Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
We're Recent Cutbacks, a NYC-based creative ensemble founded in 2014. Our critically acclaimed work sits at the intersection of comedy and theatre. We’re best known for our live movie parodies that fuse humour, nostalgia, and lo-fi spectacle. Our projects invite audiences to see the world with a newfound exuberance and remind us why we fell in love with movies, theatre, and storytelling in the first place.
How would you describe your show?
Hold On To Your Butts is a shot-for-shot parody of the most epic dinosaur movie of all time, performed by two actors and a Foley artist. It's a wildly inventive tour-de-force of comedy, physical theatre and live Foley. It's a perfect afternoon show for movie buffs, pop culture fans, and people who love to laugh. And even though it's made for adults, the show is appropriate for children 8+.
What is your favourite part of your show?
Definitely the Jeff Goldblum impression. His delivery in the movie is so iconic and fun to play around with. It kills with the audience every time.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe? What differentiates it from other festivals?
Edinburgh Festival Fringe captures our company ethos — making magic with few resources, focusing on actors and their performances, celebrating physical theatre, and giving the audience a surprising and joyful experience. We're pretty unique in NYC, but I think we'll have a lot of other physical comedians and performers to play off of (and learn from!) in Edinburgh. Aside from the size and renown of the Fringe, it's also an excellent opportunity for us to get really sharp in our performances. Many Fringes in the U.S. only offer ~5 performances, so getting to do 25 back-to-back is amazing.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
Our core company members (Nick Abeel, Kristin McCarthy Parker, Kyle Schaefer) all met in college in a very naturalistic acting program. But we each had backgrounds in physical theatre, dance, mime, or clown that we didn't get to explore very much at school or in the professional world after graduation. When we finally decided to start making our own work in NYC, it felt like we were finally set free to just have fun. So all of that physical, joy, silliness, and ability to make magic with no money combined to form the backbone of our work.
Can you describe your creative process and how you develop your ideas into a full-fledged performance?
We usually start from a desire to explore a particular genre or theatrical medium, which often goes hand-in-hand with a piece of pop culture we're curious about. E.g. "Home Alone but with puppets" or "a mimed version of Lord of the Rings." We workshop our ideas on their feet for a while, and then move to rehearsals in the room. We devise our shows collectively with the core company as leaders. Kristin keeps an eye on everything from the outside as director and will build/source props as needed. Then we put it in front of an audience, where we get a lot of feedback about what works. Some of our shows have been around for over a decade, and we continue to tweak those even now.
You’ve performed Hold on to Your Butts in New York, what is the strangest thing that has ever happened to you while performing?
Once, during our first run at an NYC comedy theatre, the board op couldn't figure out how to turn off the pre-show music, so Cee Lo Green's "Forget You" played over the first 30 seconds of our show. It was wild.
Is there a piece of feedback you've received from an audience member or critic after a performance that’s stuck with you?
A playwright and colleague of ours once said that Butts had inspired her to rethink how she approached her own work. That the show had set her free from some of the rules she felt like she "had to follow" as a playwright. Also, there's a very lovely family based in Wisconsin who has on multiple occasions driven through the night to NYC to attend one of our shows, sometimes in costume. We love you, Mitchells!
What do you hope to learn or achieve from your first Fringe experience, and how do you plan to apply it to your future work?
We hope to lay a foundation that we can build upon in future years. We'd like to return to the Fringe next year with our fantasy parody, Fly, You Fools!
What would you say has been (potentially) the most useful piece of advice you’ve been given about taking a show to Edinburgh Fringe
A lot of people have advised us to have a goal beyond just going (e.g. what's the next step?). That's been really useful in terms of prioritizing our outreach, working with producing partners, and budgeting the production.
How do you plan to balance performing and exploring the vast array of other shows and events happening at the Fringe?
Our show is at 2:00pm, which feels like the sweetheart shift in that we can both sleep in AND enjoy an evening of shows (or go to bed early). We're about to start building a calendar of shows we'd like to see so that we can prioritise without getting overwhelmed. We truly cannot wait to be there!
When and where can people see your show?
Pleasance Courtyard, Forth, 31 July – 26 Aug 2024 (not 12 & 19), 14.00 - 15.00
And where can people find you online?
On Twitter and TikTok @recentcutbacks or www.recentcutbacks.com
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