Dr Brown - Because :
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2011
By
Lisa Dib
Having performed his sell-out show "Because"
already at the Edinburgh and Adelaide Fringe festivals, Dr Brown (nee
Philip Burgers) is stunning crowds left and right with his bizarre
physical and absurdist performances.
The show itself is fairly indescribable without giving too much away;
though, even then, perhaps key words would greater whet your appetite
anyway : how does "tiny bike", "inappropriate touching", "mime" and
"curtain dancing" grab you?
I chatted to the curious performer in the midst of his Comedy Festival
run about comedy, acid and madness.
"I'm from the States, but I mostly live in London" Brown explains. "The
work is better in London; there's more live work. I think the quality
is maybe a bit better too".
"In the States, everything is kind of commercially-minded. From an
artist's point of view, you don't want that kind of environment. London
is a pretty difficult city, but as far as comedy goes, there's a lot of
opportunity there".
"I like to travel around Europe and perform, too; the kind of stuff I’m
doing is more accessible to a European audience".
His offstage life aside - "I like being outside a lot... much better
than being inside. Sometimes I work as a bicycle tour guide" - Brown is
a fan of the same sort of work he peddles himself : something a little
off the beaten track.
"I like to see something different, something that's pushing the
boundaries, in some way; something more physical, more theatrical. I’m
not a big stand-up fan. I like character and sketch [comedy]. I prefer
to go dancing".
As difficult as it was for me to describe, I ask Brown if he can make a
better succinct approximation of what the show is…
"I dunno!" he laughs. "It is experiential comedy. It’s more of an
experience than it is watching a comic. I’m not a comic or a stand-up.
I’m in a room with people and we’re trying to laugh a lot...
together... at really silly, random, surreal, absurd, weird, out-there
kind of things. It’s madness".
"Like an acid trip?" I ask.
"A little bit! Like a little trip into another world where a lot of
really ridiculous things are happening".
"I’m not a comic in the stand-up comedy sense" Brown continues,
attempting to explain his unique place in the comedic
scene.
"A comic is someone that writes down funny ideas all day. I don’t
really write down funny ideas… a lot of it is just me playing, it’s
really playful; maybe that’s like a different form of being a comic.
The way I’m doing it hopefully is with a lot of heart and playfulness
and innocence, so that that the audience can just not take it so
seriously... because I’m not taking it too seriously".
"A lot of bad work inspires me; bad theatre" Brown says, unusually.
"When you see something that’s not interesting and you think... Come on, man, make this
interesting! We’ve all paid money to come be here… then
again, a lot of people won’t find what I do very interesting".
"My borderlines are different to other people’s... my boundaries are
different and if you have a boundary that’s within my boundary,
there’ll be some kind of conflict, but if you’re willing to allow your
boundary to expand or it is as out there an farther, then you’ll be
okay".
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