Alexis Dubus and Dan Antopolski dip into their archive material for Comedy Connoisseurs
By Geoff Nibble – The Daily Squirrel
Comedian Alexis Dubus will be taking the night off from his French alter ego Marcel Lucont to perform at Cambridge Junction this week alongside fellow comic Dan Antopolski.
The show is called Comedy Connoisseurs and is the first in a new series of stand-up gigs from the team behind the popular Jesterlarf comedy nights.
The format involves award-winning acts dipping into the archives and performing their old Edinburgh Fringe shows – some of which are more than 20 years old.
Alexis, you’re delving into the archives and performing an old show, A R*ddy Brief History of Swearing. Are you looking forward to it and what can the audience expect?
I am. This was actually my first-ever full-length show, which I wrote in 2009, so thanks for making me remember it for one night. As the title very much suggests, it’s all about the history of swearing – why we do it, how we do it, how it’s done in other cultures, how it’s changed over the years.
I ended up performing it all over the world – who’d have known swearing would be so popular? One of my favourite memories was performing it on a boat in Cambridge – again, thanks for that.
An absolute pleasure to be cursing down the Cam as bewildered folk passed by its banks.
When you need to know the time but you’ve forgotten your watch but you find a dandelion and blow it to find out the time, do you find it is accurate to the nearest hour or do you find that you always get the same time like some kind of dandelion Groundhog Day?
Good question, not enough interviewers ask this. I always keep a back-up dandelion in case the one I’ve picked has somehow grown from the seeds of a Parisian or Singaporean dandelion – they can travel some distance and will of course give the wrong time.
Which word would you use if you could only use one for the rest of your life?
“Pardon?”
Where would you relocate if you were forced to leave the country?
New Zealand – a beautiful, spacious land and far enough away to escape the misdemeanours which led to my dismissal.
If you could only teach three things to your future child, what would it be?
Daddy is always right and must not be questioned; everyone’s pretty much making it up as they go along; chess.
What period would you travel to if you were given a time machine?
Summer.
What’s the food you usually refuse to share?
Soup. It just gets messy.
What’s your favourite board game?
This wordy nerd loves a bit of Scrabble. I got to play Rob Rouse’s late-night rude-words-only Scrabble show in Edinburgh, which obviously I loved. That’s right, I’m using this to plug someone else’s show. Rob Rouse is great.
Who would you want to trade lives with for a day?
Rob Rouse. God he’s good. He’s playing at York Playhouse on March 3.
Who is the best movie villain?
Lord Summerisle from The Wicker Man. Puts on a decent pagan do, cracking accent and can really sport a turtleneck, like all the best baddies.
Alexis Dubus will be presenting A R*ddy Brief History of Swearing this Friday (March 3) at Cambridge Junction (J2), while Dan Antopolski will be performing Old Gold (Remix), from his Second Coming and 2000 shows, interspersed with bits from other old shows and some new material.
Dan’s first solo Edinburgh show, Second Coming, was nominated for the Perrier Award for Best New Show in 2000 and his 2001 effort, 2000, was nominated for the Perrier Award Best Show. Since then he has created 10 more acclaimed Edinburgh shows, plus numerous radio productions.
[Read more: Jesterlarf: Having a laugh in Cambridge for 20 years, Comedian Mike Gunn to appear at Jesterlarf Comedy Club]
A R*ddy Brief History of Swearing won the Top 10 Edinburgh Fringe Experience award and received four-star reviews across the board. Alexis also performed the piece at the Cambridge Comedy Festival on the river as part of the Silly Punt shows.
Tickets for the show are priced £20 and are available at junction.co.uk. For more on Comedy Connoisseurs, visit jesterlarf.com/event/comedy-connoisseurs/.
