* * *
- CLIFF-NOTES ARCHIVE STARTS HERE -
Neil's Cliff Notes (18th March 2000): "I am very pleased with the way things have gone with the first four work-in-progress performances. I now have a clearer idea of what the show is and the excellent Paul Simpkin has taken the role of director. I have known Paul since our days together in the Cambridge Footlights. He has written lots of things for television and radio and has been a script editor on SPITTING IMAGE and Radio 5's THE TREATMENT. We have been working together in the last few months on a script for a sitcom called FRIENDLY FIRE.
We now go back to the drawing-board, refining and honing the scripted bits, then set off on the road. Some tour dates are lined up for the Spring and then we'll take the show to the Edinburgh Festival in August.
I am hoping to get t-shirts (anyone know any sponsors out there?) with "I'VE BEEN MULLARKEYED" or "IT'S ALL A LOAD OF MULLARKEY" printed on, which I can give to any Mullarkeys who come to the show.
I have been particularly pleased with the number of Mullarkeys who have come to the show, who have all been charming and have told me all sorts of things about our family which I hope one day to include in a book. So far I have met...
Helen (visiting from Dublin), Averil (and Mum and Dad - Pauline and John), Mary (born on the same date as Averil), Maggie (and John, Jim and Angie); Dymphna, John Malarkey (who was kind enough to give me a history of the Malarkeys of Portland, Oregon), Michael and Marion (from Sligo), John and Carolyn Malarkey (from Ohio), Chris and sister Catherine (whom I met years ago at the Comedy Store and won the phone-in when I appeared on the Phill Jupitus Show), Mari-Jo (from Wilmington, whose son MacDara looks just like me apparently; I hope we meet one day), Siobhan, Dave and Maria and, of course, Chris who knows much more about the Mullarkeys than me (he told me that a hundred and ten Mullarkeys died on the Titanic...)
Thanks to everyone who has helped with the show so far - Jo Harte and Cameron Duncan, Henry Murray, AWMS, Anthea Roy, Suzanna Rosenthal, Gordon Kennedy, Vianne Fahmi, the Tony Hawks Dance Studio (Covent Garden), Eva Pusnik, Skinny Elvis, Andrew Smart, and especially Lee Simpson and Richard Vranch.
Neil's Cliff Notes May 2000 "Latest show - went brilliantly. Cheers and applause. Cheers and applause. Extra curtain calls. Here's what some people wrote in the comments book..
"Excellent! Really intelligent and no obscenities"
"My face aches"
"Great show"
"Great stuff. Haven't laughed so much for ages".
"Very entertaining - but I won't sit in your front row again - Good luck"
This is what my brother Paul had to say
"Thank you for a very entertaining evening on Saturday. I hope that we did not distract you too much. The children (....Ryan aged 7, Laura aged nearly 5....) seem to have enjoyed it particularly the opening sequence. Was it Keystone Cops meets Laurel and Hardy with a dash of Mr Bean ? I thought that the handling of Mike (....who I prevailed upon to be my assistant for one bit [NM]...) was brilliant."
Sadly not many Mullarkeys there - except my brother Paul, nephew Ryan, niece Laura and Paul's wife Amanda (nee Nobbs). Though we did have a Mr and Mrs Blair, Mr Hiscock, Mr Freelove and Ms Kattenhorn. And several Smiths - one of whom told us he often has to spell his name over the phone...."
Neil's Cliff Notes August 1st, 2000.
The Edinburgh Festival is finally upon us. The preview dates around the country went very well. Thank you to everyone who came and supported the show. Some notable highlights were:
In Glasgow I met three lady Malarkeys, John Milarky (with whom I ended up playing cards till late into the night) and another Neil Mullarkey (!).
In Maidstone I met John F. Malarkey, who showed me the Book of Malarkeys. There was also a lady in the audience who could not stop laughing. This was all very gratifying until I came to the more heartfelt bits and she still couldn't stop. But she was great fun.
In Brighton the show was chosen as the Guardian's Critic's Choice Number One that week. We sold out. Simon Fanshawe came along and told me he was once mis-spelt as Simone Fanshave.
In Colchester the crowd was small but appreciative and the show was reviewed for the first time and extremely favourably - click here to see the review!
So I head off to Edinburgh, with a shorter show, without an interval, which means I may get less time to talk to the audience about their names. Shame. See you at the Gilded Balloon!
Neil's Cliff Notes (September15th 2000): Pleased to get great feedback on the Edinburgh performances!:
"Andrew Mallarkey:"
Just wanted to email you to let you know how much I enjoyed the show. My face was sore afterwards and I haven't laughed so much in ages!
"From Jim and Susan Malarky":
Hi from Dunfermline. We enjoyed the show.
"John Connaghan":
Good material, great delivery. Keep up the good work.
"Angus Pollok McCall":
I enjoyed the show very much.
"Pippa":
I caught your show at the Gilded Balloon (Paul Merton was in the audience and a rather nice chap called Dobie). Anyway, I just thought I'd let you know that I thought the show was brill and I'm really sorry that I'm not a Mullarkey myself.
"Paul Dobie":
Thank you for putting on what was the most entertaining show that we witnessed in our visit to the festival.
Also, thank you for returning my credit card after you had ascertained that my name was indeed Paul Dobie.
What does vg stand for in your internet address?
"Elly Brewer":
I really enjoyed the show, it was such fun and it made me laugh so much - just the job after three long Festival days!
"Louis Jones":
Having tried, unsuccessfully, at the Gilded Balloon for a few minutes' conversation, I am taking the liberty of writing to congratulate you on your splendid show, which captivated me completely. (I was the chap yesterday who had heard of Pina Bausch!). If we take for granted the meticulous preparation and superb skill of presentation involved, two salient features appealed to me particularly. You do not underestimate the intelligence of your audience or its capacity to catch an allusion and, most refreshingly, all your material is absolutely clean and free of foul language.
"Melissa Bartley":
I attended "All That Mullarkey" and "Whose In It Anyway?" [This was the improv show I guested in occasionally with my chums Stephen Frost, Andy Smart and Richard Vranch - NEIL]
and I must say, your performances were the highlight of my venue-hopping holiday. You have a foxy sense of humor.
"Cara Winters" (formerly Winterbottom - so my Grandad tells me!):
I was delighted to see your show at the festival this year - original, very amusing and a lot of it true! Keep up the good work.
"Dawn Ellis" (BBC Radio Producer):
I really enjoyed it - by far one of the best things I saw up there.
"Helen Moon":
The best show I saw in Edinburgh.
Neil's Cliff Notes December 2000:
I've spent much of this year working on the show and it's a great way to welcome in 2001 by announcing the dates at the Soho Theatre. The show has evolved and changed in so many ways.
The more I do the show, the better it gets, the more I begin to understand what it is. People tell me it is not like anything they have seen. It has been great fun to involve the audience more and more, to weave them in and out of the scripted sections.
Many people have commented on the unique style I am evolving of using audience interaction. Most people would expect a comic talking to them to attack or insult them. That is the very opposite of my approach. It's about sharing something- in this case, the problems we might have suffered from having eccentric (or sometimes very seemingly humdrum) names.
FEEDBACK FROM AUTUMN SHOWS:
"Matt Tee"
"Thanks for the entertaining site and show. I'm the Mr Tee who was silly enough to sit in the front row for your show at the East Dulwich Tavern last night. I like shows about names, given the grief mine gave me as a kid. We (the nice woman who isn't Mrs Tee - yet - and I) saw you in Edinburgh this year and liked the show enough to think it was worth seeing again. We were right. We might even see it again. (but I'll seek mid-audience obscurity!). Thanks again
"Samantha Brocklebank" (from Canada)
I saw the show twice in Edinburgh. Thank you for such a great time. Even 3 months later we are still laughing. Only yesterday, I said to my friend, "De quelle couleur est ton veston?" and she insisted she was a mushroom. [IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT SHE IS REFERRING TO - COME AND SEE THE SHOW ...NEIL] Is there any chance of the show being available on video? I would gladly pay heaps of money for the interpretive dance section alone.
Mike Rees
We really enjoyed ourselves and it paid off seeing the show a second time as it had changed a lot since the try-outs earlier in the year. We thought the dialogue with the audience on surnames kicked it off really well and enjoyed the more surreal stuff too (but please, any particular hints on how to retell stuff like your ballet scene to the reading of the communist manifesto?). I'm glad I've caught up with you on this project - it not only has universal appeal (surnames etc) but I connect a little with it personally too! Good luck with it all.
Mei Chan
I enjoyed your performance last night very much. You are indeed a very gifted person, a talented comedian.
Leon Kotze
Thanks for a great show. I enjoyed it, especially the sections consisting of the acronyms, the cricket dance choreography, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Wittgenstein's philosophy...
Juliet Blight
I want to thank you. We loved the show. What a wonderful way to spend a Saturday night. Lines from the show keep popping into my head and making me smile. It was a wonderful blend of physical and verbal humour and you absolutely must perform the show again next year. I particularly want to re-acquaint myself with Guillaume - a truly pleasing invention. I loved your interaction with the audience - so refreshingly good-natured. We all seemed like your chums by the end of the show. The older couple next to us kept laughing and holding hands, enjoying the experience together.
Julia Lampshire
I wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the show. Great fun, as always.
Kathy Brister and her friend Sarah
We both thought it was fantastic. Congratulations. How do you remember everything so well? You are a very very funny man. And the Comedy Store Players are truly excellent.
Peter Treganna
I thought it was very funny and have already recommended it.
Judy Rantzen
Thanks for easily the most fun and easy-to-organise birthday party that I have ever had. Please put me on your mailing list.
Flaminia Cinque
I really enjoyed it. What an entertaining show.
Fiona Mullarkey
Thank you for being a catalyst for a mini family reunion. We genuinely thought the show was very funny.
Ciaran Hinds
It was wonderful. Brilliant.
Donald Sumpter
I really loved it. I could have watched you all night.
Clarissa and Paddy Zervudachi
It was great. We loved it. And, days later, we are still sing the "Neil Mullarkey Chorus".
...more of what the audience is saying