MARK Brailsford is artistic director of Brighton-based comedy company The Treason Show. Featuring more than 40 writers and performers, and with a topical, satirical focus, the sketch show has been performed in Brighton and surrounding areas since 2000.

The company tackles the issue of Brexit in a special Post Referendum Edition and here Brailsford talks to EDWIN GILSON about how it is coming together.

Did any part of you think it was “too soon” for a satirical take on Brexit, given the upheaval it has already caused?

Quite the opposite, we need to try and make sense of it while at the same time cheer everyone up. Having done shows after massive events in the past, I find it helps to alleviate the stress by finding our way to the lighter side of things. It can lead to a form of catharsis after seismic events such as this. Laughter really is the best medicine, which in turn leads to perspective. People are still trying to make sense of it all – as am I – as events are so fast-moving. However, I am relishing the challenge because, if anything, now is the time to nail our idiotic leaders for their stupidity with satire. The tool of ridicule is a time-honoured method of processing huge events.

Given how recent the referendum is, you must have created the show very quickly: did you know you wanted to satirise the vote regardless of which way it went?

Yes! I prepared for both eventualities and had a hunch it would be ‘Leave’. When governments change or big events take place, we usually have to evolve the show and that keeps it fresh. We constantly attempt to reinvent the satirical wheel in The Treason Show. This is such a massive change of the political landscape that initially I was flummoxed by the loss of so many of the regular characters we portray in the show. But working on new angles and new gags has not only lifted my sense of gloom, it has re-energised the show. When we started out we had Bill Clinton in the White House, John Major as PM, the Queen Mother was still alive and email didn’t exist. Then the comedy gold that was George W Bush was elected and the wheel turns again.

What were your immediate feelings upon finding out about the vote?

Firstly, I thought that having spent 20 years satirising events and thinking I was well versed in the Machiavellian machinations of politicians and the corrupt and self-serving interests of the elite, I would find it unsurprising. The very opposite was true. I found it shocking and hilarious. I was amazed at how spectacularly the Tory party imploded and how quickly we found ourselves living in a divided country. As we say in my trade: “You couldn’t make it up.” There is the danger that events and the characters that instigate them can be more satirical than anything we could produce.

Are you still updating the show to include recent happenings: the Conservative leader vote and the Labour coup attempt?

This is by far the toughest show for years but we put new stuff in the show daily, right up to the night of the show. I sometimes add topical material 10 minutes before the show. I can safely say the current pace of the news cycle is unprecedented. I love it!

Was there a unanimous sense in the company that Brexit was the most momentous event you have ever tackled in satire? Does anything else in your memory come close?

The death of Diana, the Iraq war and 9/11 spring to mind. During the September 11 attacks in 2001 we were halfway through rehearsals for that month’s show and basically junked the whole thing and started from scratch. We didn’t do any jokes about it head-on but we acknowledged the event in a serious song and the feeling of relief was palpable in the audience. We then tackled other subjects in our trademark fashion and the audience laughed. The relief that we can all connect by sharing that great gift, laughter, lifted everyone’s spirits.

Do you impersonate certain personalities involved with both Leave and Remain campaigns in your show? Do you have any personal favourites?

My David Cameron has become a favourite so I’ll be sad to let him go. I heard a local MP told Mr Cameron that I played him like Leslie Phillips (“Hellllaiir, ding dong”) and he laughed, apparently. Half of me liked his reaction, the other half was gutted! But Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, Teresa May and Jeremy Corbyn (as Obi-Wan Kenobi) will keep the show refreshed with plenty of character fun. We never fight over which characters to play – we vote on it and then I tell them I’ve won. We are a democratic dictatorship. Art mirrors life on The Treason Show.

The Treason Show has been a staple of the Brighton comedy scene for 15 years. Has the cast changed a lot in that time?

The beauty of the show is that no one, including me, is bigger than the show itself. The topical format is king and of the 200-odd actors (some of them very odd) we’ve had some incredible performers. Finding new talent is one of my most satisfying tasks.

I hear you are tackling the (mis)fortunes of the England team, too. Any teasers to this part of the show?

I am still suffering from the pain of it, as I was in France! I’ve cut up my England fan card and vowed never to watch that bunch of... sorry, swear words are all I can find on this subject. They’ll get a more accurate kicking in the show than a Harry Kane corner.

What is the secret to great satire?

Sometimes satire should comfort the discomforted and discomfort the comfortable, but I also just love making an audience laugh. It’s what’s needed right now. Our founding motto was by George Bernard Shaw: “The best way to get an idea into someone’s head is to shove down their throats while their mouths are open laughing.”

Anything else?

Yes, The Treason Show is also putting on a performance of Much Ado About Nothing at Brighton Open Air Theatre on August 14.

The Treason Show: Post Referendum Edition runs at the Ropetackle Arts Centre in Little High Street, Shoreham, and the Rialto Theatre, Dyke Road, Brighton. Ropetackle: July 15, 8pm, £14, 01273 464440. Rialto: July 22 and 23, 8.30pm, £13.50, 01273 725230