Hollywood stars, regional theatres and slapstick comedy - how to make the perfect Panto
Eric Potts and John Thomson in Aladdin at the Manchester Opera House
Olly Mann and Eric Potts
Pantomime: the most peculiarly British of festive entertainments.
Each year, we Brits gather the family together to watch the same old stories. To cheer at the hero, hiss at the baddies, and watch a bloke in drag doing the same call-and-response routines that have enraptured crowds since the days of music hall. Why?
Eric Potts is a maestro of the genre. As head writer for First Family Entertainments, he churns out ten panto scripts per year, and even finds time to play the Dame in one of them (this year, Aladdin in Manchester)
In this insightful interview with Olly, he explains why super-producers have duopolized the industry, how they persuade Hollywood stars to come over and tread the boards (it’s not just the money...), and why the key to panto success is not tradition or nostalgia - but ADVENTURE.
(Oh Yes It Is!)
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Also this week: Ollie Peart uses his Instagram account as an experiment in automation, and, after an extended Super Mario Run session, offers up one-handed gaming to The Zeitgeist. Plus, why the pen-and-paper notebook just might be a thing of the past.
And - jingle your balls! - Alix Fox finishes us off with a festive Foxhole for all the Modern Mann family. You’ll learn about ‘the Smith’s Salt N Shake of condoms’, why you should ‘get lusty with leftovers’, and how ‘sex Bisto’ might change your bedroom in a very special XXXmas edition of Alix’s favourite party game, ‘Tip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah!’. The Foxhole is proudly sponsored by our friends at MyCondom.Com - use the discount code ‘FOXHOLE’ to get 15% OFF at Checkout.
Finally, Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas without a good sing-a-long, so do wrap your ears around our song of the week, ‘Honest’, by Martha Gunn.
And remember, in this time of goodwill to all Mann, that we are always thrilled to receive your monies in exchange for this humble podcast offering. If you’d like to donate, we’d be ever so grateful, guv. Just click Beer Money.
