Camden Fringe Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

Nearly 3 weeks after the Camden Fringe finished we're back for a little bit of reflection on this years festival.

Our guest interview is with Harriet Waterhouse who performed her debut solo show Sex Chat Granny at the Etcetera Theatre on the 5, 6 and 11 August as part of the Camden Fringe. Following her performances we caught up with her to find out how it went.

More info on the show Sex Chat Granny and team behind it can be found here: https://www.instagram.com/sexchatgran. Keep an eye on this account for future performances.

As Zena speculated in the recording, there is indeed a show about the Brenda Line which is called The Brenda Line and is by Harry Mould. It's currently running at the Pitlochry festival theatre until 18 September and then the Traverse in Edinburgh from the 13 to 16 of November 2024.

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat to Griffin Jenkins who programmed the Camden Fringe shows at The Cockpit this year and also produced his own show. We discuss the important things to companies to present to get themselves considered seriously by a venue and future plans for The Cockpit. We also go a bit true crime and talk about Jack the Ripper, as all podcasts must do at some point.

As a bonus Zena's daughter Meredith reviews a couple of shows for us.

More information about The Cockpit - theatre of ideas and disruptive panache... https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/

More information about Out Of Office Theatre, Griffin's company that recently produced Ripper at Camden and Edinburgh Fringes https://www.oootheatre.com/

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Paul Kalburgi is a British playwright and screenwriter, currently based in New Zealand and acting as an international Ambassador for the Dramatists Guild of America. Yep, we are going global!

Paul has a book and a podcast called The Writers Toolkit and as a guest on our podcast we've asked him to provide some really practical tips on creating written work and getting on the stage.

Paul's website: https://www.paulkalburgi.com/

The Writers Toolkit podcast: https://pod.link/1587874384

The Writers Guild of Great Britain: https://writersguild.org.uk/

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zena and Michelle have a great catch-up with John Plews and find out what he's been up to since he and Katie stood down as the managers of Upstairs at the Gatehouse. The big news is - he's bring his own show to the Camden Fringe this summer!

Titanic - The Inquiry: https://camdenfringe.com/events/titanic-the-inquiry/

Ovation UK: https://ovationuk.com/

Upstairs at the Gatehouse: https://www.upstairsatthegatehouse.com/

Society of Independent Theatres https://sitgb.org

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We were absolutely delighted to talk to brilliant comedy writer Joel Morris about his new book Be Funny Or Die - How Comedy Works and Why It Matters which is an excellent dissection of comedy, but also contains loads of great advice on writing in general.

Joel is one of Britain’s busiest and most respected comedy writers, working on everything from Charlie Brooker’s Wipe shows to the hit Paddington films. Joel co-created the 5-million-plus selling Ladybird Books For Grown-Ups series and the cult humour hit The Framley Examiner and co-wrote the bestselling British travel guides Bollocks To Alton Towers Joel has won a BAFTA, Sony and Broadcast Awards for his writing, and put words in the mouths of everyone from Mitchell & Webb and Flight of The Conchords to Armstrong & Miller and Miranda Hart. Joel is the co-host and producer of Comfort Blanket, the top 10 arts podcast analysing how comforting films, tv, music and books achieve their magic, and the award-winning Rule of Three podcast about the craft of comedy writing (winner, best arts and culture podcast British Podcast Awards 2020).

Joel Morris Substack https://joelmorris.substack.com/

Joel Morris Twitter https://twitter.com/gralefrit

Comfort Blanket podcast https://pod.link/1614879928

Be Funny or Die book https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Joel-Morris/Be-Funny-or-Die--How-Comedy-Works-and-Why-It-Matters/29622539

Be Funny or Die audiobook https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Be-Funny-or-Die-Audiobook/B0CQ3FMQXW?

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An insightful interview with Matthew Parker, an all-round accomplished Fringe Theatre maker. He speaks to us primarily about marketing and press relations, but has many insights to share.

If you only take one bit of his advice, make it "don't be a dick." But do take more of his advice as it's excellent and based on his wide experience.

Find out more about Matthew and engage his services: https://www.matthewparker.net/

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Zena and Michelle meet Nia Williams and Katie Blackwell of Three Chairs and a Hat Theatre who are bringing their show Mrs Pack to the Camden Fringe this summer. Find out about the real story behind this new piece, the challenges of putting on a fringe musical and recording your performance.

Mrs Pack can be seen at the Etcetera Theatre on the 19th, 20th, 24th and 15th of August https://camdenfringe.com/events/mrs-pack/

More about Nia: niawilliams.com

More about Katie: katieblackwell.com

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are delighted that Mark Ravenhill - playwright and theatre maker - agreed to talk to us about his work and to share his advice for fringe theatre makers. Mark is currently mailing out (for FREE!) 101 Exercises for Playwrights via Buttondown. You can sign up and find out more via: https://twitter.com/MarkRavenhill2

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We chat to Chris Grady about first time producing, chocolate cake and musicals.

Chris Grady is a facilitator, workshop leader and trainer specialising in the support of the next generation of creative producers and practitioners. Chris created and ran the MA in Creative Producing at Mountview Academy for of Theatre Arts, until August 2018. He then returned to live in Scotland where he works for the University of the West of Scotland and founded the CGO Institute to deliver an online Diploma in Creative Producing from 2020. 

Useful links:

CGO Institute https://www.chrisgrady.org/

Musical Theatre Network https://www.musicaltheatrenetwork.com/

Mercury Musical Development https://www.mercurymusicals.com/

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Michelle and Zena speak to Heather Jeffrey the founder and editor of London Pub Theatres Magazine. Heather is a playwright and artistic director of a theatre company, so is always a thoughtful and sympathetic reviewer of fringe shows. She talks about pub theatre, writing press releases, contacting the press and how to become a reviewer.

Heather is on twitter https://twitter.com/HJwrites

And you can find London Pub Theatres here: https://www.londonpubtheatres.com/

Their "Getting Into Theatre" series is well worth looking at if the themes of the Camden Fringe Pod are of interest to you.

More info on the Camden Fringe www.camdenfringe.com

Our music is by: https://www.purple-planet.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.