Making It Up

WE NEED to talk about Kevin. Kevin Tomlinson, to be more specific, because if you haven’t heard of him already, you will do very soon. Already a hugely successful improv comedian, he’s premiering two new shows this week in Oxfordshire before going to Edinburgh, where he sells out every year.

Considering his last show Seven Ages went global, then it’s worth getting down to see Whose Story Is It Anyway? at The Mill, in Banbury, for children aged 6-12 or Crazy Little Thing Called Love, which is closing the Abingdon Festival on Sunday. And yes, Kevin is keen to point out it will actually be taking place on Sunday and is not an elaborate April Fool’s Day hoax.

So who is Kevin anyway? He actually lives in Abingdon, where he’s set up his own theatre company, Kepow. Comedy is his game, and an art in which he’s increasingly successful. Not that he’s a stand-up, that would be far too easy. Instead, Kevin is an improviser, something most comedians quail at, spending two hours on stage every night making it up as he goes along.

And he loves it. Seven Ages is his improv show about going to school, falling in love, finding a job, having a child and growing old disgracefully, which he’s been touring. He’s introducing the kids version at The Mill next Thursday, which he’s hugely excited about.

“The first one is going to be interesting,” he says, ”but it’s basically the adult show for kids. Because what I discovered when I did a one-off kids show at a festival is that children are much more creative than adults because they don’t have an ego and aren’t trying to be funny, they just open their mouths and their thoughts come out. And I want to bring the theatre alive for children, because that’s how I remember it and I want to trigger that.”

Judging by his past success, his young audience is going to lap it up. If you fancy the adult version however, that too will be at The Mill that night.

So can he do it with his eyes closed now?

“Even though I’ve been doing Seven Ages for years there’s always that moment before I go on stage when I think ‘why am I putting myself thorough this?’ he laughs. “And then as soon as I step out on stage I remember. But it always take a few moments to kick in. When I first started out, doing two to three minutes of improv was a nightmare which I sweated over, and now I do two hours in one go and I love it.”

Although improv is his game, Kevin says there is an element of stand-up in Crazy Little Thing Called Love – “I’m like a moth to a flame where stand-up is concerned,” he admits.

So why love? Is Kevin a hopeless romantic? “I think love is fascinating and want to explore that on stage but I also want to give people a glow and some warmth,” he smiles. Although he never gives away too much about his shows because he doesn’t know what’s going to happen, he says “we will be getting Barbie and Action Man involved too, and the audience will have to ring bells and hoot the horn to give their verdicts, so it’s about how people met, while being out-and-out comedy.”

How Kevin finds the time is beyond me. With his tours of Seven Ages, Whose Story Is It Anyway, his raw improv night The Edge, and new show Crazy Little Thing Called Love, it’s clear how busy he is. Kevin’s Kepow is also the resident company at the Pegasus, where he has a monthly comedy night planned from September where 12 improvisers will knock each other out. It’s hardly surprising then that The BBC and West End are also sniffing around. They’ve already realised his is a name to watch, so get in there while you can.

So why the popularity? “Well I’m hoping to change people’s preconceptions of comedy, and improv in particular, because I often come on stage and find the front row empty because people are scared of being picked on. So I want comedy to be a positive thing, to be life enhancing not life diminishing, and for everyone to enjoy themselves. It’s the antithesis of stand-up really.”

* Whose Story Is It Anyway? is at The Mill, Banbury, for children aged 6-12 at 3pm on Thursday, April 5, and Seven Ages plays that night. Crazy Little Thing Called Love is at The Unicorn Theatre, Abingdon, on Sunday.

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