The Way You Tell Them
I've always relied on humour. After 33 years, I knows that if anything goes wrong I can remedy the situation with a joke. But what would happen if I couldn’t fall back on laughter? Turning the spotlight on the inner workings of comedy, The Way You Tell Them interrogates the desire and – sometimes uncontrollable – compulsion to be funny.
In my latest solo performance, I go in search of what is beyond the gags, jokes, and pratfalls. Using real-life material, classic oral sex jokes and a wolf suit this is
a thoughtful and provocative story that questions how we use and abuse humour.
Interested in the research behind the show? Show blog HERE
If you are interested in booking the show - Info Pack HERE
Guardian Behind The Joke Article - HERE
REVIEWS:
5* What's On Stage -' fascinating and very funny' HERE
4* What's Peen Seen - 'A great night out, I'm still thinking about it days afterwards' HERE
Fringe Review Highly Recommended Show: 'the antidote to the endless reams of directionless stand-up we see everywhere' HERE
TOTAL THEATRE: 'A beautifully crafted and brilliantly performed solo theatre piece' HERE
The Guardian: 'A love letter to comedy by someone who wants it to mean something' HERE
A Younger Theatre: 'Tender and Humorous but incredibly human' HERE
'What is Funny?' The Stage Performer'sPerspective BLOG HERE
AUDIENCE TWEETS:
Idiot Child:
What a stunner. Brilliant, funny, sad as anything, clever and beautifully constructed show. Loved it!
Ruth Mitchell:
No 'respectful silence' @rachelofmars final show the Way You Tell Them, full of laughter and moving autobiography. So glad I caught it
Ric Watts :
Really fell for @rachelofmars’ clever The Way You Tell Them. Laugh out loud and genuinely heartbreaking in equal measure.
Osama bin Laden Show :
@rachelofmars wonderfully dangerous, funny and touching show today. All should see it.
You can listen to a story from the show on Radio 2's Pause for Thought and a wee bit about it at the end of Radio 4's 'Word of Mouth'
WATCH! Me talking about the research behind the show HERE
‘Hugely entertaining, intellectually provocative and important’ Brian Logan, Comedy Critic
'Visually striking, witty and poignant' The Latest
''Clever, funny and endearingly informal' Exeunt
'Hilarious and uncomfortable by turns' The Upcoming
'A funny, brave look at the triumphs, temptations and torments of being funny'
Jonathan Wakeman, London Comedy Film Festival
This joke starts where the others end, after the punchline. After the mild titter/bemused look/belly laugh. After the joy of Sargeant Rosefeld never making a mistake, after the long face. At the punchline someone in the joke has been hoodwinked, someone has been finally shown for what they are which is a low down double-crossing racist nogoodnik. It leaves a person in a joke with questions. Did I really do so much wrong? Did I really deserve such an undoing? Am I really going to die because my wife here won’t give me a blow job?
VIDEOS
As part of research for the show I did doing a stand-up course with Logan Murray and Amused Moose.
Commissioned by in The Basement, Brighton, with enormous support from Camden People's Theatre - where it was first shown at part of Starting Blocks.
Made with a grant from The Arts Council, England.
