Joseph Morpurgo

[Small Man Big Horse]

Because it's about time he had his own thread. Plus I saw him headline a mixed bill tonight and do about twenty minutes of new material (and then about five from Hammerhead), all of which was superb, the new material was based around the theme of him finishing various famous unfinished works, so he did his version of Edgar Allen Poe's The Lighthouse, Walt Disney's  "The Rainbow Road to Oz" and then a bit on the "M75". All of it was gloriously funny, there was lots of bits of music and photoshopping and some minor audience interaction, and he took to the stage in a really unique way too, I'm a bit drunk right now but will try and do a more coherent report tomorrow.

Also: I chatted to him afterwards and he was just incredibly sweet and lovely, I did ask him if there was any chance he'd restage / film any of his previous work and though he said Truthmouth and Soothing Sounds For Baby were extremely unlikely (the latter due to copyright reasons), he would like to update and then either restage or film Odessa, which I really hope is the case.

I also found a sketch he did a while back called "Top 10 Lost Eastenders Episodes" which I hadn't seen before: https://vimeo.com/174004375
And I'm also very fond of "Phil: A Tribute To A Man" - https://vimeo.com/channels/1276702/136089400

[BlodwynPig]

Loved that last one. Pangs

[Beagle 2]

I've seen Odessa and Soothing Sounds for Baby and they both absolutely floored me. I must have seen close to a couple of hundred of Fringe shows during my time up there and those both stand out as my favourites.

[checkoutgirl]

That's great stuff. He's like a younger, funnier, less west country, slightly less dorky version of Stephen Merchant.

[rasta-spouse]

Would be nice to see Morpurgo (and people like Luke-Roberts and Kearns) get their own tv series. And maybe resurrect alternative sketch comedy. I feel if it were the early 2000s or 90s this would have been a strong possibility just off the back of their Ed shows.

Now one has to watch the Mash Report, and imagine what good comedy might be like.

Also, like others here, I had a "where the hell did that come from?" moment at a Morpurgo show. I like that feeling and would like to feel it more.

[DrGreggles]

I think he's one of the most talented performers to emerge in the last decade.
'Odessa' might be my favourite Fringe show ever.

[one_sharper]

Loved Soothing Sounds For Baby when I saw it, same with Hammerhead, but Odessa remains one of the best things I think I've ever seen - saw it at the Fringe on a punt, and then during the run afterwards at Invisible Dot. Would be great if he filmed it.

Re-listen to his radio series every now and again and marvel at just how good it was, too.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I've seen Odessa and Soothing Sounds for Baby and they both absolutely floored me. I must have seen close to a couple of hundred of Fringe shows during my time up there and those both stand out as my favourites.

I've not seen Odessa which is why I was so glad to hear he wants to do it again, but I loved Hammerhead and Soothing Sounds to pieces, like you I've seen a sod load of Fringe shows and Soothing Sounds is my favourite ever one and Hammerhead would make the top 5.

That's great stuff. He's like a younger, funnier, less west country, slightly less dorky version of Stephen Merchant.

I can see why you'd say that from the videos but he's ridiculously better than Merchant, his hour long shows remind me of Chris Morris if only because of the amount of inventiveness on display, but a more upbeat, happier version of Morris.

Would be nice to see Morpurgo (and people like Luke-Roberts and Kearns) get their own tv series. And maybe resurrect alternative sketch comedy. I feel if it were the early 2000s or 90s this would have been a strong possibility just off the back of their Ed shows.

That would indeed be amazing, I should have asked him if he ever thought about doing tv but I'd already taken up a fair bit of his time where he was meant to be packing everything away.

[checkoutgirl]

Would be nice to see Morpurgo (and people like Luke-Roberts and Kearns) get their own tv series. And maybe resurrect alternative sketch comedy. I feel if it were the early 2000s or 90s this would have been a strong possibility just off the back of their Ed shows.

You would think some young telly executive would have happened upon this on t'internet be now and at least be in talks about a series. Maybe he doesn't want a series?

[Small Man Big Horse]

You would think some young telly executive would have happened upon this on t'internet be now and at least be in talks about a series. Maybe he doesn't want a series?

He's done a radio series, so I'd be surprised if he didn't want a tv show too. Could be wrong though. It's stunning stuff by the way, and still available via the BBC site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09fy6qx

[Beagle 2]

Fuck, I had no idea he'd done a radio series! That's excellent news.

[checkoutgirl]

He's done a radio series, so I'd be surprised if he didn't want a tv show too. Could be wrong though. It's stunning stuff by the way, and still available via the BBC site: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09fy6qx

It's extremely unlikely a creative person wouldn't want a series but people like that pop up now and again.

[pancreas]

I also found a sketch he did a while back called "Top 10 Lost Eastenders Episodes" which I hadn't seen before: https://vimeo.com/174004375
And I'm also very fond of "Phil: A Tribute To A Man" - https://vimeo.com/channels/1276702/136089400

These are both great and I do sense some Morris influence.

[Small Man Big Horse]

These are both great and I do sense some Morris influence.

It's even more apparent with his live shows - Hammerhead is on NextUp (https://nextupcomedy.com/) which I'd recommend people join, even if it is only for the seven day free trial, and there's some other really great stuff on there as well like two shows from Jordan Brookes, a bunch of old Tony Law sets, Anna Mann, Danielle Ward, Simon Munnery and many others.

For completists sake this is the one other video of him that I've found so far, which I believe is from Odessa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wijFbJG-v0o

He also did a Sky Comedy Short which was Christmas related and really great, and which I did have, but annoyingly seem to have missplaced.

[DrGreggles]

For completists sake this is the one other video of him that I've found so far, which I believe is from Odessa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wijFbJG-v0o

That's not from Odessa. Just an old Oxford revue.

[Small Man Big Horse]

That's not from Odessa. Just an old Oxford revue.

Ah, I got it wrong, someone told me it was from Truthmouth but as I didn't see either I've no idea if it is the case.

[DrGreggles]

Could be Truthmouth. Never saw that one.

[pancreas]

For completists sake this is the one other video of him that I've found so far, which I believe is from Odessa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wijFbJG-v0o

This was also excellent.

[olliebean]

For completists sake this is the one other video of him that I've found so far, which I believe is from Odessa. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wijFbJG-v0o

I presume that's an improvised piece, as the Oxford Imps are an impro troupe.

[pancreas]

No—that was clearly very carefully written out in advance, I think.

[DenzilHolles]

Yes, the excellent Snake bit was definitely in Truthmouth. I didn't see it but
a few reviews mention it, one here https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/joseph-morpurgo-truthmouth/32398

[olliebean]

Having looked up a review of that Oxford Imps show, I see that mixed in with the improvised scenes were prepared sets by a handful of alumni, so I guess Morpurgo was one of those.

[pancreas]

I'm afraid I'm not much enjoying Hammerhead. I sort of get the characterisation, but I wouldn't say it's someone I really *know*. It's a bit loose and repetitive, and isn't evolving into anything. It's a clever idea. But the pace ... hmm ... needs a good editor and director.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Only just seen the above, and Neil, can we ban Pancreas please for his incredibly wrong headed thoughts.

Also: He's just announced a Work In Progress show at The Bill Murray on the 10th of December at 6.45pm, details are here: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/event-detail/54960602/ - I've already bought tickets and am incredibly excited to see him again.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I caught the preview last night (with top CaB lovely person Lost Oliver) and it was a thing of joy. Expanding upon the theme of finishing incomplete works of art, as well as covering all of the things I mentioned in the opening post (though all had been expanded upon a fair bit) he also had segments on Caesar's Palace N64, a noir take on Beatrix Potter, a fifties US game show, Stanley Kubrick's Napoleon and seventies tv show Mandrake. Plus there was a short interlude where he spoke about five projects he'd given up on, all of which looked great from the very short snippets we saw of them.

At the end he stressed the work in progress aspect, and even hinted that it wasn't definite that his next show would feature this material, but it'd be insane if it didn't as even at this stage it's beautifully funny, and it made me laugh harder than anything else has this year.

[WestHill]

Yeah I was there too last night and it was flipping great.

Feels like it's got the right ingredients to knit together into a great show. A similar vein to previous stuff but the joke writing is so strong you don't really want him to reinvent it too much.

Interesting to see him be more self-deprecating due to the WIP nature but still utterly star quality as a performer.

[Lost Oliver]

Top CaB lovely person - love it! I need to get that on a T-Shirt.

Can only echo the above. He's just a fascinating performer and an enormous amount of care and craft goes into everything he does. He's bloody brilliant. One of the very few people I'd go to see live again and I can't wait to see what he does next.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that it's people like him that make me get out of bed in the morning.

"People with a 4, 7 or 9 in their IP address, are you ready?"

[Small Man Big Horse]

Just thought I'd mention that Joseph's doing another Work In Progress, this time at the Pleasance on March 26th. https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/joseph-morpurgo-work-progress#overview

[dissolute ocelot]

*War Horse leaves thread with a long face*

[billyandthecloneasaurus]

Just thought I'd mention that Joseph's doing another Work In Progress, this time at the Pleasance on March 26th. https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/joseph-morpurgo-work-progress#overview

I'm going, as well as the mixed bill with jack barry the same month, fancy a pint ?