We had a chat with acclaimed comic, TNT Show host and occasional CBBC presenter, Holly Walsh, one of the founders of Popcorn Comedy, about the night and their plans for The Fringe. Good, thank you! So, could you tell me more about Popcorn Comedy? So, we wanted to make a night where we could showcase the best funny films on the Internet, where people making funny films could come to see how their films work in front of a live audience. If you’ve got something on the Internet, you don’t know what the audience reaction is, you don’t know what people laugh at, what gets the big belly laughs, things like that. Yeah, having been to a Popcorn Comedy night before, it felt like I was watching YouTube videos with friends. Yeah, everyone does that. They sit there and they go, “Oh, have you seen this one?” We didn’t want to show films that are like a kitten falling off the back of a chair. Just people who have made comedy. We tried to make the live nights really exciting, so it doesn’t just feel like another night at the cinema. We want the audience to have a really active part in their enjoyment of it. That’s why we have a live act as well. To break it up a bit. We also say at the beginning, “Treat every film like it’s someone on stage.” I think it’s important that people read it that way, otherwise they may as well just check YouTube. We’re really across the board. I think if somebody said to us, “Can you do a perfectly clean show?”, we’d have more than enough films that are clean, edifying comedy. We’ve also got more than enough to do X-rated stuff. It’s such a mixture. We did Latitude recently and that was really good fun. It was certificate 15, so you couldn’t do anything too rude. There’s so much brilliant stuff out there that’s not about shocking people. Yeah, I think that the Iinternet is perfect for that. Gone are the days when you send in a pitch to a TV company and then hope they go, “We like this.” One of the best ways to showcase your ideas is just to do a really shonky version of it. Nobody’s gonna look at that and say, “Oh the grading is appalling!” They’re gonna notice something really good about that and then TV can pick it up. No one’s going to tell you not to do something. If you make it and put it up, you might get 50,000 people telling you they hate it. But, if you can deal with that, then that’s a good start. A large part of what Popcorn Comedy is all about is people sending you their own clips. Is there any advice you’d give to people thinking about doing so? Also, make the thing you want to make. Don’t try and second guess people, because you’ll never know what they’ll laugh at. Make what you find funny and trust your instincts. Are there any challenges bringing Popcorn Comedy up to Edinburgh? So, who should come to Popcorn Comedy? Anyone and everyone! Some of it will be a bit rude, some of it will be delightful. But I think there’ll be something in for everyone! We did a night at the Tabernacle in London and had brilliant people doing odd stuff. Josie went through her favourite food blog, some guy for a year kept a blog of all his breakfasts. Graham Linehan did a lecture about the Internet. David Cross showed a pilot he did, so acts tend to use it to do something a little unusual. It’s stand-ups you know doing something different, as well as all the films you may or may not have seen. Holly Walsh, thanks a bunch !
