British comedian Jonathan Laury is at the Edinburgh Fringe Free Festival this year with his interactive comedy horror show.
“A dark and stormy night. A vampire’s castle outlined by lightning. An hour to find and kill the dreaded fiend… and one idiot trying to manage the escalating chaos. Join a fast-paced, hilariously deadly choose-your-own adventure. Think Knightmare meets Traitors, presented by the lovechild of Vincent Price and Alex Horne… Shortlisted for the Glitch Award at the Lambeth Fringe. Audience reviews: ‘Brilliant, slick, funny, 10/10 would go again’, ‘My favourite theatrical experience of the year’. Equal parts comedy, horror, game and show. And it’s absolutely the most fun you can have dying horribly.”
Where: Basement at Laughing Horse @ Home Bar
When: 12-30 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/the-vampire-run
What can you tell us about your show? What is it about and where did the idea come from?
The Vampire Run is a comedy horror show, or possibly a comedy horror game. Or both. The audience are all spirits of people killed by a notorious vampire, and together we’ll find a way through the haunted castle and, if we’re successful, on to face the vampire himself. Oh, but someone might be evil and trying to spoil it for everyone else. Think of a multiplayer choose-your-own-adventure, and add a bit of Traitors-like social deduction to the mix. And then a whole host of silliness from me hosting and acting out the many threats of the castle.
It’s a combination of all the things I like in one big silly form. Horror, games, making a fool of myself, it’s got it all!
I play a lot of roleplaying games and board games, and have written a few interactive text games. After taking a week long clowning workshop run by the wonderful Spymonkey I wondered what would happen if I combined the kinds of interactive games I like with performance, and surprisingly quickly the show came together.
How would you sell it to audiences in one paragraph?
A dark and stormy night. A vampire’s castle outlined by lightning. An hour to find and kill the dreaded fiend… and one idiot trying to manage the escalating chaos. Join a fast-paced, hilariously deadly choose-your-own adventure. Think Knightmare meets Traitors, presented by the lovechild of Vincent Price and Alex Horne… Described by audiences as ‘an instant Fringe classic’, it’s absolutely the most fun you can have dying horribly!
Do you enjoy participating in the Fringe? And do you have any moments you particularly remember?
This is only the second Edinburgh Fringe I will have performed at, and the last one was in 2006! Funnily enough that’s where I first saw Spymonkey with their show Cooped. So it feels fitting to come full circle and bring a show that was partially inspired by working with Aitor from Spymonkey. There’s brilliant creative stuff to get inspired by absolutely everywhere during the Fringe, it’s hard to beat that.
What are you looking forward to the most in Edinburgh?
I’ve still just scraped the surface of the brochure and there’s already so much I want to see. The Dark Room is always a standout but overlaps with my timeslot, boooo. As does Blood on the Clocktower Live. Demi Adejuyigbe is hilarious, so his show Demi Adejuyigbe Sells Out is high on my list. I saw a work in progress of Isabelle Glinn on Ice some time ago which was ace, and am looking forward to seeing its final form. And I’m always in awe of Showstopper: The Improvised Musical. My show involves a bit of improv, but how on earth you improvise hilarious musicals is a mystery to me.
What’s next for the show?
I’m looking at getting something booked in for Halloween, but nothing definitive yet. I’m also hoping to bring it to gaming and horror conventions. I will also be unveiling my next show in October at Grimfest in London. It’s another comedy horror, this time inspired by The Twilight Zone. All fun spooky stuff.