INTERVIEW: SCOTT TURNBULL

Image: Matthew Henderson

“One of the things that I often do after I’ve come up with an idea that makes me laugh my head off, is I start doubting it and think ‘Is that funny?’ And what I need to start thinking more is ‘Why is that funny? Why did that make me laugh?’ And then keeping hold of it, because often I discard it instead of actually realising it’s funny, because you’ve found it funny, so laugh again.”

And what a laugh it was chatting with theatre maker, artist and one of my all time favourite humans, Scott Turnbull, discussing his latest creative adventure Unexpected Item In Bagging Area; a multi-art form comedy theatre show heading to GIFT Festival, Stockton’s ARC and Live Theatre this month.

Unexpected Item… takes place in a 24-hour garage named The Doghouse, which Scott notes could be a metaphor for theatre… and Stockton. “It’s a failing business. And the audience are customers. You start getting dragged into the world of the play…” A world brimming with kitsch nostalgia, Scott relays, exploring “old 50s sensibilities, like a Western or a Coen Brothers movie, but with all the spooky futuristic beats in.”

Alongside co-performer, the brilliant Tessa Parr, this show sees Scott expanding his creative highways by working with a much larger creative team and new performance outlets including clowning, camera experimentations, physical theatre and poetry as well as Scott’s classic brand of overhead projection to explore this quirky narrative. There is also a magnificent soundtrack composed by musical creative collaborator Jeremy Bradfield. There’s some interesting ideas behind the varying vibes, styles and tones of the music used in the show: “It’s almost like retro 50s futurism. Jeremy has a theremin, and over the top of slide lap steel guitar, it fuses those two worlds together. You’ve got the old and the new.”

It’s about finding your voice, and saying what you want to say. I do it because I like making people laugh. It’s kind of as simple as that.

There’s a curious magnetism of surreal and silly, dark humour vs touching remarks on the human experience, which oozes from the wacky and wonderful universes that Scott creates. Amongst the chaos and the bizarre, there’s comfort in the familiarity of a Teesside twang and Mighty Boosh-esque characters in his work, which makes his humour so accessible. We discussed the importance of setting his work in his hometown: “Stockton is just another small, post-industrial town that needs heroes to be able to provide them with a different narrative. There’s intelligent, funny, wonderfully charismatic and dark individuals who can be heroes.”

Arriving at the end of our conversation, Scott pulls out a crumpled piece of tracing paper from his pocket, with some Turnbullian cartoon hieroglyphs scrawled across it, explaining that it’s storyboards for the show which he is still ironing out. We talked about the importance of doing what you love: “You’ve got to try and figure these things out along the way. How can you make art and be happy? It’s about finding your voice, and saying what you want to say. I do it because I like making people laugh. It’s kind of as simple as that.”

Unexpected Item In Bagging Area will be a delight for fans of absurd comedy and experimental theatre, so make sure you catch the work-in-progress at GIFT Festival on Saturday 3rd May or the full show at ARC in Stockton from Wednesday 21st – Friday 23rd May and Live Theatre Thursday 29th – Friday 30th May.