Tommy Wallace as Kitten in Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory Q&A PAULBOYD “Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory” is a great title! How did you come up with it? It’s just a string of words that made me laugh. I loved the idea that there could be something called a ‘Tit Factory’ – I mean, what goes on in there? And that it would be run by someone called Molly Wobbly. It harkens back to the show’s origin, when I entered a competition that I didn’t want to win. It was a ten minute entry to the Mackintosh Foundation and Eden Court Theatre’s ‘Quest For a New Musical’? It was a competition I entered back in 2005, in the hope of getting some work seen by the very influential judges they had. You were meant to submit ten minutes of material from a new full length musical you had written, but I was so busy with other commissions that I didn’t have a spare, un-produced musical lying around. So I wrote a ten minute musical, called “Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory” and made it sound like it was an extract from a longer show, and I submitted that. I thought the title would make it un-commissionable, so I was sure I’d never have to write the rest of it. But then I got a letter telling me that the show had been shortlisted, so I withdrew from the competition at that stage, and went on writing whatever I was then working on, and never really gave “Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory” another thought. I assumed that that was the end of it and that the ten minute ‘extract’ had done its job and got me noticed by the judges. What’s the show about? It’s set in a town called Little Happening where three couples own three shops on Mammary Lane. The town has seen better days, and the couples have seen better days. Suddenly a stranger arrives, and his arrival in town has a kind of supernatural effect on the couples, and on the women in particular who suddenly start to think about their appearance and improving how they look. How long have you been writing? What got you into it? This year is my twentieth year. The first musical I wrote was while I was still at University in 1992, and that show became very popular very quickly, so suddenly I had a career and producers were looking for the next show, then the next show, and so on. I’ve been very lucky to have had so much work commissioned and staged over the years, both here in the UK and Ireland, but also in other parts of the world too - it’s amazing when you hear your own words and songs performed in another language, be that Danish, or Korean, or Japanese. I still feel like I only started yesterday - but then I look up and suddenly I’ve been at it for twenty years, with eighteen musicals under my belt, many of them being performed regularly in various countries. Who is your favourite writer? If you mean writer of musicals, I don’t really have one favourite in particular. I tend to admire shows irrespective of who wrote them, but then I might not like the next show that that particular writer does. I like a lot of Alan Menken’s work, and Marc Shaiman. I think that Scott Frankel has a very interesting musical ‘voice’, and of course like most people I admire some of the work of the big names like Sondheim and Lloyd-Webber. We have a lot of fun with parodying some of those writers’ styles in “Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory”. What other shows on the Fringe catch your eye? l really haven’t had time to look through the brochure properly yet. I want to see “The Boat Factory” at Hill Street Theatre, because that’s a fellow Northern Irish company and the only other production at the Fringe supported by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland. And there’s a show called “Desperately Seeking The Exit” at the Laughing Horse which is a writer telling the true story of having written a big West End musical that flopped, that interests me. Apart from that, I’ll go and see anything that’s funny. Stewart Lee is in the same building as us, The Assembly Rooms, but I’ve already seen his show in London - and it’s quite superb. What do you love/hate about Edinburgh? I love Edinburgh - as a Northern Irish man who lives in London, Edinburgh feels a lot like home. And the people are very friendly like the people at home, which is comforting. I like the fact that everything is within walking distance. I’ve never been during Festival before, so I’m looking forward to seeing the transformation that the City undergoes. Assembly Rooms Molly Wobbly’s Tit Factory 1.45pm 1-27 Aug Q&A MISTERMEREDITH Tells us about ‘Mister Meredith’s Christmas Crack’. Songs, stockings, jokes, games and beer*: all the ingredients for a very Merry Christmas. It’s part of the Free Fringe at The Monde, Shanghai, 8pm every evening except 13th when I’ll be observing Ramadan. Probably from a pub. *beer not supplied, although buying lots in the bar will ensure a cracking good time and hopefully get you in a present giving mood by the time the hat comes round at the end. Isn’t it a wee bit too early for Xmas? It’s never too early for songs, stockings, jokes, games and beer. Falls bang in the middle of the year so let’s call it a snack bar of festivity to fill the gap between the big pig outs in December. Or an excuse to dress as a giant Christmas Cracker (make up your own pulling jokes). Tell us about ‘Hairy Pretty Things’. It’s an hour of awesome music from Dave the Bear with a little help from me, interspersed with furry anecdotes at Fingers Piano Bar, 5.30pm every day except Mon. However in DTB’s words “It's me banging on about Mariah Carey and Faith Evans and if I fancy anyone in the audience I'll get my bum out, plus it's all free, unless you fancy sticking a donation in my hairy bucket.” What is Bearlesque? Dave The Bear: It's a big hairy homo homage to burlesque. It originated as a troupe which I joined back in 2008 but it's since become a genre, spawning other troupes such as The Bears and The Cubs and solo performers like myself. Think fewer feathers, more KFC. Tell us about ‘Magic Faraway Cabaret’. Magic Faraway Cabaret is a “party atmosphere” (thanks Russ) cabaret show at The Voodoo Rooms 10.50pm every night except 13th hosted by Dave The Bear, Claire Benjamin and myself, presenting a different enchanted world each night with a mash-up of themes: Banarnia, land of magic, wonder and fruit; Popeye-dol, the naughty nautical music fest; and Speakeasy Rider, a gin-soaked doobie smoking romp. Every night features international burlesque and variety from the likes of Cherry Shakewell, Ivy Paige, Beatrix Von Bourbon, Audacity Chutzpah and Kiki KaBoom, and of course us getting our arses out in various demeaning costumes. Who is your ideal guest? Did you see Grace Jones at the Jubilee? That’s the kind of shit we’re after. I love the offthe-wall ones we’ve had like Fauxnique the female drag queen ballerina, or Lynn Ruth Miller, the burlesque granny: the ones that really interact with the audience and make you know you’re at a live show: anyone that entertains me without disappearing up their own fundaments. Why did you choose the Free Fringe? Who’s rich this year? In Edinburgh, where you want to go to at least 4 shows a day, £10 a ticket is beyond the means of most ordinary people, but they should be able to afford the price of pint (or more!)* It’s the only truly socialist version of the Fringe (all together now… “So come on, brothers and sisters…”) *Dave says he just wants Kerry Katona to come to his show and being in the Free Fringe is the only way he can get her there. I think he just wants to taste her prawn ring. Of all the comics appearing on the Fringe this year, who makes you laugh the most? I like funny women. For originality and smarts you can’t beat the likes of Kate Smurthwaite, Grainne Maguire, Holly Burn or Lou Sanders. We actually stalked Lou for a couple of years. True. What do you love/hate about Edinburgh? Love going up to the docks on my day off. Love being allowed to try new stuff without fear of offending a promoter. Love it that there’s ALWAYS someone drunker than me. Well, most of the time. Hate flyering in the rain. Hate twenty something middle-class male comics with “messy hair” talking about anal sex with their girlfriends. Yes it is an obsession. Yes it does make you slightly gay. Yes, that’s okay. Next! Did you really call Simon Cowell, ‘a big bender’? Haha! Not in so many words. I sang a song for La Cowell on Britain’s Got Talent 2012 which just pointed out that his girlfriends were terribly well cast. Strangely enough they never televised it, although it might help his case a little if he slept with more women that weren’t gay icons. Fingers Piano Bar Hairy Pretty Things 5.30pm 4-25 Aug Mister Meredith’s Christmas Crack Magic Faraway Cabaret Le Monde 8pm 4-25 Aug The Voodoo Rooms 10.50pm 4-25 Aug 6 7