Big Stuff – Drawing on their own personal experiences of the loss of their parents, acclaimed married Second City comedy duo Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus explore how, in the aftermath of loss or change, we interact with the objects that are left behind.
(Assembly (Roxy Boxy) from 5th – 30th August (not 11th) at 14:55): https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/big-stuff
1. How did the process of building Big Stuff together as both life partners and collaborators shape the emotional honesty of the piece?
Matt: I came in thinking, “Let’s make the funniest show possible.” I was writing jokes and assuming that would carry it.
Naomi: I was thinking more about the heart. The loss of my parents was more recent, and it felt important that we honour them properly.
Matt: I thought the comedy would be enough.
Naomi: I felt that if we were honest, the comedy would land more deeply.
Matt: And, annoyingly, she was right.
2. What drew you to using everyday objects as an entry point into conversations about grief, memory, and letting go?
Matt: When we became what we call “old orphans,” I wanted to throw everything out. Truly—get it gone.
Naomi: I wanted to keep everything. Every object felt like a connection worth preserving.
Matt: I love throwing things away. I will buy something at a dollar store and take it straight to the landfill.
Naomi: I’ll keep an empty iPhone box because it might be useful one day.
Matt: That tension—hold on vs. let go—became the engine of the show.
Naomi: And we realised it wasn’t just about stuff. It’s how we process emotions, too.
3. How do you balance the unpredictability of improv with the responsibility of handling such personal and audience-shared stories?
Matt: The show has a solid structure—we know where we’re going.
Naomi: But the audience cards open it up. That’s where real life comes in.
Matt: When someone shares something personal, it stops being about bits.
Naomi: We become caretakers of that memory, even if just for a moment.
Matt: The goal isn’t to chase the joke.
Naomi: It’s to meet the moment honestly. If we’re present, the tone reveals itself. Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s quiet, sometimes it’s just “thank you.”
4. In inviting audiences to contribute their own “big stuff,” what kinds of moments have most surprised or shifted the show for you?
Matt: We thought we had designed the question to sidestep grief.
Naomi: “What’s something in your home that reminds you of someone?”
Matt: First show, someone talked about her husband’s ring.
Naomi: And it became clear he had passed away.
Matt: We realised immediately that we hadn’t avoided grief at all.
Naomi: We had just given it a different doorway.
Matt: That changed the show. Not to avoid those moments, but to be ready to hold them.
5. How did working with Kat Sandler refine the interplay between comedy and the quieter, more tender beats of the piece?
Matt: Kat made it clear we couldn’t hide behind the comedy.
Naomi: Because we trusted her, she could really challenge us.
Matt: Sometimes that meant cutting jokes.
Naomi: Often, it meant shaping when they landed.
Matt: She’d say, “Wait—stay here a second longer.” She feels that just as comedy comes in threes. So does the tragedy. It helped us in our dramatic writing.
Naomi: She guided us in letting the audience recognise themselves before releasing the laugh.
Matt: It sharpened the comedy and deepened the tenderness.
6. What have you discovered about the different ways people hold on to objects, memories, or each other—through performing this show?
Matt: People don’t just hold on to things—they hold on through them.
Naomi: Objects become containers for memory, identity, and feeling.
Matt: Some people grip tightly; others hold more lightly. The same object can mean totally different things to different people.
Naomi: A keepsake for one, a burden for another.
Matt: It’s not one instinct, it’s a spectrum.
Naomi: But underneath it all is the same impulse: to keep something alive.