Paul Vickers, aka Mr Twonkey takes his audience on a hilarious, wildly imaginative trip in his Fringe shows – which are always unpredictable, frequently shambolic and reliably very funny indeed. The former lead singer and song writer of indie band Dawn of the Replicants, Vickers creates original songs for his marvellous creations – as well as bringing back old favourites so the audience can sing along.
Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
The show is called Twonkey’s Basket Weaving in Peru this year is about a trip to Peru with my usual characters but something terrible happens when we arrive there and we have to decide if we want to make money out of various pursuits or suffer financial ruin and perhaps be forced to return home, crushed.
It’s one of my personal favourites. I think it’s up there with Twonkey’s Night Train to Lichtenstein, which I was particularly pleased with. I feel it’s always important to enjoy performing your own show and I have certainly been enjoying performing this one so far. The audience reaction has been good people seem relaxed and sync themselves into the absurdity of the situation, there’s some good tunes this year that are both thought-provoking and catchy.
What makes you laugh?
Mistakes normally make me laugh whether it’s a mistake in language or a mistake in performing an activity, but I would say the main thing that makes me laugh Is something going slightly askew.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
silly saucy fuckwit.
Do you have nerves about going on stage and how do you cope with them.
Yes, I get nervous every day. In fact, I’m very nervous now as I’m writing this, I’m falling apart but in a nice way, I find it difficult to avoid nerves, but they can help you as sometimes have a cup of coffee and try to clear my mind, but it doesn’t always work. It’s hard not to think about the fact that you’re going to be throwing yourself around a small function room with some puppets and wearing a large painful headpiece.
What’s your idea of a perfect Fringe feast and where will you eat it?
I like taste of Italy because the milkshakes are absolutely delightful. Really enjoy malts but they’re very difficult to get hold of in Scotland, there to be a place at the ocean terminal. They did excellent malts, but sadly, the whole building has been made semi redundant by a development by a large company who wished to build luxury apartments, so a lot of the original businesses, including the one that supplied excellent malts have now disappeared entirely.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
They often appear slightly starstruck, but also joyful as if a woken from a playful but exhilarating dream which has made them think slightly differently about reality and our purpose in the universe as a whole.
When did you first realise you were born to be on stage?
I used to perform simple plays for my mother and my family and I used to sing along to Ceefax music and pretend I was a famous country and Western singer. In fact, I thought I’d convinced my grandma of this but then she said to me “I’m sorry, Paul. I know it’s you.”
Why do you think Edinburgh Fringe is so important to performers and artists around the world?
It’s a melting pot of all kinds of different disciplines of creative expression. The fringe is something we can all be incredibly proud of. I think the word-of-mouth aspect of it is amazing because you can do something in a small room and people talk.
How do you plan to relax and enjoy the city when you’re not performing.
I will enjoy the city in my own time due to my own set of requirements. This may involve times of relaxation and it may also involve times where I wish to invigorate my senses, fully and awaken myself to the world and how it is now.
Who is your showbiz idol and why.
Spike Milligan is one of my heroes. I like the fact he was actually incredibly miserable a lot of the time, but in a very extraordinary way he managed to refine his thought process to override his own reality and then dip into the absurdity of his own perverse nature, Now that’s showbiz.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
I’ve just glued a football to a large gardening glove. I think that’s a fairly Fringe thing to do. I plan to work it in tonight.
Twonkey’s Basket Weaving in Peru: 20.15, Laughing Horse @ Dragonfly
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/twonkey-s-basket-weaving-in-peru