In the past Zoë Coombs Marr has been known for her complex, layered meta comedy. This year she’s slowed down and given the audience space to laugh to their hearts content.
Her show The Splash Zone includes t shirt guns, kangaroo impressions and is so funny you might actually pee yourself a little bit. She tells Entertainment Now more about it – and about the joys and the dangers of being at the Fringe.
Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
My show is just a really silly, very fun, tightly wound coil of jokes and stories about people and conversations with strangers (one of my favourite things to do). In the past my shows been quite complex, meta, political, tricksy… this one is really just a standuppy hour of standup*. I’m loving it. After 20 years of comedy, it’s the first time I’ve allowed myself to just go for pure relaxed funny and it turns out that’s actually just really fun for everyone? It’s my acoustic hour lol. ZCM unplugged. You should come because it’s a nice time and all I care about it making you laugh. Pure entertainment baby.
*ok there might be some rave lighting effects and some home made tshirt guns as well… I couldn’t help myself.
What is your favourite thing about your show?
I think it’s my funniest one.
Do you have a Fringe idol?
Oooh so many. One of my favourite all-time Fringe acts is Neil Hamburger, whose sublimely intentionally terrible shows make me laugh harder than anything. Closely followed by random people doing equally terrible shows unintentionally but having the best time doing it. Beautiful. And of course the woman I once saw, already in a moon boot, who tripped carrying a tray of beers across pleasance courtyard, landed on her bum but managed to keep the beers upright. She got a little applause break. Legend.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
The Splash Zone. Because it’s the name of my current show… I’m living in the moment.
Who are you looking forward to seeing in Edinburgh?
There are a stack of great Aussie comics this year who I think are all really exciting- people like Brett Blake, Oliver Coleman, Abbie Howells (ok, New Zealand), Emma Holland and Lou Wall, (whose show I directed so yes I have seen it but I will again!). I’m looking forward to Cat Cohen’s new show, and… Two Hearts, Josie Long, Shamik Chakrabati, Urooj Ashfaq, and heaps of others… and I’m also looking forward to seeing my friend Mish who is in town. We’re going to have a beer, so that will be nice.
What do you hope to achieve in Edinburgh – what are your hopes and dreams?
My hopes and dreams are for everyone to come to the show and have a really nice time and then at the end all our heartbeats sync up and we look each other in the eyes and smile and know what it is to be truly human. I don’t ask for a lot. I also like to be the last one left at Assembly bar at least once. There’s a special knack to it. The security guards caught onto my game last year though…
What are the biggest obstacles you face as a performer at the Fringe?
Slipping over on cobblestones.
What do you hope the audience will take away after an hour in your company?
A sore face and a wet seat.
How do you plan to relax and recharge when not on stage?
Often during the day I’ll check out a kids show from The Listies. As long as you can avoid weird looks for being there without a child, it’s just full unbridled silly joy.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe day?
A lazy morning in bed, a swim at one of those old community pools with the vaulted ceilings, a good show, a beer and a gossip with a friend, then seeing something you’ve never seen before and which gives you enough energy to carry on into the night. Rinse, repeat. I love the Fringe actually.
https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/zoe-coombs-marr-the-splash-zone
