Comedians’ Choice Award winner (Best Show 2019), Joz Norris has finally completed his life’s work, and he’s ready to unveil it to the world. But what exactly is it? And now that he’s done it, what will he do next? A new show about ambition, closure and moving on from the creator and star of BBC Radio 4’s The Dream Factory and A Small Talk On Small Talk. Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality and Chortle Award for Best Variety Act nominee.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show/event/performance is?
I would not mind at all, thank you for asking so politely. I’m bringing a show called “You Wait. Time Passes.” to the Fringe, which is about ambition, failure, closure and moving on. It’s about spending your life waiting for something to happen, or expecting to be rewarded just because you’ve put the time in. It’s about the capriciousness of life and the cost of chasing your dreams! Sounds pretentious? Don’t worry, it’s basically just me being an idiot for an hour, and most of the time it ends with a genuine sense of mass hysteria in the room. So I can guarantee a good, fun, silly time.
Tell us about the creative team and the process involved?
I started out working on the show just by myself, assembling ideas and getting it into as solid a shape as I could before looking for outside help. In the old days, that would be how I’d make a show full stop – I’d make the show I wanted to make, and that was that. These days, I know that that process only ever results in shows that are “Good enough,” and if you want to make something really special, you gotta collaborate. So I teamed up with my director Jon Brittain, my creative consultant and art director Miranda Holms, my producer Queenie Miller, and all of them helped pull on the threads I’d set up and helped me go deeper and bolder and make something more coherent and compelling. I’m really proud of what we’ve built together; it feels like a show that’s really stretching my abilities and developing my skills, and I’m really grateful to everyone who’s been a part of it.
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
I’m actually really looking forward to it. The last time I came I was very proud of how it went, but utterly exhausted by it – I had spent the entire month basically doing a high-intensity workout every day, running around in a top hat shouting about magic before eventually pretending to shit myself while being menaced by a big zombie rabbit called Mr Stonkers. I needed a bit of time off after all that. But the time off has given me a good grounding for how to approach it, I think, and has reminded me of all the things I love about it – the kind of work you can bring there (see above), the kinds of audiences you can share it with. It’s also just such a lovely city to call home for a month. Can’t wait to go back to the poutine place.
With shows from all over the world at the Fringe, what sets yours apart?
I bet not many other shows at the Fringe this year have been being developed for over three decades. The secret project at the heart of my show is a labour of love that I’ve been obsessed with completing for most of my life. In many ways, this Fringe represents the completion of my life’s work, the culmination of 30 years of creative toil, the fulfilment of my purpose on this planet. That can’t be true for all of them. That would be crazy.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping the audience will take away?
If there’s something you’re waiting to do with your life, or something you’re waiting to become, just do it. Pull your finger out of your arse and do it. Because what’s it even doing up there?
Your Ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t…?
The King and Queen of the realm are there, of course. Bruce Springsteen at the back, punching the air in triumph because he’s never seen anything like it. My estranged wife, Susan, and my son Daniel are in the front row, starry-eyed, realising they were wrong to ever doubt me. We will have a big family dinner tonight, the first in years – corned beef hash, like the old days. My friend Karl is not in attendance – he programmed some software for me which it would not do to discuss in polite society. If he came I wouldn’t put it past him to shuffle up to me after the show and say “So how are you getting on with that sexbot?” just as I’m trying to say thank you for coming to the King and Queen of the realm. Karl has no social graces, and despite everything he’s done for me, he is banned from all my performances.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
I will be relaxing in my secret underground spa, pouring custard into the pool to see if it makes the water thick enough to walk on. As for shows, I’m really looking forward to Lorna Rose Treen, Jazz Emu, Luke McQueen, Lucy Pearman, Ayoade Bamgboye, among others. So many legends, that’s just a small handful of them.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the Fringe, performance, and the industry?
Please make the accommodation cheaper, if it’s within your power (don’t worry, I know it’s not). But genuinely, the spiralling rents are a race to the bottom. People talk about a creative boycott of the Fringe to force the prices to come down, but the problem is, there will always be people wealthy enough and willing enough to pay those prices, so boycotting it accelerates its transformation into a playground where wealthy artists put on shows for wealthy audience members (this is also the problem with capitalism generally, of course). We have to preserve the idea that art is for everybody, which is something the Fringe celebrates in theory, but is becoming increasingly difficult for it to hold onto in practice.
Joz Norris: You Wait. Time Passes.
runs at Venue 23: 10Dome at Pleasance Dome
Photo credit: Oliver Holms
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