'ErictheFred' by Chris Lynam
Christ Lynam: In a 30 year career Chris Lynam has proved to be, in the words of the New York Times, ‘a brilliantly bizarre antidote to today’s truculent society’. He has appeared at the world’s top comedy festivals, been a support act for the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan among many others, and tours regularly with Slava’s Snow Show. This piece was developed in collaboration with Tomas Kubinek, John Wright, Kate McKenzie, Josie Lawrence and Clive Howard, with original music by Kevin Sargent.
ErictheFred: Taking us backstage into the private world of a clown performer, ErictheFred is the strange and poignant story of an old trouper trying to come to terms with a fading career. Gradually his innermost thoughts become visible - holograms of doubts, dreams and delusions which disturb and torment him until the startling climax. ErictheFred blends film projection and live action and started out in smaller venues, slowly progessing to bigger spaces, such as St. Pauls Church theatre at Circomedia in Bristol in 2014. Since then it was picked up by the International London Mime Festival for a run at Jackson Lane Theatre, 2015 and was also performed at the Assembly Roxy at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2015.
My role in this piece was to create and operate butterfly puppets, which played a vital role in the story of ErictheFred. The scenes and interactions had to be closely choreographed with the clown and the timing had to be just right in order to accentuate the clown's emotional, imaginative and absurdly comic inner life.
Praise for ErictheFred:
"Surreal unhinged quality which makes for comic greatness" - The Guardian
"on a technical level, ErictheFred repeatedly impressive, with creative ideas brilliantly executed, including some stand-out set pieces that hilariously flip expectations on their head; injecting comedy into a show that isn’t always intended to be funny. Lynam’s timing is acute, the graphics are outstanding and the score wonderfully evocative. It is, undoubtedly, a visually impressive spectacle with some fine set pieces and no little charm. Eventually we even come to care for this dejected clown." - Steve Bennett, Chortle.co.uk