We talk to UK Puppetry cast
September 29, 2008
Following our interview last week with the sounding members of Puppetry of the Penis, I managed to catch up with the current cast who are currently touring the UK.
Martyn Odell and Dan Lewey had arranged to meet me backstage just after they finished their checks for that evenings performance at the Journal Tyne Theatre in Newcastle. We finally found one of the dressing rooms just off the stage area which luckily had three chairs. I immediately noticed that both guys were very relaxed, friendly and extremely funny and made the interview feel more like a chat between friends, where nothing was off the agenda. Often interviews are timed to the second and very focused with certain questions or subjects being off limits, this was very different, thankfully.
Having covered how Puppetry of the Penis started last week with the shows creators Simon and David last week I wanted to know more about these guys and how an Englishman came to be involved in what seems to be a market cornered by the Australians.
Martyn told me that he came to see the show several years ago and was just one of the audience who decided to join the cast on stage when invited to do so. He explained that during every performance they offer the guys in the audience the opportunity to join them on stage and perform the “Hamburger” (you may recall from our earlier interview this was the “dick trick” that started the whole idea off when Simons brother demonstrated it to him). If no one volunteers the performers carry on with the act without any pressure, but often a student will feel brave enough to demonstrate their skill , exactly as Martyn had done a few years before. After his impromptu performance he swapped email addresses with the cast at the end of the show.
When Martyn took a gap year in Australia he contacted the guys again and met up, this time he auditioned for a role in the show and soon became the youngest performer of Puppetry of the Penis. The act has taken him from performances at the Edinburgh Festival to touring all over Europe as well as two UK tours.
Surprisingly in between touring he is not a performer, he returns to his other skill as a trained chef, awaiting the next call to tour with Puppetry of the Penis.
Dan on the other hand was the first performer to join the show after the two original cast members eight years ago and has toured the world since then. He used to have a different act called the “Bum Puppets” in Australia and following a meeting with the original cast found himself auditioning for the show. Once this tour is finished he is straight back to Australia and aims to continue performing with the show for years to come.
Both Martyn and Dan freely admitted they had no shame when it came to taking their clothes off when on stage and have built up their comedy routine on the fact of one being Australian and the other British.
What is noticeable with the guys is the genuine friendship and camaraderie between them, which extends to others, as within a couple of minutes of us meeting for the first time (in a small less than salubrious dressing room ) we were laughing and chatting away as if we had known each other for years. If there had not been a performance in less than an hour I am sure we could have ended up in the Tilley Bar next door for a few pints before the night was out, maybe next time.
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