On Thursday 6th February I returned to the stage to defend the honour of the galaxy far, far away as one of the best shows of the Edinburgh Festival hit the road for a tour date at Birmingham’s Old Joint Stock Theatre.
The results were joyous all-round.
The host of the evening was the mastermind behind the show – Rik Carranza. I’m biased, of course, as Rik and I have become friends from appearing at gigs together, and he blends his comedy and genuine fandom for both franchises with ease and skill. The show was a near sell-out and Rik kicked things off by explaining the night ahead and warming up the crowd up.
My sparring partner for the evening was a brilliant comic who’d I’d not met before – Mr Alex Watt. He proved to be a passionate Trekkie, a wonderful performer and a damn fine fellow.
As Alex and I were introduced, and we had a few minutes to explain why our franchise was the best. Alex went first and gave an impassioned case as to why Star Trek is the best of the two. When it came to my turn – I went straight for the jugular. I said it comes to something when the best film of your chosen franchise isn’t even in the franchise – case-in-point – Galaxy Quest. With that, the gloves were off – in a friendly way – and it was a wild, audience-filled hour of laughter that was the most fun I’ve had on stage in a while.
The show is divided into rounds such as ‘Best Ship – The Enterprise or the Falcon?’, ‘Timelines’ and ‘Ultimate Knowledge.’
My favourite round, however, was the ‘Favourite Character.’ When I last performed on the show in Edinburgh in August, I chose Luke Skywalker. This time, however, having got to know Rik and feeling like I should go for the big laughs, I emailed him a few days before and informed him I’d be going for Ziro the Hutt. Alex, representing the Trek, went for Spock.
Will you be surprised to hear that I did not win the round. Plenty of laughs, oh yes, but you’ll be shocked to hear that the crowd of wonderful fans could not buy into the fact that Ziro was a superior character. I did win a bonus point, however, when doing my best Ziro impression, gave the crowd his most philosophical quote… “Some people are only happy when they’re miserable.” Wise words, Ziro, wise words.
Rik keeps the rhythm of the show going at an electric pace and we as performers were gifted with a lively and receptive crowd.
The points, somehow despite my Ziro detour, were neck and neck and it came to sudden death after the trivia round.
It was quick fire. The question was this – “How long, to the nearest hour, does your franchise run in terms of live-action films?” There was no time to think. I quickly did a best guess and came up with 23 hours. My logic being that Solo, Rogue One, Star Wars and The Force Awakens are all only just over two-hours. Alex did some math and took a guess at 28 hours.
It turns out that Star Wars clocks in at 25 hours. Star Trek clocks in at 27 hours meaning that Alex was closer by one hour and took the title of the night.
It was a blast to perform on this evening and the reviews to Rik from the crowd were sensational. I was a mere guest on this show and full credit goes to the brainchild himself – Mr Carranza.
Rik informs me that the show will return at the Edinburgh Festival this August and Alex and I will return as guests too.
As a side note, in a bizarre twist of fate. I made a joke about and did the impression of Ziro and likened hm to Droopy the dog from the Hanna-Barbera cartoons and who should be in the crowd that night? Marc Silk who voiced the character and also played Aks Moe in Star Wars: Episode I. Marc and I were introduced after the show and that’s another story altogether.
I cannot recommend this show enough and as I told the crowd that night as I left the stage – BY GRABTHAR’S HAMMER… I SHALL BE AVENGED.