Theatre | Dingle Bells, Malcolm Smells

All three of you have worked in comedy for quite some time. What makes you gel as a group, and how would you describe the way Maltese people respond to your humour?

Chris: We’ve been friends for a while, after Wesley decided that we should be best friends. We all have a similar sense of humour and know that anything is fair game for comedy, especially ourselves.  If someone suggests an idea and the others shoot it down, none of us gets precious about it. So far Maltese people have responded very well to our humour. We went through the obligatory experimental comedy phase at university (people still laughed but eyed the exit at the same time) and came out of that with a good grounding and an idea of what works and what doesn’t. We’re quite adept at keeping things tight and throwing away stuff that doesn’t. When Wesley’s no longer funny, we’ll get rid of him. Malcolm too.

Malcolm: I have no idea how many productions and projects we’ve worked on together but it was quite a lot. We’re very comfortable working with each other and that’s why we gel so well onstage. Our humour is generally fairly broad and usually goes down well with local audiences. Since we perform in English, we normally go for British and American humour – using a combination of wit and randomness but tends to be accepted well over here.

I imagine that working as a group of friends has its pros and cons. Have you found ways to deal with the work/fun divide? Do you even bother to?

Chris: No we haven’t and we don’t. We have fun, we go off at tangents, we talk for ages about stuff that has nothing to do with the show, we eat pizza and watch YouTube videos. Somehow, the work gets done. If we’re not having fun, then the output won’t be fun either, I think.

The concept of this production seems intriguing and different enough, given what we typically get over the Christmas period. Could you say something specific about what it will be made up of, and how it all comes together?

Malcolm: The show is an alternative comedy to the Christmas panto. that is not to say that people should watch us instead of a panto (I myself will be watching two) but that they have another option for a good laugh during Christmas. A fundamental difference from other productions is that ours will not be a play as such but an organic show, and if someone was to come and watch the show twice, they would likely see something completely different the second time around.

After the production is through, I’m sure you’ll be gearing up for the New Year with added relish. Any resolutions?

Chris: Nah. I’ve just turned thirty and I never stick to them anyway.  Last year I resolved to be a bit taller. Didn’t work at all. So why bother?

Malcolm: My resolution is always punctuality but I can never seem to keep it. However as soon as the new year is settled, my wife has made me promise her that we’ll take a nice relaxing holiday – just us and our baby.

Tickets at €10 can be booked by calling 21223200 or emailing [email protected].