AHEAD of their show at South Street Arts Centre on Friday, May 20, part of a UK-wide tour, we speak to Tarot, a comedy sketch group.
Consisting of performers Kath Hughes, Ed Easton and Adam Drake, along with writers Ben Rowse and Kiri Pritchard-Maclean, Tarot brings an ethereal, surreal angle to sketch comedy.
Despite the eccentric nature of the group’s work, Ben Rowse says that its beginnings were “nauseatingly” mundane.
“Adam and I were at University of Cambridge, where I definitely wasn’t in the footlights.”
The pair formed a comedy duo called Goose.
“Adam did some shows with them, so we were sort of there, or thereabouts, and then we met Gein’s Family Gift Shop after our first Edinburgh show, back in 2014.”
Tarot’s lineup is the combination of two previous sketch ensembles: Goose and Gein’s Family Gift Shop, which features Kath, Ed, and Kiri.
“We chatted at SketchFest that year, but the elephant the room here is that Gein’s won the award,
“Then we grubbily emailed them afterwards and said can we cling on to your coat tails for a ten years?” Ben jokes
Adam says, however, that the group is united in its sense of humour.
“I think we love we really love writing as a five, and it feels that there’s no power imbalance really in the room,
“We get a real buzz off of writing and the admin of who’s going to say what, what way they’re going to face and what voice they’re going to do– the mundanities of the process.”
Both Ben and Adam agree that the collaborative approach, compared to a more competitive environment, is what has worked for them.
“We were all friends first, it was never really going to be anything other than us all sitting around on a beanbag and saying stuff we find funny.
Ben says that they share a sense of humour, but: “more importantly we all think the same things are crap.
“We’ve got five different sets of eyes on it, making sure it makes sense.
“But once you’ve found the people who do what you do– for us I think that’s The Pin, or maybe Lazy Susan– there’s a really nice feeling of collaboration and checking in on each other.”
They note that this is also one of the things that makes the Edinburgh Festival great.
“I think people that do comedy,” says Ben, “dream of being in a position in where their whole day can be about this job they love.
“Edinburgh is the only month of the year where we get to centre comedy in our lives.
“You can wake up, go and see some incredible shows, and then do yours and work on it every day.”
He says, however, that it is becoming harder and harder for new acts to push through into that space.
“I mean, it’s insanely financially prohibitive– this year more than ever,
“Whether it’s the cost of living post-COVID kind of whatever.”
Adam jumps in, saying “Plus there’s a mad accommodation squeeze at the moment.”
Ben agrees: “Yeah, the room I usually stay in is about £800, but this year was, like, £1400.”
“So we know we’re insanely privileged and lucky, and it’s easy to say how fun it is.”
It is also a challenge to the process of a comedian, they say, often with disjointed or prohibitively small rooms.
“Theatre normally suffers from being in worse rooms, right?
“With comedy, we’re like cockroaches- we can kind of survive wherever.”
It’s a dark metaphor, but it’s it fits with the dark, uncanny tone that the group is sometimes described as fostering.
Ben says that this isn’t necessarily the most applicable to their style of writing.
“There is a feeling like maybe there is a bit of a darkness to it,
“But when you’re in the writers’ room, it is just genuinely about what makes us laugh and there’s definitely some of the silliest PG-rated jokes.”
Adam says that this year’s touring show, Cautionary Tales, is “just daft.”
“Looking at stuff through a comedic lens, I’ve found, been was a huge motivation to get into comedy for me.
“It takes the pressure out of bad situations, and gives you some relief from the darker stuff.”
In fact, Ben suggests that it is perhaps necessary for good comedy.
“Comedy 101 says you’ve got to have some stakes for something to be tense, and therefore funny.
“Someone who’s having an incredibly bad time could lead to something funnier than someone who’s having a bit of an off day.
“But when we’re writing it’s just not about what’s the sickest or saddest thing.”
Instead, there’s a more direct route to find the humour, he says.
“We’ve never sort of pursued the darkness is where I think I think we’re very as performers– We’re very willing to debase ourselves.
“We will do anything if it’s funny.”
This attitude can sometimes lead to difficulty in describing Tarot’s genre of comedy.
When asked about what their show is like, Adam says: “Certainly Gein’s Family Gift Shop got compared to the League of Gentlemen.
“That’s an easy reference, but it’s really hard to know.”
But possibly a misleading one, Ben notes: “Despite how odd the front of shop is, we love performing on stage,
“It’s a given that we want the audience to enjoy it, but it’s the first thing in my head is thinking about whether it’s fun for them.”
Tarot is touring the show, beginning in Edinburgh on Tuesday, May 17, which runs through until November, including a performance at South Street.
“We’d love to just keep adding dates, too,” Ben jokes.
“We want to keep adding props and keep the show on the road.”
Especially since the show evolves as it goes.
“We love playing with the audience, making it live,
“We want the audience to feel like they’re having a one-off experience, despite the knowledge that we’re playing every week.”
Tarot’s performance of Cautionary Tales takes place at South Street Arts Centre on Friday, May 20.
It is also playing at the Edinburgh Fringe in August, followed by a short residency at London’s Soho Theatre in November.
To book tickets, visit: www.whatsonreading.com
Pictures: Drew Forsyth
