Focus on: Dreamgun
A Dublin comedy troupe turn famous movie screenplays into joke-filled live reads. We get the script from Dreamgun’s Stephen Colfer
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Some Fringe shows struggle in the pitch. Comedians doing a live read of an abridged film script might belong to that category. But that hasn’t stopped self-proclaimed "Irish comedy weirdos" Dreamgun from finding cult success with Film Reads.
“We've found no way to overcome that,” says Stephen Colfer about the idea. “It's been three years and I still can't sell it.”
He’s being modest. Dreamgun’s spoofy live reads have tickled audiences at Kilkenny Cat Laughs Festival, the Adelaide Fringe and in Edinburgh. With guest performers such as James Acaster, Dara O’Briain and Rose Matafeo, the live recordings have been further supported by its growing podcast following.
The concept shouldn’t work, but it does. The original scripts of popular classics, such as Titanic, Jaws and Harry Potter, are edited with all the famous scenes and lines preserved, but with plenty more jokes added in. And, crucially, each performance is unrehearsed, keeping it tangibly live and unexpected.
“I just want to capture what it felt like to watch Jurassic Park on Christmas Day for the first time,” says Colfer. With 2019 being the second time they are bringing Film Reads to Edinburgh, Colfer is confident – despite knowing the Fringe "always finds new ways to punch you in the face."
While Colfer and Dreamgun co-creators Heber Hanly, Gavin Drea and James McDonnell have been bringing sketch comedy to the Fringe since 2015, the idea for Film Reads came by accident. Seeking funding for their early Edinburgh trips, the team decided to ape film director Jason Reitman’s cult live reads of beloved scripts by Hollywood actors. They started with Jurassic Park, but when it came to the second fundraiser—Back to the Future—they discovered that Robert Zemeckis’ screenplay was not available in the public domain.
They tried a loophole: using the film’s subtitles instead of the original script – but this, naturally, lacked scene directions. “We were like, ‘oh crap. I guess we have to do it',” Colfer recalls. Cue a night of overly literal commentary, pop culture references and absurd descriptions. And it took off.
Soon they cast fellow Irishman Ronan Carey as the narrator. “Once he latched onto the voice that we were writing, that was when the show just suddenly existed.” Carey’s dry, deadpan narration is the icing on a cleverly written cake, leading the audience through anarchic retellings. With the right mix of detached, cynical irony and cheerful naivety, Carey is “the guiding light” that sells the parody.
The podcast is a natural extension of the format. It gives listeners the chance to catch shows they couldn’t see in person, but also opened the door to a funding model via Patreon, which now helps support the company.
Edinburgh will see them performing 18 adapted scripts over 25 nights. Expect Die Hard, The Matrix, Spider-Man and, of course, Back to the Future.
Podcasts at the Fringe
Film Reads isn't the only show this Fringe deserving a spot in your podcast feeds...
The Guilty Feminist Live Podcast
Pleasance Courtyard, 2-4 Aug, 4pm
“I’m a feminist, but…” Deborah Frances-White’s hit comedy podcast returns to the Fringe for three live sessions.
Table Manners with Jessie Ware
Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose, 2-4 Aug, 11am
In 2017, singer-songwriter Jessie Ware started a podcast about food and culture with her chef mum. Catch its Fringe premiere this opening weekend.
The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 2-25 Aug, not 5, 12, 19, 1:30pm
AKA Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast, these hilarious live interviews feature a wealth of guests, meeting nearly every lunchtime this August.
The Stand’s New Town Theatre, 16 & 19 Aug, times vary
Andy Zaltzman’s famed satirical podcast The Bugle has had over 50 million downloads since its launch 2007. The live tour returns to Edinburgh.
The Hoovering Podcast Live with Jessica Fostekew
Monkey Barrel Comedy, 13-14 Aug, 3pm
As well as a regular co-host on The Guilty Feminist, comedian Jessica Fostekew hosts her own food-themed panel podcast with celebrity guests.
In Conversation with Standard Issue
The Stand Comedy Club, 11-12 Aug, 1:40pm
Sarah Millican’s “by women, for women” podcast is back for the fourth time, playing host to a range of special guests.
Bedlam Theatre, 5, 6, 13, 20 Aug, times vary
2015's best new comer Sofie Hagen has teamed up with drag king Jodie Mitchell for this relatively new podcast that definitely, maybe isn't a cult, but is about dinosaurs (and dads).