Phil Mann is stand-up comedian, actor and writer. As a comic he has performed open-mic, club nights, gong-style competitions and yes, his own hour long shows too. Martin walker catches up with him via email as he prepares his 2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show.
It contains some personal information about various spanking parties, or forced rap battles I’ve endured.
“Every show I’ve ever done gives me a weird headache and leaves me feeling tingly. This show is no different. It’s a stand-up show that involves a lot of jumping up and down and my own congenital idiocy. It contains some personal information about various spanking parties, or forced rap battles I’ve endured. And other more oblique sections like where I dance the entire history of art. It also features time travel, weird shouting and a live version of dating app Tinder using a foam stick.”
Why did you choose to perform as part of Laughing Horse?
“The free Fringe is the real Fringe. You’ll find all the actual Fringe acts on it. It stands for and supports those who are making the new up-and-coming work you can’t see on TV or at big arenas. It’s the best option for anyone performing and it’s the best option for anyone coming to see shows, too. My improv show BattleActs has been on the Free Fringe for yonks now, so I feel very at home there. Also horses don’t really laugh so I thought that was ironic.”
How do you describe your comedy to those that might not have seen you before?
“Most of it takes place in mid-air whilst I am horizontal. It’s very silly, fast, and I am a massive idiot. Some people think it’s quite smart, but they are wrong.”
What advice would you give your seventeen year old self?
“There’s no future for you in hardcore thrash metal. And also your lyrics about autumn trees are beautiful but no one in the hardcore thrash metal scene appreciates that. Stop putting so much effort into the dance moves: No one in hardcore thrash metal is willing to learn the dance moves. Yes, that fool’s motley is historically accurate for Elizabethan England but no one in the hardcore thrash metal scene appreciates that. Stop referring to hardcore thrash metal performances at “Occurrences in Angry Sound.” If you want to be successful in hardcore thrash metal you’re going to have to stop drawing on yourself with a pen and get a real tattoo, take off that hat, wipe that stupid grin off your face and buckle down whilst pulling your socks up and vice versa and write some vomit-gargling heavy beatdowns.”
If you were curating a stand up show for television, who would be your guests?
“Ok so the show would be that there’s a mic but it’s in a public toilet on Hampstead Heath and anyone can talk into it and if you’re really entertaining then lots of people will come and listen while you talk.”
Edinburgh Fringe Box Office link: https://www.edfringe.com/whats-on/comedy/spitfire-free
(Phil has taken over the slot from another company that has dropped out and the EdFringe website haven’t updated the page yet)
Website: www.phil-mann.com
Twitter: @philmann
Facebook: /philmannUK
