Host: Welcome to Mischief Makers, your one-stop shop for all things mischief. Join your host, Dave Hearn, as he finds out what makes mischief, well, mischief.

Dave Hearn: Hello and welcome to another episode of Mischief Makers with me, Dave Hearn. And we are at a Minak special today. With me, I have the wonderful Harry Kershaw. Say hello, Harry.

Harry Kershaw: Hello, everyone.

DH: Joshua Elliott.

Joshua Elliott: Hello.

DH: Sorry, Dr. Joshua Elliott.

Dr. J.E: Thank you.

DH: Yes, yes. And do you have a doctorate in music, Richard?

Richard Baker: Sadly I don't.

DH: No, well, this is just regular old Richard Baker.

RB: Just standard Mr. Richard Baker.

DH: Mr. Baker.

JE: If you've got the blues, we could call you Dr.

RB: I shan't.

DH: Dr. Blues. So this is, we're on a tour at the moment of Mischief Movie Night, and we asked the world of Twitter to ask us any of their improv questions. So I'm going to ask them to these wonderful people, and we're just going to discuss them. So the first question is from Sarah, and she asks, she's only seen Jono and Hen play Oscar. Has anyone else been Oscar, and would someone like to be Oscar?

JE: We were talking about this earlier, weren't we? Yeah.

HK: Yeah. Yes. Other people have been Oscar. I was Oscar for a bit in Edinburgh.

DH: How did that go?

HK: A mixed bag. It was sometimes really fun. And then I think my persona was a bit more aggressive, I think Jonathan's more likeable.

DH: Sure. Well, we should say at this stage, for those of you that haven't seen Mischief Movie Night, Oscar is a character that kind of directs the show and interacts directly with the audience. So you're saying you were too aggressive?

[Both laugh]

HK: I was too aggressive and also convinced I was right all the time. I remember there's...

JE: Well, that’s just you Harry, though.

HK: Yeah. I mean, I was too myself.

[All laugh]

HK: There was a point where I think I'd collected a... It was set in a nunnery, and I asked, what could be a name for this show set in a nunnery? And someone said, nun of, nun of the above.

JE: That’s quite a good pun.

DH: It's funny pun. Yeah.

HK: And I didn't, for some reason, I didn't see that pun and I just didn't, I didn't get it. So I just said, preferably something that has something to do with the elements we've already collected.

DH: And just like that, you lost the whole audience.

[[DH laughs]

HK: You lost the entire audience. And then I realised that I'd made the mistake, but only about five minutes later. And, yeah, I mean...

DH: How would you react to that now, as a wiser man?

HK: I think I'd have said, I think I'm missing something here. What am I missing? Then they'd have said, it's a clever pun. And I'd have said, “oh yeah, excellent” It's definitely called that.

DH: But what did you do? You just stuck to your nuns?

[DH and HK laugh]

HK: I said, no, no, it's not called that. That's a terrible idea.

DH: Nice.

HK: Yeah. I mean, and I, yeah, I'm pretty sure there was some murmurs in the crowd of, yeah, it does have something. I was just like, I'm not having any of it. I was just like, shut up, everyone, shut up. No, it's going to be called Nuns Gone Wild or something like that. Which it was called in the end. Josh, you've done it. A little bit.

JE: I did it once, I think. Maybe twice. No, I think it was once.

DH: How did you find it?

[HK laughs]

JE: You were in that show, weren't you, both of you?

DH: Quite possibly.

HK: I remember you came out as Canal Cafe, I think, wasn't it?

JEL: It was, yeah.

RB: Oh, I definitely played that then. Yeah.

DH: Or wasn't it, did you shout at the audience and say, why aren't you applauding?

JE: Yeah. Probably.

[All laugh]

DH: So it seems that both of you have had quite an aggressive response.

JE: I mean, you know, the energy that I channel in the show as a, as a character. It's obviously not as, yeah, I think what Johnny does and sometimes Henry does is very difficult, isn't it?

DH: Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

JE: Because you need to like be of the people for the people, but also a comedian.

DH: Not one of the people.

JE: Yeah.

DH: And Rich, as a, you are obviously a musician, but would you, would you ever consider improvising or, or being Oscar?

RB: I mean, I've done bits of stage stuff. I've not improvised much on stage, but I've done stage stuff. So that, that's probably fine. But being Oscar would probably go one of two ways, either very poorly or I would go full megalomaniacal, like control freak and demand that I both play for the show, all of the music and be Oscar, meaning I could pause myself immediately and just, yeah.

JE: It should be clear that you are improvising the keys. I mean, it's not like you as scripted.

RB: Yeah. No, I don't just get out the sheet music for, for the, for the pirate show.

JE: You could do that, I suppose.

DH: You could. I still don't think it would help us though.

JE: No, it wouldn't.

[All laugh]

DH: We would be equally as bad.

RB: Good.

DH: Well, our next question comes from Bethany. And she asks, has there ever been an improv show or performance that you loved so much that you would make it into a scripted piece of theatre? Harry, let's start with you.

HK: Ooh.

DH: My immediate answer is no because there's part of me that's like you could kind of take a narrative but there's often holes in it and when you're in the audience you might not see those holes.

HK: Yeah I think it's always best if you really liked a show, just to leave it in the past as a thing that you really liked so like I saw um I saw the never-ending story the other day which was my favourite things as a kid…

JE: The film?

Hk: The film. And it just it wasn't as good as I remembered it obviously I've changed slightly.

DH: Now it's been sullied for you as an adult.

[HK laughs]

HK: Well it's like that thing yeah you if you used to have a favourite film which isn't like a classic then quite often watching it again can be a disappointment and I feel like it would be the same with improvisation. I really enjoyed a show called gordon's brown trousers.

JE: Yeah I remember that.

HK: But there was very little plot involved

JE: It was very simple and clean wasn't it but also nice warm and funny, I remember it.

HK: Yeah.

DH: Wasn’t there a similar show that year got jazz in my pants?

[HK laughs]

HK: Haha I’m sure there was.

DH: That had a similar storyline.

HK: Haha

JE: That one was probably quarter I think.

HK: Yeah.

DH: Although I think jazz in my pants went quite well considering it was called jazz in my pants because I think we were like “Oh this is going to be utter dog” but then uh I think it I seem to remember it going quite well.

HK: Do you have anything that you'd like that you would have liked to have made into [a scripted piece of theatre?]

DH: No I think I think on the whole like I have no problem. In a way I would what I would like to do is improvise a play for a writer and and have him or her record it and say like okay I'd like a I'd like to write a play about x y and z and I'd like it to have these characters in it um and I'd like to just record it and then take what you improvise and then write that and then see what kind of comes out of it I'd quite enjoy that.

HK: What just make it better?

DHL Yeah just tighten it up and make the bits that don't lose the bits don't work and keep the bits to do because I think what you'd probably get is really fun character choices and narrative choices that you wouldn't get if you were to sit down sit down and write it but then I also think like a lot of improv is about what is happening in at that moment so often I find it when we've talked about this before when the shows are recorded and you watch them back much like never-ending story, you’re sort of watching back a really great improv show and you're like this is not as good as I remember it.

HK: Well also improvisation I think when it goes quite well is a bit like a massive in-joke for everyone in the theatre, I don’t think that necessarily that would translate if we were to make a film of it.

DH: Very true.

HK: I don't think it would necessarily translate in quite the same way.

RB: I think it's all a you had to be that kind of experience.

HK: Yeah, yeah.

DH: So you hear that guys you've got to be here, come to Cornwall and Josh did you have a particular fun show that you would have turned into?

JE: I think just really good shows that had that felt you know afterwards felt good you know felt pure and funny like that one you mentioned earlier. I was just thinking that Bank Robbery has a vibe of the improv when I first saw it.

DH: Mhm.

JE: I was like yeah. Have the same sort of energy and sort of some of the gags were reminiscent of you know what we were doing in improv I thought.

DH: Well there’s a lot of the the workshop for Bank Robbery was improvising loosely around the script and particularly that big apartment scene was just a lot of like particularly the big physical moves aren't pre-scripted in the same way it's just trying to having one very simple objective one person is trying to get out of the apartment one person is trying to keep them in and the other person is stuck in the middle and that's just a fun game to play.

JE: Yeah.

HK: I’m pretty sure we were playing a game called freeze tag and there's a thing in grown-ups there's a moment with a hamster and Henry Lewis. I’m pretty sure that was a thing that he improvised and then was like, "Oh, I like that idea, I'll put that in the script."

DH: That's very true, yeah, the hamster flopped it, flopping the hamster.

HK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

DH: Went into grown-ups, yeah.

HK: And that was definitely just like a Saturday improvisation I think.

DH: Yeah, because there might have been a gangster film where he'd accidentally had a pet hamster and he killed it or something.

HK: I can't remember.

DH: But the next question, actually, is from Hayley, and her tag is Hayley Pineapple.

HK: That's good.

DH: She's not a real pineapple, I don't think. So this is obviously this tour, but also the other tour that we did. Do we have a favourite venue? It's hard not to say The Minak.

RB: Yeah, when you're here, because we are recording this practically on The Minak stage, looking out at an expanse of sea. And it is the first night that we got here when we did the get-in, and it was very misty the second night, but the night that we did the get-in, the moon was just rising.

JE: Oh, man, the moon was fat and orange. It was beautiful.

RB: It was a massive moon.

JE: It was.

DH: Chubby old orange moon.

JE: Big old moon.

RB: And it was a cloudless night. It was beautiful. And just knowing I'm going to perform here for the next five days, here wins some picturesque points, if nothing else.

DH: We're on our second show at The Minak. It has presented some challenges in terms of space. It's quite hard to hear the audience laughing sometimes, because they're so spread out. Maybe they're not laughing.

JE: Maybe that is it.

DH: Maybe that's what's happening. Maybe our shows are not good enough to merit laughter.

[HK laughs]

JE: Yeah, the matinee we just did, I found the sun quite challenging.

DH: Very sunny. I'm currently sat in the sun, probably going to get burnt.

JE: Yeah, I already am burnt, that’s the thing. You don’t want to burn on burnt.

HK: I think, obviously, The Minak, you know, brilliant. Other venues that I've enjoyed a lot, I really enjoyed Regent's Park. Regent's Park Open Air. That was very beautiful. And I've always wanted to do a show there.

RB: Same.

JE: I’ve always wanted to go to the Regent's Park. I've never been to that theatre or the Minak, and now we're performing at both. It’s you know.

DH: That's really cool.

HK: You could have gone to Regent's Park.

JE: I could have, I should have, but I hadn't.

HK: “Always wanted to” I'm mean a very easily achievable dream for someone who lives in London.

[DH laughs]

DH: Because you live in London?

JE: Yeah, and I often am in Regent's Park. I'm like, “Oh, what that theatres like?

HK: “I really want to go there”

[HK laughs]

DH: Just stood outside the gates, being like, “One day, one day I'll get in.”

JE: You can't underestimate how my disorganisation limits my activity.

DH: It's so true, though. I think when I…so many people from New York have come to London and been like, oh, you know, have you done this and that? And I'm like, no, never. Never been to Westminster, never been to, like, Tower Bridge. But then when I went to New York, I did, like, all the tourist stuff in, like, a day.

JE: Yeah. Always the way.

DH: So you kind of get... yeah, I think you're right. But then I imagine there's probably lots of people in Cornwall who maybe have never been to The Minak.

JE: Do you think so?

DH: Yeah. You know, you've got all this stuff going on. You know, gardens.

JE: But the people that are, like, from here seem to just be clambering all over the rocks, like mountain goats anyway. You know, they're all up in it.

DH: You heard it here first, guys. People from Cornwall are mountain goats.

[All laugh]

DH: Next question is from Emily Reid. So any... So let's say a couple of tips from everyone for improving quick wit and coming out with amazing one-liners in improv. I think, Emily, you're asking the wrong people. But, yeah, Josh, why don't we start with you. What are your top tips?

JE: So, just at the age of 10, just staring in the mirror. Just trying to...

DH: Banging out one-liners.

JE: Well, just ridiculing myself. And seeing if I could come back with something, you know.

[All laugh]

DH: Ridiculing yourself and seeing if you could come back with something. Did you ever come back with anything?

JE: No, it was a really bad experience, actually. Dark time in my life.

[HK laughs]

DH: But then presumably one part of you was ridiculing yourself quite effectively.

JE: Yeah. Well, yeah, I mean, at the centre of every joke, you know, the kernel of truth thing, you know, really hit home.

[All laugh]

DH: Just being like, what kind of insults were you?

JE: Oh, mate, I mean, you're going to open up some wounds now. Probably just about, you know, the wit needing to be faster.

DH: Sure.

[All laugh]

DH: We're going to move swiftly on to Harry Kershaw. What are your tips?

HK: For one-liners, I think go for the... It's not very funny, this, but just go for what we... go for the obvious. There we go.

[DH laughs]

DH: Very good.

JE: I have a real answer to it, by the way. And I think it's the same as that. But often I find that some part of my brain, without any sort of conscious thought, has already made up a joke. Or like, no, it's... It senses there's a joke there.

DH: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

JE: And it's only as I'm saying it, I think, or either there's something to work with there. Well, after I've said it, it's like, “Oh, that was a joke.” Do you know what I mean?

DH: Sure, I see. Because very rarely, I think, we're not really like a pun-heavy show. Because puns tend to really stick out in our show.

JE: Yeah, and they're usually not well-received by anyone.

DH: No, and that's fair. That's absolutely fair.

HK: It's definitely the thing of, if I try and be funny in our show, if my main intention is to be funny, it'll probably die a horrible death.

JE: I think trying to be funny is the beginning of failure, isn't it? It's when we're enjoying ourselves...

HK: Enjoying ourselves and also, if you are standing by the side being like, "Oh I've got this brilliant pun, then the likelihood is...

JE: You're in the wrong show.

HK: You're in the wrong show, and it's too late.

DH: Yeah, the moment's gone.

HK: Yeah, so I always think, walk to the front of the stage, if you've got nothing, and then something will pop into your head.

DH: You've got some time to think.

JE: But we're not really gangsters, though, are we?

HK: No.

DH: Well, I think the best practical advice you've got so far is scream at yourself in the mirror.

JE: Yeah.

DH: But then, Richard, you obviously improvise musically, so you don't get to deliver one-miners, but I would say…

JE: Musical one liners.

RB: Yeah musical one liners.

DH: Yeah, I would say music does often button a joke, even a bad one.

RB: Yeah, musical one-miners are a thing, yeah. Well, this is the thing. Especially if a joke is quite bad, often I feel, in the moment, obliged to help.

DH: Did you button Harry's awful seal joke this afternoon?

RB: I didn't. I didn't but then that's because...

HK: Because that was a lost cause.

JE: I had a joke for that, actually, which I don't need to share now.

[All laugh]

DH: Well, Harry was asked to come up with a joke. No, well, Harry gave it context, because Harry was asked to come up with a joke, decided to make a joke about a seal, I think.

JE: But it was in a bar, wasn't it?

DH: Yeah, you were like, a seal walks into a bar and...

RB: I also have one. Is it the same one?

JE: What was yours?

RB: I thought this bar was a club, like I was going to go to a seal club.

HK: Ah that’s good.

JE: Mine was a seal walks into a bar and asks for an orf-orf.

DH: Ah, nice. Mine was going to be a seal walks into a bar and asks for a pint of beer, takes a sip and says, that gets a seal of approval.

RB: Ohh. See, and we said we're not gags. All three of us.

DH: No, there you go, there's three seal-based jokes. And, Harry, tell us, what was the live one in the show?

HK: I can't remember what I said.

JE: Well, I remember what you said. You said come up with an actual punchline, you then said, “Oh, you know this one, don't you, to Ellie.”

[HK laughs]

DH: No, I think you did come up with a punchline, but it was literally something like, it was like, seal walks into a bar and says, ho-ho, what a lovely time. And then Ellie laughed, being like,” Oh, you know, I'll just accept that.”

JE: And Jono was like, no.

DH: Jono was like, no. And then you said, you know the end of this show.

[All laugh]

DH: Ellie did not. But she did okay. I think we kind of moved on.

HK: I did it quite, I did it with confidence. I think that's a tip. I think basically you can make terrible, terrible material sound all right if you do it with enough confidence.

[All laugh]

JE: If you're going to hand on a pimp to someone else, do it with confidence.

HK: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

DH: You know how to read this book. Read all of it.

[HK laughs]

DH: Well, there you go. You heard it here first. Scream at yourself in the mirror and just do it with confidence.

HK: Wait. What's your tip, David?

DH: What was those two? No, my tip would be quick one-liners. I don't know. I guess most of our stuff is kind of done off, if you end up genuinely kind of surprising yourself, that I think is where most of the laughter comes from, is that you are the last person that expected yourself to say that.

HK: Yeah.

DH: But then trying to do that is impossible, trying to shock yourself. I think it's just genuinely listening, and trusting your instincts. Just whatever comes out.

JE: But we get ourselves in danger in that way, don't we? So often you're just like, I know that something has to happen here, and I'll start speaking and just hope that by the end of that sentence something will happen from my voice.

DH: I guess, weirdly, it's the reverse of like quick wit and one-liners is staying calm and just trusting that something will happen or nothing will happen and someone else will make something happen.

JE: Yeah, yeah.

DH: So there you go. All of those things. And if you didn't get them, just rewind and listen to that bit again. Ok, Daisy Thomas says, what is your... This is probably one for you, Harry, actually, and then Rich, then Josh, then me, in that order please.

RB: Ok.

DH: We're getting specific now, we're doing orders. So what is your favourite and most memorable song slash musical number that you've performed during Mischief movie night?

RB: Controversial, you went to Harry first in that one.

DH: Well, because I know you...We can come to you for musically Harry often remembers and sings his own chorus.

[All laugh]

DH: So in the dressing room, Harry will be gleefully belting out his own chorus.

JE: Even if you didn't think it was a good song, it'll be in your ear for weeks after.

DH: Harry will come up with some ear-worms, but then, Rich, you will have the more legitimate...

JE: You'll have the academic approach.

RB: I’m not sure I will, but we'll find out after Harry.

DH: Go on, Harry.

HK: I talked about this in a previous podcast. I really enjoyed a song called At The Bottom Of The Mine, which is like a rock... A rock classic.

JE: Did you sing that one, Harry?

DH: All of Harry's favourites are his favourites.

HK: At the bottom...

[All laugh]

DH: There we go.

HK: Of the mine, at the bottom of the mine, there is gold there to find, at the bottom of the mine...

JE: How old is that? That's like years now.

HK: That's years old.

DH: What you guys didn't see was Harry just made full eye contact with me throughout the whole thing.

[All laugh]

HK: But then there was one at Regent's Park that we did recently that I enjoyed.

DH: What was that one?

JE: Was that yours, Harry?

[All laugh]

DH: It’s another one of Harry’s. Another one of Harry Kershaw’s.

HK: Another one of mine.

DH: Go on.

HK: It was... Oh, Your Personality's Rubbish.

DH: That was going to be one of mine. That was my favourite.

HK: Yeah, that was a good one.

DH: Do you want to sing that for us? I can't remember how that went.

JE: Oh, come on, tosh, you do.

DH: Personality's rubbish, that much is... Clear?

HK: Yes.

DH: Personality's rubbish, thank God we're here.

HK: Yeah, because we were a bunch of... we were a bunch of... We were giving him a makeover.

DH: Makeover.

HK: A bunch of makeover dogs. A bunch of makeover dogs.

DH: Right, it's enough of Harry.

[HK laughs]

DH: Go on, Rich.

RB: I was trying to think, because again, I've also talked about this on a previous podcast. And mentioned my former students singing Put It In Your Orifice at me repeatedly.

JE: Oh, my goodness.

DH: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

RB: But ignoring that, recently, I had a moment... This isn't a song, this is more a moment that happened in Regent's Park, which was the moment where... Because for these shows, currently, it's me and Ishani playing for these. And we found…without any form of signalling to each other, that we both, in the same moment, changed key to the same key and played chords for Jesus Christ Superstar in the same moment. And we did it, and then Jono paused it in that moment. And we looked at each other and went, how the hell did we know how to do that?

DH: Quite delightful. Full confidence.

RB: Yeah.

DH: And, Josh, what was your... I've just thought of mine, and I think one of mine is yours.

JE: Yes! That's all I wanted to hear, but I can go home happy.

DH: But if you need some more thinking time, I can tell them my one.

JE: Oh, I think today, I mean, I'm not saying it's the best, but actually, I think we did some interesting, like, song work. And, you know, it was a little bit rougher on the edges, because we haven't long to sort of get back into practising what we do as a group. But I like it when it organically is just something really quite beautiful comes out. And it has happened a few times, for Regents and maybe today.

DH: Well, you're... I'd say you're particularly good at that.

JE: Aw you’re too kind.

DH: Josh will often just start singing. I think you have an amazing ability to kind of either manipulate the music or the music...

JE: Manipulates me, yeah.

DH: Yeah, and you just kind of mould to it, and it just sounds good.

JE: Thanks, man.

DH: As with me, I come in harsh and discordant.

JE: No, actually, Dave, I think you really are... you do yourself a... what's the word?

HK: Disservice?

JE: Disservice, yeah.

DH: I do myself a misadventure.

[All laugh]

DH: With my singing.

JE: No, I think you honestly, I mean, you can carry a tune. Definitely.

DH: I’m probably the most improved, but improving from shit to mildly less shit.

[HK laughs]

JE: Honestly, I've heard that.

RB: He’s very good. No, you really, you...

HK: Inside of you was very good the other day.

DH: Thank you. Thank you, Harry. Harry, you just cut Richard off. He was about to tell me, genuinely, from a musical point of view.

RB: Yeah, I was about to genuinely say, from a musical point of view, exactly what you just said.

DH: Thank you.

RB: Which is that there has been a marked, a marked improvement.

DH: And this is me handing Richard five pounds.

HK: I think that's a waste of time. It was the same, just repeated.

JE: No, it was. Someone else said it now.

[Hk laughs]

DH: But now it’s official.

HK: David, I'd just like to say that from my perspective, you've...

DH: I care not for your perspective.

[All laugh]

JE: I care not, sir.

DH: My favourite song was your one at the end of, I think it was Cardiff, it was the Penguins, the Kung Fu movie set in like, against penguins and... and it was bigger than the... It was the big trance number, the big rave we did.

JE: Oh, yeah, trance number.

RB: I wish I had been there for that.

DH: Yeah. We did a crazy... It was because it was Jordan who's another one of our musicians. It was his last show for the tour and so he was like, I'm going to play all of the things that I've never played the one time.

[JE laughs]

RB: Yeah, “This button does something.”

DH: Yeah, and so he put on this really crazy, it was like..this massive bass line that went through the theatre and the guys on lights went crazy..

Henry Shields: Hello.

JE: Hello

DH: And this is Henry Shields joining us.

HS: Hi.

JE: Oh. And Ellie Morris.

DH: And Ellie Morris. Welcome.

HS: You're in the middle of recording a podcast.

HK: We've warmed it up. What's your favourite song?

HS: In the show?

DH: Yeah. From Mischief Movie Night.

HS: What's my favourite song?

HS: Well, you know what's a good test of an improv song is one that you can remember an hour later. Can I remember any? Mamma Mia, or Mia Mamma was very good.

DH: Well, it doesn't have to be from this show. Any show.

Ellie Morris: Ok we can do it.

HS: Any show.

EM: 3,2,1.

EM & HS: He's right behind you, sir. You got this. You got this.

EM: Do you remember that one? We love that one.

DH: What was that from?

HS: That was from a Mr. Movie Night we did at the Arts. I believe you were the sir.

DH: Aha!

HS: It was like a sci-fi war movie or something like that where...

EM: We were colonising Mars. Yeah, and we sung this amazing...

DH: I think I was the sir. Yes, I do remember that.

JE: That was so cute that you guys could count in to that and just start singing.

HS: We just... that's our favourite one.

JE: Yeah, but how do you know?

DH: Out of interest, who came up with that chorus?

HS: I do not remember that. Probably...

EM: Maybe it was John.

HS: I don't know.

HS: Basically, Harry's named like three of his own songs that were his favourites.

HK: You've got to.

HS & EM: We were right behind you, sir. You got this. You got this.

HK: I think it was Ellie. I think Ellie came up with it, didn't you?

EM: Did I? Wow.

HK: Yeah, I think so.

JE: Wow, can you imagine it?

HK: God, how selfish to do that.

[HK laughs]

EM: Who knows? Oh well we all sang it.

DH: So, this is from Michelle and this is a question that is... I mean, we'll probably... You could do a whole podcast on this, but have you ever had an improv moment that went terribly wrong?

JE: Oh, man.

DH: I mean, none of them really ever go right.

JE: There was one show where I just felt like I was speaking in a language the audience didn't understand and I've never had that.

DH: Were you actually doing that?

JE: No, I wasn't. I just... I was like, either I am just... you know, normally there's a vibe, you know? I had no vibe, no connection. Other people were making connections with the audience and I was not.

DH: I had that a bit this afternoon, actually.

JE: Yeah, I think the sun really affected me. Yeah, yeah.

EM: It was bright.

DH: I got about like 50 minutes in and was just like, not really much going on for me today, but that's okay, you know? It's just one of those. But then you have those weird shows where you kind of step on and you're like, I've just done that because I'm bored.

[All laugh]

DH: Twice, I went on, scene got cut away to something else. Didn't come back on from the cutaway and I was like, “I’ve done everyone a favour there.”

[HK laughs]

DH: I’m just like, “oh, I've got stuck in this scene and I need to get out.” Cut away, great.

JE: But we've got eight people on now, so it's just like...

DH: But I said to Jules the other day, with eight people on, we're finding that we're running out of people like you often it's like…

HS: We're doing 70 minute shows yeah we usually do 60 so that extra 10 minutes is usually made up of another character.

DH: But then at the arts we were doing what an hour 50?

EM: Yeah, we were doing longer.

HS: Sometimes.

DH: Yeah.

EM: I’m cold I’m gonna go inside.

HS: Ok yeah.

RB: Well nice to see you though.

JE: Bye.

HS: Bye.

DH: We’re losing Ellie Morris and Henry Shields. So something that's gone wrong for you harry have you sort of stepped forward confidently.. I feel like that's most of your performance.

HK: Yeah that is most of the performance.

JE: Confidence with absence of content.

[All laugh]

HK: The thing is, yeah. Hahaha.

DH: Harry Kershaw: confidence with absence of content.

HK: I think that's it generally in the show generally in the show it's very entertaining if someone steps forward with confidence and completely shanks it.

JE: Can I just make a point about you quickly you're the yesterday show you were very very good at improvising poems but then yesterday…

HK: Oh yeah.

JE: You click into gear.

[HK laughs]

DH: Like josh actually managed to help you out so much and they're like "No this is the bad bit of the poem here's the better bit” and then it just got worse.

HK: Yeah.

DH: But it was very rare for you but that was when we knew we were in trouble gradually because you were just looking at us and we're like “Nah man."

JE: He’s just ramping up to gear.

[JE laughs]

HK: it was really it was disappointing because it kept getting paused so i couldn't quite find my flow but I realised at one point I rhymed i think Sphinx, I rhymed with Lynx.

[HK laughs]

DH: When you start using popular culture references.

HK: It was really poor. It's when... It was really... It was really bad.

[DH laughs]

HK: I think the worst thing I've done was I made...Jonathan was in a show and I made him do something that was impossible. I made him try and do something that was impossible. I sort of made him do 15 cheese gags or something. And then I was like, he does 15 cheese gags and then 12 of something else in a minute or something. And it was impossible. And as a result, I just made Jonathan look quite bad. And as it happened, as I created the disastrous moment, I was like, now I know never to do that again.

DH: No, yeah, creating a disastrous moment that is worse than the moment you already have is truly the worst thing you could do. Rich, have you had any kind of musical blunders? You got picked up today for something, you guys, for like some kind of...

JE: His keyboard wasn't working today.

RB: Yeah, no, my matinee was a nightmare.

DH: For a musical, but no musical blunders.

RB: No.

DH: Just a technical blunder.

RB: Yeah, that one was a technical blunder.

JE: Dave, he was using the QWERTY keyboard to play bass today.

DH: I know, I saw.

RB: Yeah, for any... Mainstage fans out there, I was musical typing the notes into the keyboard for most of the show. That wasn't ideal.

JE: To be honest why do you need keys?

RB: I know, I'm just being selfish, really. Those seven extra octaves.

RB: And yeah, plenty of blunders. I mean, today, yeah, there was something that Ashani played today that John made a point of saying, pausing and saying, this music is so epic and intrusive. And yeah, that - It happens.

DH: It does happen. I've made a few blunders, but most of mine are coming on and trying to fix problems. And then people are like, "Why are you here?"

[HK laughs]

I think we've got only a few minutes before they're about to open house and they're going to kick us out of here. But in closing, let's say, let's ask Josh. Yes. What was your favourite sort of, what's been your favourite show ever of Mischief Movie Night?

JE: That is just too hard.

DH: That's such a hard question isn’t it.

JE: The moment that sticks with me.

DH: Okay, favourite one from this tour?

JE: I was about to say a moment from the tour previously.

DH: Yeah, yeah.

JE: Which is the, just because of like the mad disinhibition from everyone of the, Chibskiss, whatever it was.

DH: Ah, Chibkiss. Yea yeah yeah.

JE: Whatever the word was. It was Chibkiss because we couldn't remember, because Hen couldn't remember the word for like captain or something.

[JE laughs]

DH: And it was like, oh no, it was Cubscap and Chibkiss. There was a couple of those.

JE: And they just kept escalating.

DH: And it became a really fun game. Chibkiss.Harry, different question for you. You've got like, you've got a, you've got a, you know, a young actor. And he or she comes up to you and is like, man, I want to get into comedy. What's your advice?

HK: Don't. Don't do it.

[All laugh]

HK: My advice is everyone will tell you why you shouldn't do things. And you can only get better at something by doing it.

JE: Save it for the tribunal Haz.

[All laugh]

HK: Surely we can't have that in. Surely that's an edit point.

DH: No, it's staying in.

JE: That's staying in Haz.

HK: Surely that's an edit point. Yeah, people, I reckon, just, you know, just do it.

DH: Just get involved. And fail.

HK: Just do it. Yeah. Fail. That's something that you say fails so much.

DH: I do have crowbarred it into your advice.

[HK laughs]

DH: That's how much I say it.

HK: What's it that you say?

DH: Oh, no. The one thing I said to you that you really liked was people say that I'm good at stuff. And I say, "No, no, no. All I've done is failed so much that the only option left is success.'

JE: Yeah.

DH: So you sort of win by default.

JE: That's nice.

DH: And Rich, you know, you've got a you've got a young student coming in thinking, oh, I'd like to play some music. I'd think about maybe doing improv or classical or going on a course. What's your advice for them?

RB: My advice is to do any and all of it. Kind of. It's I mean, yeah, it's it's because I don't know. I don't know whoever is given musical improv training. I don't know if it's much of a thing, really. But I guess it's similarly just go out there and do it just learn by doing.

DH: More learn by doing.

RB: I guess it's the same as a as a stand up cutting their teeth on an audience of five people in a back room somewhere.

JE: Cutting their teeth in an audience of five people.

[All laugh]

RB: A choice.

RB: But yeah, musically, it's just same thing. Start off, start off however you start off on your own. Noodling around…

JE: Screaming into a mirror.

RB: screaming into a mirror and noodling around on a piano.

[JE laughs]

RB: And then, yeah, build it up from there. Just whoever. You can perform to just do that.

DH: That is all we've got time for a little fun. Thanks, David. You're most welcome. Josh, you want to just try and close this out?

JE: Here’s thinking of you kids.

[All laugh]

DH: Right. We're definitely cutting that, you can't say that. What is wrong with you?

HK: Why has there been such a theme?

DH: Ed just say, can you say they’re opening the house? You have to stop now.

Ed: They're opening the house. You have to stop now.

JE: Louder Louder. We need that.

DH: No because it’s not natural. Do you want to say it again, Ed? It's not natural. Yeah. No. Okay. Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for listening. Josh is a doctor. Don't ever listen to anything he says. Even medical advice. Cut it.

[All laugh]

JE: Print it. Roll it.