Category: Scotland
Date: 28.06.2005
Printable version
with Sabotage, The Franz Kafka Big Band and The Why Front...
Ìý
Or "When Jeff Zycinski woke up one morning from unsettling dreams, he found himself changed in his bed into the Head of Radio Scotland."
Ìý
The summer is well and truly hot to trot at Radio Scotland with a whole new slate of comedy for Saturdays.
Ìý
First up is Sabotage from Demus Productions, a six-part live sketch show series starting on Saturday 2 July at 12.30pm.
Ìý
Similar in form to "an Edinburgh Festival offering, with a touch of The Goons thrown in", Sabotage blends the surreal with strong character-based sketches, tips a nod to the live Monty Python shows and adds a Celtic twist.
Ìý
Characters include Lord Pargon - a Tolkien-esque warrior trying to get to grips with 21st Century urban living; Detective Normal - a painfully pedantic soul who has a love of all things bland and proper; Amanda, Scotland's most notorious tour guide, whose colourful imagination livens up any dreich open-top bus journey, not to mention some one-off sketches such as Holistic Car Repairs, The Official Exorcist and Rabbie - A Life.
Ìý
The performers are Grant O'Rourke, Lisa Gardner, Jennie Cook, Steven Howie and Jason Arnstein.
Ìý
Sabotage is written by Norman Ferguson, Tom Brogan, Fraser Campbell, Helen Watson, James Picardo, Andy Bollen and Melbourne-based George Smith.
Ìý
Having garnered such praise over the last two years as "a bunch of complete amateurs" and "half an hour of my precious life I want back!", The Franz Kafka Big Band present their ground breaking six-part radio series.
Ìý
In the corridors of Queen Margaret Drive, New Head of Radio Scotland, Jeff Zycinski, was heard to mutter: "Maybe I should wait till my feet are more firmly under the table before I unleash this lot on the listening public."
Ìý
So it will probably broadcast later this year, but then again, who knows?
Ìý
From the surreal images of the Orange Walk Chillout Album and the Ian Paisley Relaxation Tape to Mr McCaber and his magical singing walnuts The Franz Kafka Big Band is sure to surprise even the most unshockable.
Ìý
Recorded entirely in the studio, the shows combine the written sketch with a sophisticated editing and recording process, the surreal and the naturalistic, improvisation and music to produce a sonic tapestry that many have described as "a shockingly incoherent mess".
Ìý
The Franz Kafka Big Band is written and produced by Colin Edwards with additional material by the cast.
Ìý
It is performed by Innes Smith, Jennyann Marshall, Dave Barr and Craig Stobo with original music by Colin Broom and Cnut.
Ìý
When asked if The Franz Kafka Big Band would be side-splittingly funny, Jeff Zycinski replied: "I don't know."
Ìý
Series three of The Why Front returns mid-August to Radio Scotland.
Ìý
With a cast of four which consists of two women and two token blokes, The Why Front is a six-part sketch show series recorded in front of a live audience.
Ìý
Returning characters and sketches include The Innuendo Workshop, The Polar Bears, Tantric Sex Workshop in Partick Burgh Hall, Aunty Sunbeam the scary children's entertainer and The Homicidal Zoo-keeper, plus a whole platter of new treats.
Ìý
Elaine MacKenzie-Ellis, Julie Coombe, Alan MacAfferty and Gordon Munro will be performing The Why Front at the CCA every Wednesday from 27 July for six weeks.
Ìý
Free tickets are available directly from CCA or from 91Èȱ¬ Scotland, telephone 0141 338 2235.
Ìý
Radio Scotland's comedy writing initiative has produced pilots of three brand new sitcoms.
Ìý
They were performed and recorded last month as part of A Play, A Pie & A Pint season at Oran Mor in Glasgow.
Ìý
Close by Iain Bain, Free Falling by Graeme Johnson and The Queen's Heid by Alan McFadzean and Bob Harris were all received well by the attending audiences.
Ìý
These will now be broadcast on Radio Scotland on Saturdays later in the year, so everyone will have a chance for both a titter and, in parts, a great big belly laugh.
