Introduce yourself please.
My real name is Lil Wenker. I’m an American clown, and I’ve lived in London for the past three years making and touring solo clown shows. My style is hyper-physical, rowdy, interactive (eee!), and I’m obsessed with playing loads of freaky little men on stage.
How would you pitch Boyking to someone who is a fan of Joffrey from A Game Of Thrones?
The shocking truth!? I’ve never seen Game of Thrones (though I did flyer for a GoT musical at Fringe many years ago and was a very convincing actor). But if you love horrible, conniving, royal boykings, this is the show for YOU! From what I understand, BOYKING is like Joffery if he knew how to tap dance and weren’t censored for TV.
And how would you pitch it to someone always roots for the good guys?
No spoilers, but there are indeed some good guys in the show. I play loads of characters, and I think a lot of the fun is choosing who to root for and how to do so. I want the show to feel super rowdy! I want people to BOO and CHEER! So if you’re rooting for the good guy, you can actually … do it!
Where on earth did the story for this show come from?
Last year, I was making a show called DUNK about a little boy who wanted to dunk a basketball. It was boring. Looking for a new idea, I looked through my journal and found a mysterious note I had made months before: “boyking.” I brought it to my director, Cecily Nash, and we began exploring what that could look like. More and more, it became a great vehicle to express how I’m feeling about the worldwide fight for power we see on a macro and micro level.
Do we still need a monarchy?
Oh gosh, as someone who’s not from the UK, I feel like I’m not the best person to answer this. But I will say — the idea of a king feels extremely strange and antiquated and silly to me. Let me be clear, the US is NOT proving a gold star alternative model. I’ll keep it simple: having an existing monarchy has provided me loads of comedy inspiration.
How silly does the show get?
Cecily Nash (director) and I always start from the silly and build from there. We believe that the only way to engage audiences at all, especially in dark themes, is through stupid and absurd humor. Laughter helps us see truth more clearly, and it provides a form of safety and catharsis. So, yes, it is silly through and through.
What is your favourite part of the show?
I love playing all the different characters! It’s been so fun discovering how to change physicality and flip flop between voices, and it has challenged me so much as a performer. I also love the singing and dancing. I dreamt of being a musical theatre actor as a kid, and I get to live my version of that dream in this show. You can tell me how much those six months of beginner tap dance have paid off.
Why the Edinburgh Fringe?
Oh, man, the Fringe is the single greatest opportunity to perform in a year. I obviously love making people laugh, and at Fringe this is my entire life. In a normal week, I’ll gig a few times a week and perform 1 or 2 longer shows. At Fringe, I get to be on stage for at least an hour a day with some of the most enthusiastic audience members you can ask for! It’s truly a dream for a comedian, and I’m excited to learn even more about the show and my relationship to it over the next month.
What was your inspiration for the show?
I think a lot of us feel quite helpless as those in power seem increasingly evil while suffering less and less consequences. And I think, secretly, we all want a little power. This feeling that “If I were in charge, things would be different” seems to linger just below the surface. People tell each other off on the tube or in the supermarket. It’s tragic and sometimes a bit funny, how each of us are plotting our own secret ascent.
A much simpler answer is I’ve been wanting to make a clown adaptation of Hamlet for ages, and in a VERY strange way that desire guided the creation process.
Where else can we see you?
On Instagram — @not.little.wenker
In Ronny Eucalitto’s Love Hour Live at Monkey Barrel 19 and 20 August
At the gosh darn show!
Monkeys or Monarchs?
I feel like I’ve already taken the piss out of Monarchs, so maybe my next show will be about
monkeys.
Doctor Who or Doctor No?
Don’t tell the visa immigration officers, but I’ve also not seen that 🙁
Truth or Beauty?
I suffered from a great lying problem as a kid. It got me in trouble, officially branded me the second favorite daughter, but it has made me a mischievous and cheeky clown. So I’ll go with beauty. The truth is less fun.
Lil Wenker: BOYKING, 9:45pm at Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker 1
