April 2010
Katy Brand’s Big Ass Tour is on its way!
Visual Design & Projection Content Production by Knifedge: The Creative Network
Projection Design – Nina Dunn for Knifedge
Set design – Ellan Parry for Knifedge.
The tour opened successfully on 16th April at Brighton’s Theatre Royal with a great audience and happy teams all round.
Following the press night in Bromley, the show has received three stars from both the Guardian and the Times. Of course, the show’s not about the video and set, but here’s what the Times had to say:
“The costume changes are commendably snappy, covered up by an inventive series of video inserts on the giant TV screen buried upstage.”
And from theartsdesk.com:
“On tour, Brand uses video inserts projected on a dinky mock-up of a TV set to entertain the audience while she is offstage, a device that’s used to enterprising comedic effect.”
“The set is a big cartoon television […] which holds a screen within it for projections. This clever technology allows Katy to talk to the screen and interact with it. Knifedge Creative Network’s Nina Dunn has designed and directed the production of content – everything from the opening titles through to filming Katy’s characters against green screen for Katy to interact with live on stage. A high point has Katy’s Lily Allen on stage talking to three other Lily Allens on screen. It’s a very ambitious show in terms of costume changes – such as from Lady Gaga to the Queen in less than 30 seconds – but these are managed flawlessly with film sequences maintaining the interest level during the changes.”
And from her appearance in Leeds:
“[…] the characters which got the greatest laughs – had the audience near enough rolling in the aisles, in fact – were her own inventions. The stoned nun who couldn’t keep a straight face, in an astonishingly clever move, taps into that hideous human instinct which forces laughter when you least should. Yet more amusing is Captain Rosie Fielding, the viciously feminist, butch soldier recruiting women to her blokeish, peeing-standing-up ways, who culminates her speech with a ludicrous rendition of Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies’.
It is likely that these two hugely subversive, outrageous and crude characters were the reason Mr and Mrs Bailhalfwaythrough didn’t return. What they missed was Brand herself and her own intelligence and wit shining through. Yes, what I had seen of Ms Brand on TV was correct. Her characters are every bit as raw, cringeworthy and downright detestable as I expected. But as the show wore on I caught a glimpse of an incredibly versatile and imaginative comedian who is unafraid to push boundaries.
To give her time to switch costumes and characters, Katy stitches together her skits with films of her characters on a giant TV screen. Some of these videos are so convincing and cleverly woven into the show that you could believe that her Lilly Allen actually does go through a door on the stage and into the screen, or that a pre-recorded anchorwoman is responding live to Brand’s news reporter ad-libbing with the audience.
At the end of the day I can only admire a woman who can endure as much time with characters this hideous as she must have done to craft this smart piece of theatre.”
Katy Brand’s Big Ass Tour from Nina Dunn on Vimeo.