Fat Man

The Marlborough Theatre,

Princes Street,

Brighton,

Wednesday, February 25

FROM Billy Connolly going into graphic detail about a case of food poisoning to Richard Pryor creating a routine out of setting himself on fire, tragedy has always played a major role in the best stand-up comedy.

And with his new touring show Martin Bonger has turned to one of the greatest of all tragedies – that of the lyre-player Orpheus, who through one single action condemned his wife Eurydice to remain in the underworld forever.

Brighton-based Bonger reimagines Orpheus as an overweight former rock star turned stand-up, telling his story to an audience made up of the Greek gods.

“Tragedy lives right next door to comedy,” says Bonger on a break from a residency at the Waterloo Vaults in London. “Orpheus is a person who messed up in a very human way.

“I was interested in that thing which can happen when you are possessed by grief – where you get trapped in a sense of going round and round in circles looking at the same point again and again where you messed up. In my research I looked at the different stages you have when you suffer a loss – and I think in the hour-long show he goes through them all, from melancholy to rage to regret. The difference is the night you come to see the show is the night he might have a breakthrough.”

The way Orpheus deals with his grief is through a supply of Homer Simpson-style doughnuts, which Bonger scoffs during the show.

“It’s quite a few extra calories,” he admits. “But the show is really physical – Orpheus dances and rocks out, and I’m wearing a fat suit which weighs nearly a stone – it’s a workout for me every night, I come off absolutely drenched!”

When it came to building his take on Orpheus, who according to Greek myth was the greatest musician in the world, Bonger looked both at classic rock stars as well as stand-up heroes.

“In the back of my mind were figures like Nick Cave and Tom Waits,” says Bonger. “Cave has written about Orpheus himself.

“There is a playfulness in the show which deals with the idea that he’s like a faded rock star. He makes it clear that the music he played was the best music you have ever heard.

“When I did my first test shows last year somebody said to me I needed to watch Bill Hicks. He is a real inspiration – he walks a fine line between being angry with his audience and having a twinkle in his eye. Orpheus feels like the gods have trapped him, and want something from him – he’s angry with them.”

Although this is a one-man show another character is present throughout – Eurydice herself.

“She’s the counterpoint to his music, this sense of him being a god,” says Bonger. “In my version of the story although he has a godly gift he is mortal and can die. Eurydice is someone who brings him back to earth. She’s a real earthly presence in the show – she’s someone I’m really discovering as he relives the relationship.”