Chris Marlton is one of Australia’s premier character comedians. From South African rocket scientists, New York stand-up comedians, and South London poets, Chris’ arsenal of characters is endless. He’s also one of the hardest working artists in the industry, relentlessly performing across the country, including at five straight Melbourne International Comedy Festivals. Not to mention releasing an hour-long comedy special, Moonlight Pilot, earlier this month that’s already getting thousands of views on YouTube.
I chatted to Chris about his new show, Eggplants & Cigarettes, ahead of a one-night-only performance at the Canberra Theatre on 12 October.
Chris Marlton and I are at Two Before Ten café in Aranda. He orders a three-shot long black in a mug. I’m not surprised. Chris’ latest show involves him playing three different characters over the course of an hour – it’s the type of performance that requires a high-caffeine intake.
It’s not just the audience who don’t know what’s going to happen…
“A goal of my comedy is for the audience to have an immersive experience,” he explains. “I like the idea that you can come to a show and instead of observing someone telling stories and hearing about how adventures unfold, you can feel like you’re part of the story, actually on the adventure.”
Chris debuted Eggplants & Cigarettes at the Sydney Fringe Festival in September and is now bringing it back for one night in his hometown, Canberra. The show opens with South African rocket-scientist, Elon Gates, on a stool regaling his friends in the audience with a friendly yet authoritative story or three. Fans will remember Elon from two of Chris’ previous shows and Chris suggests the audience take a leaf out of Elon’s book and “partake in a glass of red wine to toast the start of the show.”
I want to be inside the joke with the audience.
I ask Chris about his characters’ regular and hilarious interactions with members of the audience, which are a key feature of every Chris Marlton show, and how he manages to never make the audience feel self-conscious like some other comedians.
“[Audience interaction] creates an energy and spontaneity where it’s not just the audience who don’t know what’s going to happen,” Chris says. “I don’t know what an audience response will be or where the interaction might take us. I don’t just want to tell a joke, I want to be inside the joke with the audience…Most of all though, the two words I’d love to think crowds would think of my shows are funny and memorable.”
A punter approached Chris at Sydney Fringe Festival to say he’d assumed Chris was South African until Chris changed characters partway through the show. I ask Chris how it feels to hear that kind of feedback from his audiences.
“That’s always great when people buy into the reality of the character to that extent,” he says. “I’m not always sure that the accents or the details of the character are as important as the conviction and commitment with which it’s being delivered.”
The character stuff just happened one day.
So, what’s his secret to portraying such convincing characters?
“I don’t like breaking the fourth wall, or saying and doing things the character wouldn’t do just to get a cheap laugh,” Chris explains. “When I’m writing a character, I try to write as the character, and to an extent, feel like and embody the character. Once the rules of the world of a character are laid out, I try to stick to them, regardless of how absurd the overall reality of the things the character is saying may or may not be.
“The best parts for me is when I have an improvised interaction with an audience member and say something that the character definitely would say, but I never would even think to say when I’m just being myself.”
Chris has certainly mastered the art of character comedy, having performed over a dozen different characters on stage from Adelaide to Sydney to Brisbane. But his first foray into stand-up was more traditional.
“For the first couple of years I wasn’t doing characters on stage. I don’t think any of my material was any less surreal or absurd, but I think it was sometimes harder to place in a relatable context for an audience.”
It makes sense. Chris Marlton is a normal guy from Canberra, so he probably didn’t just cross-breed a crocodile and an alligator, create a completely digital church, or say goodbye to a bi-polar polar bear like his characters claim to have done. But it wasn’t a tactical move to switch to doing characters.
“The character stuff just happened one day. I wrote a new set in an accent one morning as I drove my dog home from the vet,” he says. “I tried it that night, it went better than I’d ever gone before and I felt more comfortable on stage than I ever had before, and I’ve almost exclusively done characters since then.”
For those who like traditional stand-up, pear aficionados and fans of Oscar Wilde.
Chris’ first solo show was at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2021. Mephisto Waltz included seven characters, including a rapper, a motivational speaker and an entrepreneur. A lot has changed since then, including his audience.
“I’m excited to say that I’ve been lucky enough to have an extremely broad range of demographics come to my shows over the years,” he says. “When I started doing comedy, the anecdotal evidence seemed to suggest that my audience would be predominantly young people who liked the absurdity. However, there has been a large uptake from middle age and older couples who see similarities with older TV shows like The Goodies, or more recently The Mighty Boosh.”
I met one of Chris’ fans earlier this year after his Canberra Comedy Festival show, Mouthcave Helicopter, who told me, “Chris is great. He’s absurd – and I’ve always loved that style.”
I ask Chris if you have to like absurd comedy to enjoy his show.
“I think people who like traditional stand-up comedy can usually get a lot from the shows, in that while they’re quite different in format, the structure of a lot of the jokes are still similar at their core. But at the same time, I feel like people who might be intimidated by traditional stand-up and just want to go see a silly, fun show, will be able to get that from the experience too. Also, pear aficionados and fans of Oscar Wilde will be pleasantly surprised if they come along.”
Whatever the ending of the show is, Gareth will be the least likely to fully understand it.
The final third of Eggplants and Cigarettes is ‘hosted’ by Aussie stand-up comic, Gareth Mosley. You may be familiar with Mosley if you’ve been to one of Chris’ previous shows, as he’s become a regular over the years. If not, prepare to hear from someone who appears to enjoy tackling the big issues – but who’s often completely unaware of the points he’s making.
I ask Chris if we can expect more accidentally poignant observations from Mosley this time around.
“There’s no telling what the final conclusion of Gareth’s section will be, with the number of directions he changes and the number of subjects that get brought up,” Chris says. “There’s a very good chance that he will, once again, get extremely sidetracked with his authentic and misguided crowd work. Whatever the ending of the show is, Gareth will be the least likely to fully understand it.”
SHOW DETAILS
Chris Marlton – Eggplants & Cigarettes
8.45pm, Saturday 12 October 2024
The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre
Nice work Tom. Always good to see some coverage for Canberra comedians.
Thanks, Tim. There’s a lot of talent in Canberra and they deserve some coverage.