centre Plus, is at the ABSOLUT Fringe Club on Parnell Square tonight, tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8.30pm.
Laura Corcoran (Frisky) and Matthew Jones (Mannish), tell us about your ABSOLUT Fringe:
Describe your show to TheJournal.ie’s readers in 20 words:
Officially, a careers advice facility helping you acquire jobs in pop. In reality, an excuse to prance around singing Rihanna.
Do you have any special rituals you just have to carry out before a performance/reading/exhibition?
If we’re feeling professional and focused, it’s very carefully planned: a mid-size meal two-and-a-half hours before curtain-up, a manuka honey and lemon drink, a steam, an hour of make-up, a 20-minute slow vocal/physical warm-up. It helps if we’re in a proper theatre, though. We have been known to turn up in a tent in a field 5 minutes before going onstage, neck a bottle of Gaymers and rasp our way through a tight 15 minutes.
What’s the best/worst audience reaction you’ve ever had to your work?
There are many “bests,” mostly at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but also in some unexpected places. We had a blinder in front of 50 people in Aberdeen once. The smallest can often be the most perfectly formed. Often it’s about individuals in the audience, as opposed to the group. Even if the room as a whole are subdued, you do it for those few small groups of warm and responsive people that make your night worthwhile.
Obviously, corporate crowds are the worst. Every “artist” knows that. Drunk city bankers talking loudly over you. In those situations, in the words of Meja, it’s all about the money.
What/who do you recommend we go see at Absolut Fringe 2011?
Being on the comedy/cabaret circuit, we often get to know the other performers very well, but rarely have a chance to see their full show, making us bad recommenders. Luckily, with The List Operators from Australia, we’ve not only bonded with them backstage, but also witnessed the unique wonder that is their brand of comedy. They are the perfect mixture of intelligent and silly.
What has inspired you or made you happy today?
We’re making music at the moment, recording tracks to be put on a CD or used as the soundtrack to a video. Rarely do we have so much fun as when we’re experimenting with sounds and arrangements. The musicians in us are supremely happy. Now we just need a great slap-up meal, some wine, and maybe The X Factor. Heaven.
