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speaker-1: Hey, I'm Harvey Morton, and you're listening to my Stage and Scream podcast. My guest today is Gary Starr, fresh from sellout seasons in the West End in Edinburgh. His international smash hit Gary Starr Classic Penguin is back in Blighty and he's hellbent on saving butts from extinction by performing every penguin classic ever written, mostly naked but with flippers. Gary Starr is the alter ego of comedian Damien Warren Smith. Thanks so much for being on the show, Damien. So Gary Starr is famously mostly naked but with flippers in the show. How did that bold playful choice come about and what does it add to the storytelling?
speaker-0: Yeah, Venity the Nudity came later actually. So I I I had I had been naked at sort of one point in two of my other shows, but just like, you know, briefly. and when it came to making the new show, there were a few bits where I thought, this would be really funny because I had already decided I was gonna do all the Penguin classics and some of them just became I thought, that would be really funny if I was naked at that bit. And then they just there was quite a few of them I thought Maybe I'm just naked throughout. And then when I when I when I made the the decision to do it dressed as a penguin, it just made sense. 'Cause I like, okay, so I'm penguins don't wear pants, so I won't wear pants either. So I just wore a pale coat and flippers and and nothing else.
speaker-1: I mean you're performing every penguin classic novel ever written in one show which is quite the literary marathon. How do you decide which parts to sort of lampoon or highlight in the show?
speaker-0: yeah, I I can't I just I I did a first pass where I was like, what are the what what are the penguin classics that I can think of? Yeah. so I wanted the most famous ones. So I thought about what are the most famous titles, and then I went looking for titles that I could misinterpret and misunderstand. a lot of it is a lot of the work that I do is about misunderstanding what you know, what the what the subject matter is. And so The more famous, the more well known the story is, the easier it is for people to be more intelligent, but the audience to be more intelligent than me when I get it wrong. So, you know, things like Frankenstein and Dracula are are great because you can just do something from the book, which people think, okay. He thinks he thinks it's this, but we know it's actually this. So I want to put myself in this position where I'm automatically I play higher status, but I'm actually lower intelligent than the audience.
speaker-1: I mean, I know the show blends so much, you know, thinking about clowning, improv and what you call spectacularly ill advised ambition. How do you balance all the chaos and control on stage?
speaker-0: Yeah, the balance of the chaos I guess is the is is is where the is where the skill lies if there is any. It's not knowing what I I love the not knowing what people are gonna do. And one of the greatest
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compliments I get is that people genuinely don't believe me when I say I don't use audience plants. I I just I just invite people up to play. And to begin with, you know, when the f you need to do the show like a hundred times before you can even before you can find a rhythm with it because I don't I I don't tell people exactly what I want them to do. I give them some rough rough direction and then I see how they want to play and then and my job is to make the scene work no matter what they do. So to begin with, you know, you get some some some people really playing outside of the box and it doesn't quite work, but then it happens again and you go, Okay, this happened once before, okay, how do I How do I make it work? So it seems like this is exactly what was supposed to happen. So by the end of it, you get to this you get to this point where people go, Well, they must have been audience plants because everyone knew what to do. And it's not that they knew what to do, it's just that I knew how to respond because I've seen it all, you know?
speaker-1: And when you are inviting people up to be part of the show, do you get some audience members that are maybe a bit more reserved at first and not really sure how to throw themselves into it?
speaker-0: Yeah, and for some scenes they're the best people because actually if you pick a performer a lot of the time, which you do accidentally, you pick someone, they're an actor or you know, an improviser, and the audience don't necessarily love them in the same way that they do if you're a Joe Schmo, you know, like someone who's not someone who's a little bit uncomfortable, like they're okay to be there, but this is obviously not something they do on a regular basis. The audience gets right behind them. The audience goes, We've got you. Come on, you know, you can do this. Whereas if someone gets up and they're really comfortable, the audience are like, Okay, here we go. so the ideal person is someone who who kind of doesn't want to. Like you say, do you wanna I quite often say, Do you want to come up and play? And they go, okay. Like that's the person you want. Yeah. If they say no, you move on. And if they say, yes, I want to come and play, you're like, Are you an actor? No. You'll make it about yourself.
speaker-1: It's that thing of being picked, isn't it? But most people it secretly enjoy being on stage with you, I bet.
speaker-0: Yeah, and it gets easier as the show goes on because once people see the first few people taken care of, you know, they're po like I I I push the limit of of audience participation, but they never end up looking silly. And they never they're never the butt of the joke. It's always me. You know, and they usually they get a round of applause as they leave. So it's not like I'm picking on people. I'm setting up situations for them to do something and flourish and they get a big round of applause. Once that happens a couple of times, then people are more willing to come up.
speaker-1: Amazing. I mean I'm intrigued, Damien, by what drew you to the idea of saving books from execution through comedy and physical theatre. Is there a penguin classic that holds a special place for you?
speaker-0: there are some books that do you know, they they they they used to hold a special place to me. Now now I don't really think of them beyond the show. But books like The Little Prince or Yeah You know, The Wind and the Willows, these are these are books that I'd I'd grown up with. but now the only relationship I have to these books is what we do in the show. And You know, people say jokingly, I've ruined so many of their favourite books now because you'll just never be gonna put it in the same way again. Particularly The Little Prince.
speaker-1: Mm. I bet though, when you were growing up with those stories that you were n never imagined one day that you'd be performing them all on stage in this way.
speaker-0: Not even close. I d if I told young me what I'd end up doing I think they'd probably young me probably be quite thrilled, but also like, no way there's ever that's ever gonna happen.
speaker-1: I mean it's an incredible journey you've been on with this show from performing it across the UK, Australia, now you're currently off Broadway in New York. Do you feel like the audiences differ in those places and how does that influence your performance when you're travelling around the world with this?
speaker-0: Yeah, it does it changes the I think the biggest changes most people respond and play in a similar way. The two outliers I've had were regional Australia, where people they they laughed, they loved it, but then when it came to the play, they did think that I was never expecting. Because I think people who live in regional Australia are just, you know, that they're they're they're they're out there. They're like they're not they're they're not They're not confined by the norms of of of city life. But and then the other outlier I has found to be New York in the sense that I think the Brits and the Aussies, they think the nudity is hilarious, they're well on board, they're like, Yep, great, that's really funny. The New Yorkers don't don't know to begin with that it's okay to laugh at it. Yeah. And so they're they're uncomfortable for the first ten feet, fifteen minutes. Most of the time. Like Not all the time. Sometimes all it takes is a few people in the audience to go, that's great. Because I'm playing highbrow and then doing lowbrow things to begin with. And some people see that juxtaposition and they go, this is really fun. Some people go, I don't think I'm allowed to laugh at the nudity yet. All it takes is twenty, thirty percent of the audience to start to laugh and then the New Yorkers are a little bit more okay with it. But they're far more held back to begin with and then they really let go at the end. But I they're just not used to this type of comedy here and I think it's very British and Australian. I mean, I grew
up my dad's my dad was English and so I grew up with the goodies and you know Morty Python and and even things like the Mighty Boosh and we we really love the the absurd stuff. and we get that in Australia as well. You know, that's that's the stuff we had a lot of that in in Australia. Whereas the the Americans comedy is very, very different. So this is it's it's difficult for them to begin with and then they go, Wow, that's not like anything I've ever seen before and they come aga
speaker-1: Again. That must be a big reward B, right, as a performer, because I guess when we think of American audiences, you automatically sort of assume that they'd be the most into it from the start. But like you said, it's just different comedy culture, isn't it? Yeah.
speaker-0: Very different. Very, very different. They're far more stand up and sketch and kind of yeah. Here, I think in improv and stuff like that.
speaker-1: You spoke as well about some of the lovely audience interactions that you get in the show, but what's the most unexpected or memorable moment that's happened during a performance? Is there anything that springs to mind?
speaker-0: I mean every like I'm always constantly surprised, but there was one thing that happened only a few nights ago that just made me so happy. For for a bit of the show, for whether it's and then after that I I say, you can hang on to that leaf blower 'cause we just use a new one every time. and then they just sit there holding the leaf blower for the rest of the show. But the other night I was I come out and I'm doing delivering a monologue and I'm I'm doing Hamlet but I'm using the the the lyrics from Bohemian Rhapsody as the text. And and then I get to the point where I go, anyway, the wind blows and the person in the audience just blasted the leaf blower and th it brought the house down. Like It was just such a beautiful moment. This person had just been hanging on to it and thought, I'm just gonna use it again at one point. They'd waited for the whole show and then blasted this leaf blower in in a really quiet, beautiful moment. And it just w the laughter went for about thirty seconds. It was one of the biggest laughs of the show. and it's difficult when those things happen because y you think, I really would love to try and find a way for that to happen every time. But you just know that it's never gonna happen again. or it's unlikely. So You you can either go, okay, do I need to try and manufacture this and make it part of the show? Or was that just a one off? And this is the beautiful thing about live work that you just never get to get you know, by watching stuff on on on TV. So yeah, that was beautiful. And then the other moment is it was r you know, I just reminded the leaf blow leaf blower related. I make the joke where I say, you can hang on to that because because we just use a new one every time. And then a few weeks ago I turned up for one of the shows and they said, We can't find the leaf blower. And and we're like, that's strange. And so the audience member thought it was thought I was being serious and somehow walked out of the the theater with a giant leaf blower and nobody stopped them. And so like at the front, yeah, we did notice we did notice someone walking out of the theater with a leaf blower and we thought that was odd. so someone was walking around New York City with a leaf blower about a week ago.
speaker-1: They got themselves a freebie there then.
speaker-0: Yeah.
speaker-1: I guess that tr that's what keeps it fresh for you though, Damien, because every night is so different. But how do you prepare mentally and physically for such a demanding and unconventional show? Do you have any rituals or routines?
speaker-0: Yeah, I think the only the only way that I'm able to travel as much as I do and do such a physical show is by really just taking care of myself. Like I'm I'm forty four and I I y you know, what I do is is is pretty similar to what, you know, I wouldn't say a professional athlete, but maybe a a semi professional athlete in terms of the way I throw myself around. So I just have to look after myself. I have to have a personal trainer and I have to I you know, I don't drink at all anymore. and I I meditate and I try and try and have a a a community around me. So I'm always trying to catch up with with with friends and family as much as possible. So it's more about if you don't have a base, you don't have a home, 'cause I'm on the road almost all the time. It's like how can you take your home with you? How can you take how can you take some sense of stability and consistency and routine? with you no matter where you go. and so these are things that I've it took me a while to realise that, that actually looking after myself is the only way I'm gonna continue doing this. So that's what I have to do. I have to do all and I'm I'm pretty much completely off the internet now. I don't I d my my social media is managed by other people and I yeah, I tend to just ignore reviews and and and just rely on people to tell me if nice things are said and Yeah. I I'm I'm a bit boring. I've become quite boring. Considering my work is so frenetic and fun and silly and playful. I've I've become a very, very quiet and very boring person around that.
speaker-1: No, but that's great though, because you've got to look after yourself. Like you said, but just being on the road all the time can take it out of you. Never mind doing a show like this, or like your other work where it is so physically demanding on you. You s you studied clowning and mime internationally. like how have those experiences shaped your style over the years? Did it take you a bit of time to find your place in it all? Yeah.
speaker-0: Yeah, yeah, I I I I remember a point in my in probably my late twenties where I was I was working as an actor and living in London and I thought I was trying to add skills to my yeah, to my C V, things that I thought might help me, things like
stage combat and you know, sense and horse riding and all these things I was like, Well at least things that I need so I'm gonna be castable And then when I started off started going and making my own work, I thought, but why don't I just do what I'm drawn to? Why don't I just follow Things that bring me joy, things that challenge me. Yeah. And so I just started to try things. I started to do things like, you know, corporeal mime and contact improvisation and you know, like acro yoga. And I started to just like just just sort of play around with stuff that that I found interesting. And and I never intended for these to become part of my work, but they have. and so my first show, Gary Star Performs, everything was really me just going all these things, all these little strange skills that I've, you know, at a very basic level picked up over the years. How can I just shoehorn them into some kind of a show? And and so the show really is is quite unique to me. I think all my shows are very you know, you w we're getting to a point now where we're we're thinking we're gonna need an understudy because I'm starting to play bigger theaters and longer runs and there's more money involved. but it's very difficult to to cast an understudy in a show which is so uniquely you, you know? So we're we're at that point now. but yeah, it's it it took a while to to sort of accept that what not accept to to find a way to really find joy in the work that I was making. I never really found that as an actor. I found moments of moments where I thought I was losing myself in the work, but now I can quite honestly say with my own work I'm in I'm in like flow state for ninety nine percent of the time. I I sort of I I begin a show. And then I pop out the other end and I'm like, wow, what just happened there? So I like I like that I've managed to find that.
speaker-1: No, that's great that you've been able to carve out your own space and do what you enjoy as well because I think so many people t could take a lot away from that.
speaker-0: Yeah. And it's it's nice too that I feel I I didn't make it really thinking I was gonna change the world in any way. I made shows that I thought were really silly and really funny and now people are starting to tell me that it's that it's it's helped them in some way, or it's you know, i it's influenced them to to make changes in their life or to create work or to yeah, it or it's brought joy to people who hadn't laughed in a long time. And so although I never set out to to necessarily make a difference with my work, I feel Well, I know that people are telling me that it is having a a positive effect. So that's kinda nice to find, you know, a an overlap between what you enjoy doing and and what the world in some way, in some pockets of the world, people seem to need.
speaker-1: Can you just provide an estate for people as well? And I think we all need that at the moment given everything that's going on in the world.
speaker-0: Well I think this is one of the biggest things that people would say is is it i it is pure escapism. There's nothing political, there's nothing, you know I would say even intelligent if it's really about the show. But
speaker-1: But yeah.
speaker-0: people say, you know, they'd been having quite often people come up to me afterwards 'cause I always hang around afterwards so I can chat to people and and they'll say, you know, I've been having a really hard time and I haven't smiled or I haven't laughed in a long time and for the last hour I hadn't thought about, you know, the partner I'd lost or the you know, the the diagnosis I'd got and it's just a it's esc escapism in its in its truest sense.
speaker-1: That's wonderful. but just to round off, Damien, what are you hoping audiences will take away from seeing you in classic penguins Beyond the Laps, I suppose?
speaker-0: n not a leaf blower. I hope people will will will think will see what I'm doing and think maybe I can find something in my life which brings me that much joy or maybe you know, maybe maybe I can I can challenge myself to to step outside my comfort zone a little bit.
speaker-1: No, that'd be lovely if people left feeling that way. so empowering as well. But it's been a joy to chat to you today and good luck with your run when you bring classic penguins back to London.
speaker-0: Thank you, Javi. It's been pleasure.
speaker-1: Don't miss Gary Star Classic Penguins at the Other Palace from the 22nd of October to the 3rd of January. You could get your tickets at theOtherpalace.co.uk. If you love this episode, please do leave me a rating on your podcast app. It helps me out massively, and I'll see you very soon for another one.