‘We couldn’t do anything that acknowledged astrology or
the stars
because that was going towards weird spiritual things’
IN
A
From corrupters of youth to corrupters of grown-ups, TREV AND SIMON have reinvented themselves as the devil’s disciples. Words: Brian Donaldson
‘ hat we do is create a sort of Satanic ritual.’ No. I'm not attending a New Labour focus group session. And
I‘m not sitting down for Sunday lunch with ('hris Morris. I‘m with the most popular kids’ entertaining duo since Tom and .lerry - and the pair to whom Ant and Dec owe their career as they explain their Fringe show. ('I’rcus (I/‘lz'i‘il.
‘We're ttsing the basic items you need for such a ritual.‘ explains Trev Neal from Trev and Simon (the artistic duo formerly known as 'l‘revor and Simon). ‘ ’e couldn‘t slaughter a live lamb in a theatre. though. so we‘ve got a kebab. We're essentially conjuring up the spirits of the dead.‘
Which is several million miles away from ‘Swing Your Pants. More ‘Shit Your Pants‘. as their publicity has it. (‘ompared to Trev’s kindly choirboy -ne.\'t—door demeanour. Simon (llickson) has a shaven head. a Ming The Merciless goatee and an occasional. short-lived manic cackle. all of which certainly suggests a modicum of devildom. The look may terrify those who grew up with them. but Trev and Simon never wished to be known as kids' entertainers.
‘We started ottt as adult stand-up comedians and we only got sidetracked into being seen as children‘s entertainers because we were doing this Saturday morning show.‘ explains Trev of the Going Live/Live Ami K ickng years (of which there were ten).
‘We were just playing by the rules of that job so it wasn't frustrating because we never expected anything other than what it could provide.‘ adds Simon. Of course. frustration did set in when the BBC started to get a bit nervous with their brand of cross-section fun: the kids loved the playful silliness while their elders sniggered at the double entendres and the close—to-the—knuckle. fast and loose digs at presenters and guests alike.
Possibly to the chagrin of the various
'l‘heakston/Ball). Trev and Simon eventually became bigger than the shows themselves and their Saturday segment was repeated midweek to cultish acclaim. But still. they were upsetting the Beeb‘s nannies. ‘You couldn‘t use substitutes for swear words. so we got told off for saying things like llippin' and blinkin'.’ recalls Trev.
‘And they tried to stop us saying "blimey". because it comes from “God. blind me". so we would have been seen as being blasphemous.‘ chuckles Simon.
presenting teams they saw off (Schofield/(ireene. Peters/Forbes and
Some very bad people: Trev and Simon
‘And we couldn‘t do anything that acknowledged astrology or the stars because that was going towards weird spiritual things.‘ adds Trev.
Which gets us closer to where they are now. returning to the l‘ringe and carrying memories of the first time they performed. That was in NM at the Bedlam 'l‘heatre. having travelled up on a bus from Manchester laden with buckets and sponges and a cardboard cut-out of (‘hristopher Rceve‘s Superman. ‘ln a small way. we just get carried away with the lights and effects and the ra/lmataH.~ says 'l'rev. 'liut we do spend more money nowadays: that sponge we had was just a bit of foam rubber we found in a skip. That was for a story called The Lili’ (HIS/Hume. which w as like The [.4]? ()l‘( 'ltrisl.‘
Simon says: ‘We always start off with the intention of creating a show that is easy to do. but it jtist never turns out that way because we're jttst obsessed with toys and props and gimmicks and costumes. So. suddenly we‘re going round with huge suitcases.‘ Filled with the devil‘s work for ('in'us ()/’l;'i'i/: life-size dummies and full costumes for each character such as Vlad The Impaler t'a moralistic despot'). Bluebeard (be slaughtered children for reasons of alchemy" ). Rasputin (the Peter Mandelson of his day" t and. em. livel Knievel. 'Well. his name suggests evil. But he wasn't ofcoursef says Trev.
Simon gets serious: 'lt's a tricky area though. because if you deal with the notion of evil. then you‘re dealing with some very bad people. There‘s not much comedy in Jack The Ripper. you‘d think. who was a murderer and a rapist.‘
'lt‘s essentially down to greed.‘ Trev insists. 'l don‘t know whether the people we do were all essentially evil people but it's the greed that makes them do evil things. The audience can
judge that.‘
'Well. they can judge but w e‘re not interested in their verdict.‘ And then Simon‘s face takes on a fiery glow as he erupts into a mad. throaty. l.uciferian laugh. and you can‘t help but picture him strangling Mr Blobby. taking a hacksaw to Gordon The (iopltet‘ or disembowelling l’hillip Scholield. ‘Anyway. there‘ll be a lot more shocking things at the l‘ringe with people dancing. eating crisps and pooing on each other.‘
Circus Of Evil, Pleasance, 9—27 Aug, 9pm.
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