Abandoman (aka Rob Broderick), the Irish hip-hop musical comedian, returns to the Edinburgh Fringe this year with a new show, Afterglow.
“Abandoman is back – and this year, it’s a party. Blending hip-hop with euphoric dance music, Rob Broderick’s award-winning improvised comedy show turns your suggestions into original bangers, live and unrepeatable every single night. Razor-sharp wit, genuine warmth and unstoppable audience interaction make this one of Edinburgh Fringe’s most joyful, unpredictable nights out.”
Where: Belly Dancer at Underbelly, Cowgate
When: 5-30 Aug
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/abandoman-afterglow
Tell me a bit about the show?
The show’s called Afterglow; it’s set in a nightclub. The idea is that it’s the last night for a nightclub called the Afterglow. The people in the room have been coming there for years, and little bits of their lives are what’s used to create every song.
We’re playing on the final night of the experience, so it’s a fully improvised music show, a mixture of hip-hop, drum and bass, garage and house music, a little bit more varied in the musical scope than some previous shows. Every song is built on little moments that the audience shares with me during the show.
Are you a musician at heart, or a comedian? How would you describe yourself?
I love both. I’ve always really enjoyed music. I kind of did both separately for years. I started doing stand-up in the UK, and then, at the exact same time, I was going to music open mics.
I never really thought of them coming together until I saw Reggie Watts. I saw Reggie Watts, who went on to be on everything from his stand-up specials to James Corden’s show. I first saw Reggie about 20 years ago, and I think it blew me away that it was possible to work and do things that I love.
It was amazing comedy, but also the music was absolutely the kind of tunes I was listening to at the time. So I think that was the moment I thought, “I’ll try and stick the two together.” I’m glad I did, because I think the two of them together, for me, are more fun than they were separately.
With the music stuff, I was trying to be serious, but then comedy changed that. I was really inspired by Jason Byrne, the Irish observational comedian. I think fusing the two together made me very happy.
Where did the name Abandoman come from?
My first idea was to create “a band of man”. The idea was I was going to play lots of little instruments and loop them all up on stage.
I always find this kind of funny. When I tried it, I went out to Adelaide Fringe Festival, and I was playing bits of piano and looping them up. What I experienced was that the crowd didn’t care that much. My skills were not great, so there was no great loss to the world of music by me not doing that! But the idea was multiple instruments: play them all, loop them.
The experience when I got on stage was that the crowd just really enjoyed the freestyle parts. So gradually I started working with other musicians, and now I do some solo work and some with other musicians.
So this show has several musicians in it?
This show is being worked up with Fred Harper, who kind of sits in the world of dance music. He’s an incredible drummer. We’re trying to do something that feels a little bit closer to a rave than the previous year.
So Fred is driving these big drops. We’re trying to see whether we can make it feel like an actual nightclub in the space.
If you were going to sell it to an audience in one sentence, what would you say?
I would say, if you enjoy a live band and a party feel in a show where there is lots of improvised music, this is definitely the show for you.
You’re a Fringe regular – what do you think about the Fringe scene? Do you enjoy it?
The biggest Fringe is in Edinburgh, and then the second biggest in the world is Adelaide, but I think between the two the numbers are quite different.
Edinburgh has that feel that the minute you start your day, you can go into shows. In Adelaide, shows kind of start around 7 p.m., so it’s probably a bit of a softer experience when you’re there.
I think both are amazing. I always have a huge feeling that people produce more because of different experiences. I think it’s an amazing metaphor for the year: if you go to Edinburgh, you’re going to make something new. It’s going to feel a bit scary at first, it’s going to get good as the run goes on, and you’re going to leave feeling extremely confident with it.
I think Adelaide gets a slightly easier ride because, by the time I get there, a lot of the fear has gone. I’ve had people say to me, “Maybe you could start in Adelaide next year”, but again you’re building ideas. Ultimately, the show is constructed in real time, so the differences aren’t always huge.
Do you have anybody who really inspires you? Do you get to go to other shows?
I love seeing musical comedians. I adore musical comedy. Someone like Jazz Emu, I think, is incredible. Then there’s Two Hearts from New Zealand.
There are always such an amazing new group of comedians doing musical comedy here. They’re the ones that I tend to see on my nights off. I love the ones who push the form forward. The musicianship is stunning, and the comedy is great. Those are the things that maybe I want to give myself a bit of a night off for at the festival.
I also saw SIX quite early on, in its second year. The crowd would go wild, then they’d go outside for autographs. I knew it was special, watching people lose their minds as soon as the show finished.
Do you have any other strong memories of your time at the Fringe?
I think the early days are the ones you hold onto forever.
My first year of doing Abandoman, I think show one had three people in the crowd, and it was so unusual. So I said, “How do you all know each other?” Two of them said, “We’re a couple. We don’t know that person.”
That person was reviewing the show. So doing a whole show based on suggestions with one couple and one person reviewing it was pretty intense.
I’d bought some puppets just for a laugh. I hadn’t used them before, and I used them for one piece in the show. I ended up getting booked for another show on an island after the Fringe, and when I got there they loved the puppet bit. I had to explain there were no puppets in the show!
Those early days were really exhilarating. You go from not being a comedian and just loving comedy to being in a world where you are a comedian, which is amazing.
I also remember massively underestimating the size of the Fringe. I thought there would be about five venues.
You’ve been coming up to Edinburgh for a long time. What has changed over that time?
Yes, about 20 years. A couple of years off here and there, but more or less.
One of the things that is quite nice now is that comics are being more judicious with how long they want to perform for. Everyone used to do the whole month, but when you’re at different stages in your life, you might want to just come up for the amount of time that feels right. That’s really healthy, and everyone seems just a little bit happier.
Another thing I like is the large number of shows playing as works in progress. It’s great for comedians to take a little bit of pressure off themselves, and audiences can see the shows for comparatively little money.
I adore the Free Fringe because shows can be experimental and take risks. Audiences for these shows can be very generous. When I go to Free Fringe shows, audiences seem really kind and appreciative of what they’re seeing.
What downsides have you noticed?
Accommodation costs have increased pretty rapidly. Back in my early days, I was a representative for a dog food company, which didn’t bring in much money, but I could still afford to go up and get a room somewhere.
Now it suddenly seems a lot tougher, and it has made the Fringe much more difficult for acts to step into. Shows don’t always make money, even if they sell out.
What are you looking forward to in Edinburgh?
There’s a spa that I go to on my day off. I first went there about 10 years ago. It’s always been a little treat. It looks out over Edinburgh, and whenever I go there I definitely feel very relaxed. It’s got a little outdoor pool.
One of the joys I love when I go to Edinburgh is just asking people what their favourite show is. They know I like a bit of musical comedy, so quite a few people have mentioned a show called Hole, which is a one-person musical—that kind of beautiful, surreal, brilliant musical.
I like getting recommendations that I don’t know, so I love asking people, “What’s the show you enjoyed?” Maybe I’ll tell them a little bit about what I like and see what they suggest.
What’s next for Afterglow?
It’s going to come to London on 26 September at Underbelly Boulevard, and then I think I’m going to take it to the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and maybe Perth.