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Mischief Makers Episode 10: Niall Ransome

[Upbeat music plays]
Host: Welcome to Mischief Makers, your one stop shop for all things Mischief. Join your host Dave Hearn, as he finds out what makes Mischief... well, Mischief!Bryony Corrigan: Hello and welcome to Mischief Makers. I am not Dave Hearn! I am Bryony Corrigan, of course. And today I have wit me the incredible, hilarious, my favourite person in the world: Niall Ransome!
Niall Ransome: Hello, hello!
BC: Hi Niall! How are you?
NR: I'm good, how are you? Thank you for the introduction.
BC: I'm very good. And you're so welcome, did you like the words I picked?
NR: Well I wrote it! So I'm glad you got that fine.
BC: I didn't, I got that fine. Hilarious but good addition from you!
NR: Thank you, it took me a long time last night to write that.
[BC laughs]
NR: What word would best describe me? How can I be so flattering.
BC: "Probably incredible and hilarious. Yeah, let's go with that!"
NR: Yeah, let's go with that. They were from a mix of very positive words.
BC: What were the next two that were sort of runners up?
NR: Well I had handsome, that was in there.
BC: Yeah, of course.
NR: But I wanted to bring it back a bit. I don't want to be too big-headed at the beginning of the podcast. But now I have been!
[Both laugh]
BC: And how are you? How are you finding lockdown?
NR: Yeah, it's fine. I mean like I said, it's sort of like a bad holiday, a weird holiday. You can't really do anything. I mean the thing is, I was speaking to a friend the other day and we were talking about how in a way, you sort of feel guilty for feeling down at times because for so many other people, this is a really hard time. And there are a lot of people still working very, very hard actually. So having to stay in read and watch Tiger King and stuff is not that bad really, is it?
BC: It's not that bad, I know. It really isn't.
NR: So keeping busy, keeping busy.
BC: That is the main thing isn't it: keeping busy.
NR: Yeah. And how about yourself? You're doing well.
BC: Yeah, really well. Fine actually. But yeah, exactly as you said - it's a very strange time, just trying to fill it with stuff. I'm glad that the weather's got better.
NR: Yeah, the weather's really nice now - which is great.
BC: It makes the bad holiday slightly more of a good holiday.
[Both laugh]
NR: Yeah exactly. Well good weather on a holiday is good.
BC: It is good! It could make or break a holiday.
NR: It could. It has and it will again, I'm sure... if we ever go on holiday again, that's the question.
BC: I know. Who knows? You might just have to go to Brighton every time.
NR: I'd love that! Bring back the UK holidays, I'm sure we'll be doing a lot more UK holidays and that's great.
BC: Yeah. I know that is good actually, isn't it? Pitching tents at weird beaches around the country in a blistering gale!
NR: It's those classic things like waking up in a tent to find a cow has got into your tent. And you're like, "Oh! Classic holiday in England!" [Laughs]
BC: An English holiday! Oh the rain. Well, let's jump in. First of all, I'm going to need from you a jingle. So the first part is Getting to Know You. So I just need a Getting to Know You jingle from you.
NR: Okay. Well I did panic about this a little bit, because I thought, "How am I going to do a jingle?!" So then I decided to be very creative and cheat and I searched on YouTube for jingles...
BC: Oh...
NR: And I found a video that says, "Free radio jingles".
BC: Oh my God!
NR: So I think we'll be fine using them. I haven't listened to it yet, because I thought that would add to the tension. And us knowing each other...
BC: Oh my God! You're just going to select one? Oh my God, I'm excited.
NR: I'm just going to play it for a few seconds and then I'll cut it out. And we'll see if we thinks this works as a jingle...
BC: Love it! Okay.
NR: Okay, here we go...
[House music plays]
[Both laugh]
[House music cuts out]
NR: Getting to Know You!
[Both laugh]
NR: There we go!
BC: Oh my God, I'm crying!
NR: That was a lot more intense than I thought it would be! I thought it would be like a Radio 2, catchy, little jingle. I didn't realise it would be quite as intense house music!
BC: I wouldn't really call that a jingle, I'd call it like a...
NR: I don't know what that was?! That was like an introduction if I was doing one of those gigs at a club, where I'd turn up at a club to say hello and then leave.
BC: It reminds me of... so there's actually The Nativity That Goes Wrong that was written by Mischief...
NR: Oh yeah, yeah!
BC: And me and Niall and [Mike] Bodie all performed in it. And Niall's character was a bit like a Trevor character...
NR: Yeah, was called Sean.
BC: Yeah! And weren't you like testing out your DJ skills?!
NR: The idea about Sean was he was the techie for the theatre company, because he had a DJ set on. And I think at the beginning of it, I did a DJ light display on Mary to represent the immaculate conception.
BC: That was it! That's what it reminded me of!
NR: It is very that, isn't it? The music was very similar to that, so there you go.
BC: Yeah. I mean The Nativity That Goes Wrong was a hilarious spectacle, that no-one else has seen apart from a few people in Reading.
NR: God, that was years ago now!
BC: I know, I know, crazy. Anyway - loved the jingle, that was bloody brilliant.
NR: Yes!
[Both laugh]
BC: So I wanted to get in with... I don't know, listeners may have noticed that Niall's accent is from Hull.
NR: Yeah, the accent is from Hull.
BC: The accent is from Hull. And what kind of the opportunities were like there growing up, to be an actor? And I assume you always wanted to be an actor - or did you originally want to be something else?

NR: Yeah, I wanted to be an actor from pretty young really. I was very lucky and my parents took me to the theatre a lot. I went to see a lot a lot of the Hull Truck obviously, loads at the SJT in Scarborough. So I sort of spent a lot of time going to those theatres - so when I was younger I knew quite early on. And I was lucky really, I did two drama groups - one on a Tuesday night and one on a Saturday day. And they were brilliant. But I think apart from that (I mean saying that, it's quite a lot), I had a lot of really good amount of opportunities to act when I was younger and be involved in stuff.
And I know in a way in Hull that's got better, because you have a lot of companies in Hull now that work so hard and like put in time and effort and finance into younger performers, like Middle Child are a perfect example. They have schemes now to help younger people get into acting - particularly with things like auditioning for drama school and those things that... I mean again, when I was younger, as much as I did acting - I had sort of no clue about that world. I didn't really know about any of the drama schools, maybe bar one or two.
BC: Yeah. Same really.
NR: So it was more just like doing it at school and one or two groups outside of school that I was in. So yeah, which was great and again, they were so much fun. And I was very much the only person within my friendship group who did it really.
BC: Yeah. Wasn't it because you had lots of energy? Was that the reason you originally got put in them?
NR: [Laughs] Yeah, I did have a lot of energy! I think it was Reception, as early as that, I just had a lot of energy. I think my um had come into school - she caught me fighting with another boy. And I think they wanted to ask me to move schools...
BC: Oh no!
NR: I was always really jealous of your story when we met, because you told this beautiful story, "Oh I was really shy and acting really brought me out of my shell". And I really am jealous of those stories, because mine was very much like I was just very loud!
[BC laughs]
NR: I think in nursery one day, I came in crying because it wasn't my birthday.
BC: Perfect!
NR: And I had a nursery teacher called Miss Wiggly, Wendy Wiggly which is the perfect name for a nursery teacher.
BC: What a brilliant name.
NR: It's a great name, isn't it? And she put me in the drama group that her daughter was in. And she was like, "He just needs to do something that will tire him out and then he won't have as much energy in the day".
BC: And he won't cry about his birthday anymore!
[Both laugh]
NR: And he'll get over about his birthday.
BC: Oh amazing, that's so funny. So was she a person who sort of then guided you into the drama school thing? How did you then become aware of the drama schools and stuff? Was there a teacher or family?
NR: Yeah, it was that group that Miss Wiggly put me in. A drama group called Switch Theatre Company, and you had a younger group and an older group. So I went to the younger group for a long time and then moved onto the older group. And I had a drama teacher in that called Jane Lindgren. And she's the reason really why I did become an actor, because she was always the person to be like, "Well, you could probably give this a go as a career". She never pushed it upon anybody, because there were loads of people who went because it built their confidence or they just enjoyed going and having a laugh. But I think with me, she could sense that I wanted more out of it.
BC: Yeah.
NR: And again, it was going to places like the Hull Truck and SJT and seeing plays as I got a bit older and thinking, "Oh well these people must do it full-time as a job". And I think there was one show which I saw at Hull Truck... what was it called? I think it was called Big Trouble in Little Bedroom, a Chekhov, very serious piece of theatre!
[Both laugh]
NR: I can't remember really what it was about. I think it was about lads in a bedroom and I remember there was a monologue where a Dad sort of raps on a phone... I'm really selling it! It was a really good show!
But as a kid, I just thought it was brilliant. And we'd have a drink in the bar after the show (or my Mum and Dad would and I'd also be there). And I was being quite loud as a child, I never really got nervous about going up to the actors after the show and just wanting to talk to them, I must have been very annoying.
BC: Oh wow.
NR: And I think just going up and running up to these actors and sitting there and wanting to chat to them, it just made me think this is what I want to do. And then Jane was the one who really educated me and was like, "Well you could apply to these drama schools. You could do this, you could do that." She helped me pick speeches and she's the one I really have to thank for giving me the push, I think.
BC: God - that's so nice to have someone doing that. But your family are super supportive though, aren't they as well?
NR: Oh yeah, I couldn't be luckier.
BC: Were they always kind of happy to push you to do that or did they have other plans for you?
NR: No, always, always, always. They were very much like, "Whatever makes you happy, what you want to do - that is what you have to do". They saw the shows, they drove me to drama group each week. And when I auditioned for drama school, they insisted on coming to London and my Dad came down to London each time with me. I mean I always joke saying that's because he wanted to go see Lord's Cricket Ground! But obviously he wanted to be there as well. Yeah, I've always been very lucky that every step of the way they're like, "This is what you want to do, so do it". Because aain equally, coming from Hull - I had a few friends in college who wanted to do drama. And I think one lad in particular stands out in my memory as he wanted to go down that route. But his parents just wouldn't let him.
BC: Yeah.
NR: His parents loved him. But I think they were very much, "We want you to do a career that will give you a solid, secure future". Which you know, I appreciate people having that view. But again, I was very lucky to have parents being like, "Go for it".
BC: Yeah, "What's to lose?" Definitely.
NR: Yeah, exactly. As are your parents as well.
BC: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I was going to say. I think it is such a huge factor actually in kind of... being able to do that, we're very lucky to have supportive parents.
NR: Oh yeah.
BC: And not everybody does. So thanks!
NR: Thanks Mum and Dad.
BC: Thanks for that! Now you also are a very keen musician: you play a few instruments.
NR: Keen being the word.
BC: "Keen"... very eager! [Laughs]
NR: Very eager, very desperate! A desperate musician.
BC: You had a band when you were younger, you still do. Are you still performing with them?
NR: We actually had a jam just before the lockdown, luckily two weeks before everything shut down, we'd planned to meet up.
BC: Wow!
NR: We had a jam and it was great. I think it's been like six years since we'd last had a gig.
BC: Yeah.
NR: So it was great, it was great to just play a few songs old and new and hang out really. Particularly because the band is sort of formed of people from different parts of my life, but all best friends. Like Jake, who's been my best friend I guess since nursery really. And Jordan since secondary school. And then Tom, another guy in our band, went to drama school with me. So nice to all hang out and play some music again. Very lucky obviously, just before lockdown! All of a sudden now we can't again! [Laughs]
BC: Yeah, you have to do that Zoom thing where you play - just looking at each other on a screen.
NR: Well... we were worried we sounded bad enough all being together!
[BC laughs]
NR: So worrying how it would translate on a Zoom call might make us more depressed, I don't know!
BC: And would you say that having those skills as an instrumentalist and a singer helped for drama school? And also getting jobs post-drama school?
NR: Well yeah, I mean - I have played music in a lot of jobs I've done now. And I have a lot of actor/muso friends who work all the time. And their playing an instrument is a huge part of that. And in a way I just love it because it's another way in which you contribute to telling a story in a play. And I did a job over Christmas which was the first intense bit of actor/muso I've done, where it's really multi-instruments, playing most of the play, playing a song and then leaping into a scene and playing another song. And that was a great challenge, but it's another way to be creative and I think I've always been someone who really loves being creative.
Again, it has its downsides. We did a Shakespeare in third year and we did Twelfth Night and I had to play clarinet and my clarinet is quite old! And the songs I had to play were fine, they were sort of in the background of some bits or I'd have to play to Orsino. And there was this one show where... [Laughs] I just have to walk out onstage to start the scene and play like this little few notes on the clarinet. And I came out and the first note that I played, it just squeaked. And you could tell everybody in the audience was just like, "Oh my God!"
BC: "Oh... this poor guy!"
NR: And I was like, "Don't worry - I'll play the next note and that'll be fine!" And then it squeaked again! And I just sort of squeaked my way through these notes that sort of... I think people must have left that show thinking, "What an odd choice to have that actor come out and just not be able to play clarinet!"
BC: Did you make it part of your character? "Right, I'm a nervous character now!"
NR: I think in that moment, I was so mortified that there was where my life had brought me! To be stood in front of a room of people, squeaking my way through on the clarinet!
[BC laughs]
NR: Particularly because it's also a music school, so the musicians at that school are some of the greatest, young musicians in the world!
[Both laugh]

NR: So to imagine them sat there being like, "Oh Jesus Chris. What is this guy doing?!"
BC: That was particularly low status.
NR: It was very low status, which has sort of followed me through my career in terms of characters that I've played! So yeah. But no, I love playing music and I'm really lucky that that's a part of me and a part of what I get to do. Because again, writing music and getting to input that into shows I'm in - I love doing that, it's a lot of fun.
BC: Yeah and that play that you were talking about where you were an actor/musician was at Scarborough at one of the theatres that you went to as a kid!
NR: It was!
BC: Was that kind of amazing, being back there and this time not watching from the audience but being on the stage there? How did that feel?
NR: Yeah, well I have a really, really big love for that theatre. The SJT in Scarborough is great. And I have a lot of friends now who've worked there and it's just an amazing theatre in terms of community. For me, if acting is about anything - I think it is that sort of community. And that theatre demonstrates that better than any place I've worked. It's just everybody gets along and everybody knows each other. Like, you go and do a job there and you'll know the Front of House, you'll know the Bar, you'll know the Marketing Department, you'll know the Costume, you'll know the Set Builders. Everybody who works there, you end up becoming friends with. I did The 39 Steps there a few years ago over the summer and that was the first show I'd done there. And as I said, I grew up watching theatre there - so to finally... I remember the first day, we sort of did a bit of rehearsal on the stage and that was a real moment of "Wow, I'm here. I used to watch theatre here - now I'm here!" And I spoke to Paul, I dropped him an email (who's the Artistic Director of that theatre), and what they've been posting on social media which is amazing is sort of how many people during this time, when they've phoned up to refund tickets have said, "No, keep the money. We want to make sure that theatre's okay". Which is such a great thing.
BC: Oh that's brilliant. And it's so important at the minute, isn't it? Because theatres are just losing all of their money, all of their income from ticket sales they're having to give back. I mean, it's quite scary.
NR: It is really. But again, it's sort of out of any bad situation...
BC: Comes some good.
NR: I think comes some good and some really incredibly positive things can happen. And I think things like that, people turning around and being like, "You know, that's what is important to me: keeping these theatres going. So I don't want the refund." You know, I think stuff like that is great.
BC: Yeah, it's so good. Now can you describe your journey into Mischief Theatre?
NR: Oh wow!
BC: Yeah I know! Quite a journey.
NR: Mad. Well I mean we joined Mischief at the same time...
BC: We did!
NR: So yeah, it was very mad really. We were in foundation obviously and then in our summer after the foundation, we happened to be at the Fringe. Because Adam Meggido (the head of the LAMDA F's at the time) he sort of very kindly put you and me forward for a Shakespeare for Breakfast, which is like a comedy show in the morning for families in Edinburgh. nd they were tying it with this new improv show they wanted to do and we'd expressed how much we'd loved improv throughout that year with him. So he very kindly put us forward for that. And we got it and we ended up doing that. And then Mischief just happened to be in the same theatre that year, they were under a different name at the time but they were doing Lights! Camera! Improvise! the improv show.
And we went to see that and I remember the first time seieing that being like, "Wow! This is really amazing, where you can use improv like celebrating all that can go wrong in it." And I guess that's sort of the seeds for what's happened to the company, but when I started watching it, that's what I took from it. They're really celebrating the moments that actors can't remember the names or someone's fallen over or Henry Lewis in that one show where he had his fly undone [laughs] stood on a box and didn't realise!
BC: And then said, "When God closes a door..."
[Both laugh]
BC: And then made it this incredible thing and the audience just cheered at him, because it was so good. Yeah, I remember that!
NR: Yeah and it was so good seeing that show, at the time very inspiring to be doing an improv show in Edinburgh for the first time for us. And we'd sort of met them a few times at LAMDA and they came to see us in the show I think on the last performance we did. They came to see the last one.
BC: Was it?
NR: Yeah! And then we finished the Fringe, went back to London and they asked us to come in and... I guess it was half an audition, half a just you know, "Come in for a few rehearsals" really. And then we just sort of carried on going to rehearsals. I remember Henry ringing up and said, "Would you like to continue coming to rehearsals and sort of come and join?" And I hadn't got into drama school that year, my plan was sort of... I'd got a job at a coffee shop and was going to work through that year to try and get in. And Mischief was a real God-send then because I was like, "Well, wow - I've got this other thing I can do and focus on". And then that was every weekend for the next year: rehearsing, doing the improv shows and then just joining the company. It was such an amazing feeling to be like, "Wow - I'm really joining something that I feel is exciting".
BC: Yeah, no definitely. And it was really exciting for us because then after that, obviously we were doing all the Lights! Camera! Improvise! but then they started doing The Play That Goes Wrong. And just as we graduated pretty much... oh sorry, no... yeah it must have been?
NR: Yeah, because we went into it as I graduated.
BC: Yeah! We both got into the second cast straight away! So we had our first West End jobs, joining the company together. And it was so great wasn't it?
NR: It was mad, because you're not really supposed to do anything outside of drama school while you're in drama school. But I constantly did with Mischief. And now, a lot of my teachers at drama school know that I did that. But at the time, I don't think would have been happy at all. I remember telling one of my teachers after they came to see The Play That Goes Wrong that I had been doing Mischief shows throughout drama school. And he sort of laughed and said, "Well it hasn't harmed you, has it really?"
BC: Exactly.
NR: I wanted to do those shows because I always knew that the company do exciting things. When they first opened The Play That Goes Wrong, it was at the Old Red Lion Theatre and you know, they'd built the set, they'd made the costumes themselves, they were paying themselves to do it and paying friends in a way to come and see it. And it didn't matter whether it was in that Fringe venue or in a West End theatre; whatever they're doing is exciting. I think that's the thing: it's the work and the things that they produce are very exciting.
BC: Yeah.
NR: And the venues again were this added thing over the years, just how big can this get? Obviously with each step it was more and more unbelievable as time went on.
BC: Yeah, because I even remember the year... was it the year we joined or the year after? When we were going up to the Fringe again and obviously it had been in C venues for a long time and the next year that we went, we'd finally got a place at Underbelly.
NR: Oh yeah!
BC: And we all cried! Everyone sat and cried! And at the time, that was so massive and now to think where it's gone. Even those things, it's the whole journey that adds up.
NR: Well it's mad, that's the thing. Going up to a different venue and then I think the last Fringe that I remember doing was we were at one of the big venues at the back of Pleasance. And I just could not get over that entire Fringe that we were there. Like, "Wow, we're in Pleasance! And such an exciting show!" I remember spending a lot of that Edinburgh thinking about our first Edinburgh, wandering around being like, "Wow, what an incredible festival!" And seeing all these shows and wanting to be involved. And then all of a sudden being like, "Wow - I'm in the show that I want to be in, in the venue that I think is increidble, surrounded by all these incredible people".
BC: Yeah, totally. It's amazing. And speaking of the Edinburgh Fringe, you've kind of gone to start writing your own shows as well. And you took one of those to the Fringe for the past two years, was it?
NR: It went for one year, so it was in London over Christmas I think of 2017 or 2018? I can't remember now. But it was at the Bunker Theatre, a one man show called FCUK'D and then went onto the Fringe and was at the Guilded Balloon, which again is amazing because that's such an incredible venue. I remember being so chuffed that I get to have a play on there, it was cool.
BC: It's so good and that had been developed at... because Guildhall do this like amazing thing where in your second year or third year, you have to create shows or some og you make your own one man show, right? Which is really great.
NR: Yeah, well I think it's in your third year you can do a thing called a solo piece. So you do like... you have your six shows throughout the year, but you can opt out of one of those, basically to write your own piece. And I remember at the time, I mean I was always intrerested in writing anyway, so I thought I'd give it a go. You know, there was also a part of me that was like in your third year, getting to write a monologue that's just you for 15 minutes - that's a no brainer! That's what you want!
BC: Yeah!
NR: And then you have that month that you would be rehearsing and being in the other play to write and form your own piece and they give you like a space in the school
and you do like three showings, three or four I think. And it was just the most rewarding thing to get to do because it taught me so much in terms of bringing yourself to something. Because when you write something and perform it, it really is like this is what I'm trying to say. And if someone doesn't like your performance in a play, that's a very different feeling to well maybe someone doesn't like the performance and the writing that you also did.
BC: Yeah!
NR: No I did at Guildhall and it went really well and people were really kind about it and then I got the opportunity to take it to the Hague and perform it in Holland at their National Theatre, which was great. That was really fun. Then it was like a 15 - 20 minute piece and I always knew I wanted to bulk it out and make it a full play and I did. And I think it was while I was in The Comedy About a Bank Robbery that the oportunity came to do it at the Bunker. And so my friend Will Mytum did it and I directed him in it and he was fantastic. And again, that was so rewarding, getting to sort of have a piece of writing that you have performed but then hand it onto a friend who you also know is such a talented actor and then see them do completely different things with it. And you know, we got a budget, we got a set and it was a proper run, which was amazing.
BC: Yeah!
NR: And then Will unfortunately couldn't move forwards with it as he was busy. And then another actor George Edwards took over at the Fringe and has now finished filming the short film of it. And again, it would be impossible to pick between Will and George, because they're both so good at the part and they both brought such different things to it. So as a creative, I was really lucky in that sense - to be able to see different versions of it. Do you know what I mean? Just being able to create a piece of work and see it through, you know. It's a really, really incredible thing.
BC: Yeah. How was it, adapting it for film? Was it as straight forward as taking the play and putting it on film? Or did you completely change any of [it]? I guess you changed the text and stuff? Made it less... you know, wordy?
NR: It's difficult really, because the play is so wordy obviously - because it is just a monologue and it is written entirely in verse. So it's just all about that text creating the visuals for you. So in a film, I guess the problem we came across is we don't want it to be a literal thing; we still want the text to do that. But it not being a piece of theatre anymore, there's certin things that you can't do anymore because it's not theatrical enough on film. It can be a lot more condensced. And I think in film, there's so much you can do without text that that becomes a challenge as well - because as a writer, I think immediately my job was to not be precious with any of the text and be willing to lose whatever we need to make the story work.
So there's been a lot of cutting for the film and I watched the first cut of it maybe few weeks ago. And our Composer Peter Wilson, he's with it now. So he's going to compose the music, set that and then we'lll get to work on cutting it - making some brutal but necessary cuts. And then hopefully (depending on the current situation), we'll be looking to release it in maybe 2021. I think the idea was to release it this year, but obviously with everything happening...
BC: It 's hard to get everyone in a room. That's so exciting! I can't wait to see it and everyone will be able to watch that in 2021 - something to look forward to!
NR: What's been great about that as well is sort of being like, you can just make something with your friends. It's a lot of hard work, but we just made it. And my friend Luke who made 505 Films, he's just made a film company and it’s just so incredible how he’s taught himself all this technical camera stuff which I don’t have any clue about.
But he and me have been on the phone a lot now talking about a new project, something else I’ve written that we have an idea for and that we think might be quite good to focus on everything going on beyond now I think.
BC: Brilliant! Amazing, you do tend to become quite resourceful as an actor and go, “Okay well if no-one’s going to give us a job, I’ll just make one myself!”
NR: Well yeah, I think that’s the thing. And I think being in Mischief always made me feel like that anyway, because I was so lucky to go to drama school and loved going to drama school, but it was such a great reminder almost every weekend to go and rehearse with Mischief and be like, “Here are people who’ve just come out of drama school, who are making work themselves”.
BC: Yeah.
NR: And they all have built these incredible careers on making their own work and just enjoying being ina room together creating things. And I think that’s what’s extraordinary about the company. Obviously, it’s had this incredible story - but at the end of the day it is just friends in a room, giving it a go and trying to make each other laugh. And I think I’ve always taken that on board in terms of, “Well, I’d rather be trying to make something than sitting round and hoping that the phone will ring”.
BC: Totally. Amazing. Well I’m going to need you to get that next theme tune ready, the next jingle. Because we’re going to Questions from the Web...
NR: Questions from the Web!
BC: So I’m excited to see what the Questions from the Web jingle is!
NR: Well it’s four minutes 20 [seconds] - so maybe I’ll just move it along like a minute and see...
BC: Okay - and see, fingers crossed!
NR: Okay, so what is it - Questions from the Web?
BC: Questions from the Web.
NR: Okay here we go.
[Space music plays]
NR: Oh!
BC: Similar vibe!
[Music sounds like it’s cutting out because of an audio issue or radio interference]
NR: Oooh?
BC: Oooh
[Cuts back in: “This is your man Flo Rida”]
NR: Questions from the Web!
[BC laughs]
NR: Little bit of vocals in that one! That was so weird.
[Both laugh]
BC: Oh my God! It’s a similar-ish vibe to the first.
NR: Well I want to keep within the theme of the show, as a whole.
BC: I quite liked it because it sounded a bit like radio interference. And so maybe Questions from the Web was quite good for that one like, because it was sort of like. “ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM!” It sounded quite web-like.

NR: That’s very good. Yeah, I think I’m going to have to listen to this entire thing when we finish, because there’s a lot of good material in here!
BC: It’s so funny! Right well so first question from the web is from @F04dHarry which is: What is your proudest moment? (I think that’s just in general.)
NR: In general? Wow...
BC: Yeah, just out of your whole life! What’s your proudest moment? It’s quite a big question!
NR: It’s quite a big question, yeah! I don’t know, I guess maybe to keep within the Mischief theme - something I share with you (obviously which I think is nice) is the opening night of The Play That Goes Wrong. When we did that, that will always be like a really special night.
BC: Yeah, that was.
NR: Purely because you know, we’d rehearsed that play and had such a fun time rehearsing it. And I know people were worried, you know, “Can it be recast?” Because the parts are so specific to the people who created them and originate them. But the beauty of the writing in that is the jokes there and the comedy’s there, but you sort of can make your own choices I guess to an extent with those characters underneath. And we’d really enjoyed doing that.
And nerves, we were so nervous that opening night - I remember Laura who played Annie, her just going into her dressing room before and her just being white, like a ghost!
BC: Yeah!
NR: And shivering because she had to go out first. And then finishing the show and everyone in the theatre just stood up and clapped. It was just... I think all of us had a bit of a tear.
BC: Oh, don’t!
NR: And my Mum and Dad were there - just bringing it back to what we were saying earlier. When your parents have been so generous and supported you throughout, it was just such a nice moment I think for them as well. To sort of say, “Thank you so much for letting me give this a go”.
BC: Yeah.
NR: And again, special because no matter where you go in your career, no matter what happens - little moments like that, little bits of gold you’re like, “Wow - I’ll always have that at least”.
BC: Yeah, that was such a special night.
NR: It was a really special night.
BC: And I remember just being so full of adrenaline like afterwards. I think because of the clapping and everything - I'm sure you'll remember just us two just hugging each other and hugging each other and being like "Ahhhh!"
NR: I do remember being at the pub when we were a bit into the run as well. I think I remember someone reading that Ricky Gervais had tweeted about it, because he'd been in. And we screamed in the pub for about five minutes!
BC: I know!
NR: But yeah, that first night was incredibly special. It was great.
BC: That's a very good choice. This is a good one from Daisy: if you could get advice from any historical figure, who would it be?
NR: Oh wow! I mean that is a big question... I don't really know, I don't really know what historical figure could...
BC: Or I guess just any... let's just go just any famous person.
NR: At the SJT, one of the seats was named for Victoria Wood. And Laura (who's in The Play That Goes Wrong) and me, we did The 39 Steps together in Scarborough and again that was a very special job. And we had a routine before the show which was to touch the chair which was Victoria Wood's chair, because she's amazing. And yeah, I think I'd probably like t have a chat with her really. I don't know what advice I'd ask her.
BC: Yeah, just a chat.
NR: I'd love to chat [to her]. Because again she's someone who treads that line so well of hilarious and heart-breaking.
BC: Yeah and wrote all of her own [stuff].
NR: Yeah, a prolific writer. So it would be good to just pick her brain I guess for a while.
BC: Okay, Kiri wants to know: what is your favourite show you've ever done?
NR: Um... it's difficult really! Obviously I loved doing Mischief shows (it would be weird not to mention them or say I didn't enjoy them on this podcast!) I mean they're incredible shows to get to be a part of. I think my favourite show might be The 39 Steps in Scarborough. Being in that theatre was such a big thing for me and a real special place. And Paul who directed that, like the rehearsals for that were unbelievable because the freedom we had to find our own gags in that show. Because he wanted to do it in the round so it really was reinventing that show. And Laura who I was in that with is just one of the most generous, funny, brilliant, actresses and people. So working with her was brilliant. Plus: in Scarborough! If any actors are listening to this and get the opportunity to work there - do it. Because if it's the summer and you've got two shows, you can go to the beach in between shows, you can go down to the sea! It was amazing!
BC: Oh that is cool, that is proper cool! And also you got to multi-role, which we haven't really talked about. But I love multi-roling stuff.
NR: Oh, it's amazing.
BC: You get to play like 20 characters in one show, you got to do that on that show, didn't you?
NR: Yeah and that's the thing: getting to come out in the suit at a beginning and sort of be Mr Memory, and then in the next scene put on these huge fake breasts and be this cleaning lady, I just loved that. Again, it's the comedy I loved growing up when I was younger - sort of that older, more slapstick humour. Getting to feel like I'm doing this as well and adding my name to the list hopefully (or in some way). But multi-roling is... I guess it's all I've done really! I mean everything I've done had been multi-roling, I love it, I love that.
BC: And Bethany asks: do you have a favourite Lights, Camera, Improvise! show that you remember?
NR: Oh yeah, that's really difficult...When we did it regularly, I used to keep note of them, I used to write them down.
BC: Yeah!
NR: So I had the title and the theme and the setting and I'd write a little biog on what happened in the show.
BC: Yeah, you had over hundreds!
NR: Oh we did hundreds of them. I think actually there's one we always say we love: we did a superhero movie...
BC: Yeah!
NR: In our first Edinburgh. I guess he was like Cyclops, he had radioactive eyes, so he was kind of like Radioactive Eyes Man... X-Ray Vision Man!
BC: X-Ray Vision Man!
NR: X-Ray Vision Man! That was such a fun show because you have those shows every so often where everything just seems to fall into place and everybody somehow just knows what to do.
BC: And that was one of those.
NR: Those moments are so good in a show. And I think we had a moment where I had to leap off a building and fly and everyone ran in and just picked me up. And everyone in the audience went mad. Because it was one of those things where it was either going to work or it wasn't. And it was like 90% not going to work. But for whatever reason everyone was on it and rushed in. X-Ray Vision Man, that was a great show.
BC: That was. I thought you might say that one. That was a really good one, I remember it. And the final question is from Harry Kershaw which is: Why is Harry Kershaw your favourite member of the company?
NR: Well how could he not be? He's everyone's favourite!
[BC laughs]
NR: He's Harry Kershaw, the Nation's sweetheart (as he refers to himself!)
BC: He's got it on a plaque at his house, hasn't he?
NR: I think he's got it tattooed I think! Like tattooed on his body.
BC: Yeah, he's got it on his body, he's got a blue plaque up outside his house.
[NR laughs]
NR: He's got his own blue plaque!
BC: "Harry Kershaw, the Nation's sweetheart lives here".
NR: "Lives here now. Do not disturb!"
BC: Okay, we need one more theme tune because we've just got time for the quickfire round.
NR: I'm very nervous about this, both the jingle and the quickfire round. But I'll move it along to nearer the end and see what we get. So quickfire round...
BC: I have a feeling it's going to be similar!
NR: Yeah I think it will be pretty much the same.
[More space music: "Your radio, this is your radio, your station"]
NR: QUICKFIRE ROUND!
[Both laugh]
BC: What have you found?!
NR: If only this section as called station, that would have been perfect!
BC: That would have been brilliant.
NR: ...well, less!
BC: Here we go, are you ready?
NR: I think maybe.
BC: First answer than comes to your head. Okay, here we go. What's your favourite colour?
NR: Blue.
BC: What's your spirit animal?
NR: A fox.
BC: Yes. Who's the bossiest member of Mischief?
NR: Henry Shields.
[BC laughs]
BC: Who is most likely to corpse onstage?
NR: Um, you!
BC: Is a Jaffa Cake a cake or a biscuit?
NR: It's cake! It says it in the title.
BC: Yeah, totally agree. What is your favourite film?
NR: Oh, The Grand Budapest Hotel is the first one that came to mind.
BC: Oh, interesting! North, South, East or West? That's a weird one.
NR: North, obviously!
BC: Yeah! And finally: who would be the best Mischief person to be trapped on a desert island with?
NR: Oh, that is really difficult. But I'm going to say you!
BC: YEAH!
NR: We've lived together so I think it makes sense that we know it would work.
BC: I mean it would be so easy, exactly. We've got nine years of experience.
NR: I mean I do think we still would be useless... I'm thinking back to me, you and our then housemate Jamie screaming while we tried to hoover up a spider.
[Both laugh]
NR: So I doubt you and me on an island will lead to many heroic moments.
BC: No! And I hate to think of the spiders on the desert island.
NR: Well I don't think we'll have a hoover with us either, so I don't know what we'd do.
BC: What would we do?!
NR: What would we do?!
BC: I think we would immediately sort of give up on trying to get back and we would just be like, "Oh well... we might as well just live here now!"
NR: Yeah, I think we'd spend the first few weeks recycling in-jokes about living together before, that no-one else would find funny. And then I think we’d just eventually give up. Maybe one day we'd just be like, "Well, let's lie down and that's it".
BC: Build a sandcastle, that's it.
NR: Build a sandcastle! "What have you done?" "Well we've told each other jokes, we tried to hoover a spider and we built a sandcastle."
[BC laughs]
NR: It's not very Lord of the Flies!
BC: Yeah, that would be it! Ah, brilliant! Well that's it - that's all we've got time for.
NR: There we go! Well a lovely catch up!
BC: A lovely catch up, thank you so much for doing this.
NR: That's fine, it's just like you ringing me up to catch up - but we're just going to put it online for people to listen to!
BC: Exactly! And dig a bit further into what time was like at Guildhall. Why not? Perfect, well thank you so much for coming on and thanks everybody for listening! Do keep an eye out for the next episode and you can follow the latest in the Mischief world on Twitter: @MischiefComedy. So yeah, thank you - goodbye!
NR: Thank you very much! Bye!
BC: Bye!