Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
We’re award winning sketch comedy double act Grubby Little Mitts. We do a stupid, silly, stupid sketch shows with heart and soul (broken and tortured, respectively).
How would you describe your show?
Like a horrifying maze with the occasional six foot owl in it. It’s a sketch comedy show, but there’ll be horror as well as laughter as the show devolves into something less sketch show, more sitcom.
What is your favourite part of your show?
Our favourite sketch is probably Big Mother, a parody of 1984, where a woman has her age changed to that of a baby against her will. Do you like rusks?
If your show had a theme song, what would it be and why?
It’s Raining Men - The Weather Girls. Taken at face value, this song is an absolute anthem for female empowerment as well as being a banger. Taken literally however, this song presents a horrifying, apocalyptic weather event to end humanity. This is the dichotomy we always try to recreate in our shows. Also have you seen the music video? It’s…..SO amazing.
Are there any particular themes or messages you hope the audience takes away from your performance?
Our sketches often reflect life in a warped fashion, and while previous shows have explored romance and transactions, this show is strangely geared towards codependency – but whether you get the references and themes or not, we still want the show to reach the whole audience so it’s also stuffed with nonsense about blueberry muffins and aliens. As well as being trapped in a bunker, which most people can relate to.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe? What differentiates it from other festivals?
The Edinburgh Fringe is the best place to bring new ideas to a brand new audience and has the potential to further your career by reaching loads of new people, as well as other acts. It’s by far in a way the best arts festival in the world! We are bringing a second show to the fringe this year - Sketch Book - which is a new project for us, a mixed bill show featuring the fringe’s best sketch and character comedians in a jam-packed line up. Because we are able to perform our sketch show every day, we can take a risk on bringing this new format show to the fringe on two dates only – which is something we couldn’t do anywhere else. We can’t wait!
How does performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe compare to other festivals or venues you've experienced?
The fringe is so intense and so long it’s unlike any other festival we’ve done. We really love Leicester Comedy Festival and Glasgow Comedy Festival, where we hope to be back next year hopefully with some new work.
How has your experience at past Fringes influenced or changed your approach to this year's performance?
The last two years, we have written and performed a fairly classic sketch show without a framing device or a strong theme. We had a discussion quite early on in the writing of this show about whether we wanted to do that again – we knew we could quite easily make a similar show. We felt there would be a greater challenge in writing something set within one mad universe, creating a comedy show that would become a blend of theatre, clown, sketch comedy and sitcom. Because it’s our third year and, to us at least, taking a show to the fringe is such a big deal financially and in terms of energy, we decided to take a creative risk with our show and we already feel it’s stretched us as artists.
What is your favourite thing to do in Edinburgh when you're not performing? How do you relax and look after your mental health?
Unusually we both go to the gym five times a week while we’re at the fringe which makes us sound like absolute squares BUT it’s so important to have a routine when you are working for a full month with only one day off. We both go and see shows when we can, but we also have down time at our accommodation with friends and family visiting which also keeps us on the straight and narrow. We try to look after ourselves with good food and exercise to keep the fringe anxiety at bay, and it’s important not to do too much when you get overwhelmed. Rosie writes a fringe food blog so is often found at vegan hot spots around the city such as Black Rabbit, Kampong Ah Lee, Meadows Tap… and Sullivan can usually be found in the Assembly bar drinking tea until 4am. And we will be going to a ceilidh.
What is one piece of advice you’d give to someone thinking about taking a show up to Edinburgh?
Comparison is the thief of joy. If you’re producing and performing in your own show, it can be very stressful if you feel like you’re not doing as well as you should be - but when you relax, you will have a much better time, so try not to let comparison creep in and ruin your fringe.
What is one thing you would change about the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
Avoiding the universal feelings about accommodation, budgets etc…. artists get a pass in the artist bar at their venue, and it would be great to get to choose another artist bar that you can have a membership to for the month!
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
We both have been performing from a young age – Rosie at youth theatre on Sunday and Sullivan as a child actor (you can spot the back of his head in Harry Potter IV). We both went to non-fee paying schools as children and then attended drama school together where we did our degrees, so that massively helped us bring a theatricality to the comedy world, and it’s also where we met our director Dominic Allen, who used to run Belt Up Theatre. We were introduced to Simon Maeder, our movement director, through Dom, and it’s a blend of our actor training, clown training, theatre making and sketch comedy nights that informs how we make our work. We Grubbs both have a history of writing outside of Grubbs as well (plays, short stories, graphic novels) and that experience has made us push the boat out this year. There is a lot of financial elitism in the comedy and acting worlds, preventing access to opportunities for people less well-off, and we consider ourselves to be in that camp of artists – so we are extremely proud to be supported by crowdfunding.
Can you describe your creative process and how you develop your ideas into a full-fledged performance?
We usually start writing sketches over the phone or in a pub somewhere, and always start rehearsals with a script. The writing and rehearsal time do bleed into each other, as our directors are also amazing comedy writers and have loads of experience making work for comedy and theatre – so this year we developed and rewrote a lot of our initial script during our rehearsals. We did a WIP at the Brighton Fringe in May, which was extremely helpful at pointing us in the direction we are not taking.
What is your favourite thing about performing for a live audience?
We love how flexible the show is when a live audience is reacting to it. We love discovering new jokes we didn’t know were there, and the buzz of presenting a brand new show at every fringe is so exciting, because we usually have absolutely no idea how it will go. This year in particular, we feel our audience will get something different from us, so we are really excited to see how that turns out.
What is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you while performing?
In our debut year, we were about five minutes from opening the house, and Rosie bumped into the actor Brian Cox on her way to the loo – he was looking at the what’s on board, and she invited him to the show. When Rosie came back into the theatre, Sullivan rushed over to say he had met Brian Cox while she was in the loo, so we had both invited him in the space of five minutes. We both then scrambled to make sure he could get in as we were close to being sold out, which he did, and then we did the show to probably one of the best crowds ever. It was incredibly surreal. The finale of the show involved launching a thousand hand painted eyeballs at the audience while we danced to Can’t Take My Eyes Off You. After the show, Mr Cox admitted that he stole not one but two of the eyeballs. Truly an amazing day!
What's the most challenging or unconventional venue you've ever performed in, and how did it impact the overall experience?
We performed at Vault Festival in 2023 in one of the arches, and every 5-10 minutes a train went over head - it was SO LOUD that you couldn’t hear a single thing we were saying, so we decided that every time it happened, we would stop the show, look up, salute the train as it went over. When it passed, we would shake hands, and then continue the scene exactly where we left off.
Who are some of your artistic influences, and how have they shaped your work?
We love Vic & Bob, Pete & Dud, French & Saunders, Arrested Development, Victoria Wood, The Fast Show, Harry Enfield…those are the big ones who have really shaped us. Theatre is a big influence as well. We love Drywrite, Spitlip, Simon McBurney and Sam Mendes who have all created theatre shows that have stuck with us. We really love comedy that evolves with the audience, and we love the pace of physical comedy as well as the satisfaction of perfect comic timing, Rosie loves cartoons for this reason, and Sullivan is an encyclopaedia of comedy. We’re also massive fans of Lil Wenker, Crybabies, Mark Silcox, Tarot, Michelle Brasier, Hot Boys Bath House, Showstoppers, Mochinosa Puppet Company. We try to see as much work at the fringe as we can.
Is there a piece of feedback you've received from an audience member or critic after a performance that’s stuck with you?
We once had a review which made a point about our crowdfunding, which we felt was a bit out of place; many comedians at the fringe are funded by private wealth or production companies, and as we have neither, we crowdfund for our budget and run all our operations as a limited company ourselves. In response to this, we talk about our crowdfunding whenever we can, because we are so grateful to our backers for investing in us; without their support, we simply couldn’t be at the fringe. It was disappointing to see this being included in a review of our work when other, richer comedians don’t have this same lens applied.
Is there a show you’re excited to see when you’re up there?
Can’t wait to see Chelsea Birkby, Katie Britchard, Rosalie Minnitt and Mayor & His Daughter. All fantastic comedians worth checking out.
When and where can people see your show?
You can see our sketch show, Grubby Little Mitts: Eyes Closed, Mouths Open at Assembly George Square Studio Five every day of the fringe (except 10th) at 16.35. You can also catch our mixed bill show of sketch and character comedians on 17th and 24th August in Assembly George Square: Studio Two at 23.10. Come and find us!
And where can people find you online?
Instagram: @Grubbycomedy / @sketchbookcomedy
Grubby Little Mitts: Eyes Closed, Mouths Open
4:35pm Assembly, 31st July - 26th August (not 10th)
Tickets https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/grubby-little-mitts-eyes-closed-mouths-open
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