Comedian Chris East on cardboard boxes, poetry brothels, and sandwich-eating freaks
We speak to Chris ahead of his Brighton Fringe WIP show "Boxes Boxes Boxes"
Hi everyone!
Please enjoy another interview with an interesting figure doing interesting stuff down here in Brighton where the seagulls live.
This week it’s Chris East - an intriguing character / improv / sketch comedian who always puts on a fascinating show in his deadpan stylee.
You can catch Chris’ Brighton Fringe work-in-progress “Boxes Boxes Boxes” at Presuming Ed’s at 2:45pm on Saturday 24th, Sunday 25th, and Monday 26th May.
Hi Chris, who are you and what on earth are you doing in Brighton?
I am Chris East, and when people ask me what I do I try to respond with “I make comedy”. Last year I did a show called My Brain is Soup, Your Hands are the Spoons1. It was my debut solo show and it was a big pile of characters rolling around inside the head of a hapless character comedian. This year I had returned to Brighton with a new work-in-progress of a show about cardboard boxes. It’s a big experiment and even I don’t fully understand why it is yet. It’ll be funny.
Could you explain what sort of comedy you do to a layperson? Though I’m not sure if we have laypeople in today’s increasingly atomised world.
I have been described as a clown and a character comedian, but broadly speaking I land in the ‘alternative comedy’ world; ultimately it’s me on stage being funny but it’s not traditional stand up. Sometimes it’s characters, sometimes it’s absurdist monologues, sometimes I’m talking to the audience, sometimes I’m improvising something that I’m momentarily distracted by. It’s everything and it is nothing, I am the alpha and the omega.
Can you give me three stereotypes about Brighton audiences?
Based on my experiences from last year: people who take dogs to comedy shows; 1 in 10 smiling faces that assure that everything is ok and you’re not just embarrassing yourself; teenagers who sit in the front row with sunglasses on and then try and sneak out halfway through after talking the whole time.
If Brighton were a Croft and Perry sitcom, which one would it be, and why?
Honestly it’s the only seaside town that isn’t either Hi Di Hi or Dad’s Army. There are plenty of hills I could see Frank Spencer zipping down in roller skates though.
Do you remember your first ever Brighton Fringe?
In the 2000s some friends held a ‘Poetry Brothel’ in their flat where they invited audiences in one at a time for individual boudoir poetry readings. It was creepy and unique.
What are you bringing for us this year?
BOXES BOXES BOXES is my new show. It’s all about cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes and nothing else. No deeper meaning, no hidden agenda, nothing but boxes. It’s very much a work in progress right now so I’m excited to see what this weekend holds.
You perform many world-famous characters. Do you ever get mistaken for any of them in the streets?
No, but one time someone I was very newly dating received a message from a friend saying “I just saw Chris East eating a sandwich by the canal in Hackney”. I was not in Hackney that day and I very much took it as an insult because she clearly saw another freak eating a sandwich and assumed it was me.
Do you have a favourite box?
Egg box. What a box! Just look at it. Good quality box that.
You rely on a lot of improv. Is that scarier or more exhilarating than scripted stuff?
I don’t think it’s scary, but I do get a kick out of making something out of nothing. I like to play with the audience and see what they give me, and sometimes that doesn’t go at all like I’d expect it to. Sometimes they are sweet and playful and want you to succeed, and other times they are feral animals who shouldn’t be allowed out after dark.
You used to be a musician. What’s harder, music or comedy? I mean in terms of to write and perform, not who would win in a fight in an alley.
They are so different that it’s almost impossible to compare. In my experience the instant feedback in comedy (y’know - laughter?) is so much more helpful than polite applause or toe tapping. Because of that it’s a lot harder to fix or throw away a song that isn’t working than it is a comedy bit.
How did you first get into comedy?
I had flirted with it for years. As a musician I enjoyed making audiences laugh as much as I did making them dance (ha ha, they never danced to my dumb little songs), and my favourite times playing in bands or solo was when I would put on shows and try and make them different to other gigs you’d go to. I liked putting bands together that undermined the seriousness of the 2000s po-faced music scene, or booking a lineup that wouldn’t make sense at first, but then the experience was unlike any other. Pretty quickly I found that the music was getting in the way.
How do you think your life would have turned out if you were called Chris West?
I’d be working in financial services complaints.
Obviously it’s becoming increasingly difficult for people to do shows due to “the cost of living crisis” / late stage capitalism. Do you have any handy suggestions to save the entire industry?
Work harder you lazy comedians! Get rich parents! Win the lottery! Invest in property in 1992! Sell cigarettes to kids!
Are there any rival comedians you’re excited to see this Fringe?
My rivals who I almost definitely won’t get to see because my schedule is very tightly packed with rides on the ghost train and buying sugared beach donuts - Night of Drama is the dumbest, most fun show. Rosalie Minnitt, Ozzy Algar, Levi Meltzer, Mikey Bligh-Smith are all bringing new stuff.
Are there any rival comedians you’re excited to be around generally?
I’ll mostly be spending my time with Ben Goldsmith and Katie Davison, as we’ve created a weekend of triple bills at Presuming Eds for us to all test out new material. I like those two a lot, they are hilarious, but they are not my rivals, I think of them more as my children who I am jealous of.
Finally, any words of life-changing wisdom? We could sure with some of those at the minute, so no pressure.
Learn how to make a nice carbonara, impress your mother in law.
Boxes Boxes Boxes (WIP) is on at Presuming Ed’s on Saturday 24th May, Sunday 25th May, and Monday 26th May at 2:45pm. Entry free / PWYW.