We sat down for an exclusive interview with Tom Clarkson and Owen Visser who bring the Mr Thing Show to Edinburgh Fringe. The Mr Thing Show mixes puppets, live music, gaming and audience interaction into one chaotic experience.
This show runs from 5-30th August at Assembly George Square Gardens – Tickets here.
Mr. Thing has become a cult favourite at the Fringe. How did it all begin?
TOM: Mr. Thing actually started as a show-and-tell for our mates. We rented a pub theatre in London and ran a monthly night where our friends would come and talk about a thing they’d been working on that we’d missed. You see we’d missed a thing. Missed a thing = Mr. Thing.
OWEN: Despite the terrible name it really took off.
TOM: Yeah! We realised that people really enjoyed the same thing we did: celebrating cool “things” that people can do. So we just kept going with it and the show kind of grew from that into this TV variety show that tries to discover the strangest and funniest and wildest stuff from a variety of special guests.
OWEN: All of that from a terrible pun about missing things.
TOM: Why must you bring shame to the family name Owen, why?
After ten years at the Fringe, how has the show evolved while still holding onto the anarchic spirit that audiences first connected with?
OWEN: If anything it’s much more anarchic now! We cram so much in.
TOM: Owen is controlling everything from a desk on the stage… moving cameras, sound effects, lighting, a remote-controlled Debbie McGee, a robot drummer and a ping pong ball-firing bum.
OWEN: It’s a lot.
TOM: Some would say too much.
OWEN: Many do.
TOM: And I bound around playing games, sticking cameras on people’s heads, inviting people on stage to show us their party tricks…
OWEN: And I have to keep up.
TOM: Some would say you often don’t.
OWEN: Many do.
TOM: The chaos of it all being on the brink of falling apart is the Mr. Thing sweet spot!
OWEN: Some would say it often does actually fall apart.
TOM: Many do.
Your work embraces deliberately homemade, playful theatricality despite its heavy use of tech. What excites you about combining low-fi silliness with ambitious live production elements?
OWEN: We have a real passion for putting as much effort as possible into the stupidest jokes.
TOM: Our accountant doesn’t have that same passion.
OWEN: What is he passionate about?
TOM: Bee keeping.
The audience seems central to the show, from camera interactions to choosing side quests. How important is spontaneity and audience participation in shaping each performance?
TOM: As the audience enter they scan a QR code and fill in a form with their name, job and party trick.
OWEN: Nothing says comedy like a bit of pre-show admin.
TOM: And from there we pick out our favourites to be guests and crew as we build them into a TV show that broadcasts nowhere to nobody.
OWEN: We’ve had some really fun guests… like the guy who could eat three crème caramels at once with no hands, or the lady who could do an impression of Marge Simpson singing Barry Manilow.
TOM: But you also don’t have to be involved at all! If you just want to sit back and enjoy the show that’s totally okay too.
You’ve collaborated with artists including Dan Clarkson and Jack Garratt. How has bringing together people from comedy, music and theatre influenced the show’s unique identity?
TOM: Our show really shouldn’t exist. We’re very lucky to have lots of talented friends and family who help us make it happen.
OWEN: My background is in technical theatre and Tom makes films, so we bring our mates in from those worlds and try to fill the show each year with even more unnecessarily complicated and unique nonsense.
TOM: We’re still surprised that it all comes together, to be honest.
Your decades-long friendship clearly sits at the heart of the production. Why do you think that genuine chemistry and shared history translates so strongly to audiences watching the chaos unfold on stage?
TOM: We’ve been making silly Things together since we were five years old and that’s all these shows still feel like to us. It’s just two idiots trying to make each other laugh… except with lights, cameras and a remote-controlled Kevin Bacon.
OWEN: We’ve known each other so long we can predict what the other one is going to do. We really do finish each other’s…
TOM: …prison sentences.
OWEN: He has a lot of unpaid parking tickets.
TOM: And he loves toilet wine.
OWEN: It’s like an episode of Sister Sister set in Belmarsh.