The Last Laugh and Phoney Feminism
Satirical play The Last Laugh makes a welcome return at Glasgow International Comedy Festival in March – here the creators and cast tell us whether being funny is more important to a comedian than being happy.
If you've never heard of comedian Eddie Butler, you've probably rolled your eyes at those like him. For Butler is the kind of comedian who adopts a horrible faux-feminism, cynically playing the media with a nice soundbite on gender just for the publicity. "It's tempting for an Eddie Butler to exploit a topic and hope for their tweets and comments to be picked-up in the latest BuzzFeed article," says Keir McAllister.
We're sitting with McAllister, Larah Bross and Jay Lafferty in The Mash Tun on Easter Road, and the three are on good form. Their play The Last Laugh, in which character Eddie is the protagonist, is about to stage a four-date run in March.
Although the play was written by McAllister, it's clear it's a collaborative effort. It was co-directed and produced by Lafferty, and it was her experiences as a comedian – dealing with Eddie types – which helped shape much of the material.
"Eddie introduces [Bross's character] Grace on stage,” she explains, "and it reflects the way I’ve been announced: 'The next act is a female comic. Never mind.’ Intentionally or ironically, it gets a laugh because people recognise straight away that all females are introduced in a patronising manner.”
Furthermore, Grace – a fellow stand-up who throws Eddie's confident, masculine ego into doubt – was written with Bross specifically in mind.
"Larah isn't quite as acerbic as Grace, but she can offend people and get away with it," says McAllister, fondly recalling her performances at The Stand's Broken Windows Policy sketch and cabaret nights.
"I'm not sure I can get away with it," says Bross, although with the flash of a smile which may acknowledge otherwise.
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Bross certainly helped the play achieve a realism which sometimes blurred the lines. "There's a moment where some audiences weren't aware if I was acting," says Bross, "although from an acting point of view the awkwardness of this response could be very exciting."
The triumvirate are to become a quartet for the March shows, with Shauna Macdonald joining as director. Bross assures us the Filth star will fit in well having also worked with plenty of real Eddies – and "not only comedians" (Since Macdonald's voice features in the successful reboot of a certain kids' series, let us hope Danger Mouse is not implicated).
Does Eddie Butler reflect real attitudes in stand-up? It suggests a bleak outlook for comedy if a feminist point of view is only accommodated by male acts as part of their media machinations. We chat about Daniel Sloss's 20 minute routine on the tampon tax as a counter-example, and a positive indication of how far things have come. Lafferty agrees, but points out that a female comedian may have met a different response: "'Woman talks about her period'," she says succinctly, imagining the dispiriting headline.
But it's the bandwagon-jumping, issue-chasing comedian that is the play's target, and it's why The Last Laugh is a satire more than it is a parody of the comedy world: a parody can go soft by offering comedians such as Eddie "an opportunity to explain their way out of things."
McAllister wants the tricky question the play raises ('Is it more important to be funny than happy?') to expose a comedian's discomfort. "I didn't want it to be the tears of clown," he says, speaking like a true satirist. "Eddie doesn't know he's losing. It's about catching comics out."
Watch This Space Productions: The Last Laugh plays Beacon Arts Centre, Greenock (10 Mar), Cumbernauld Theatre, Cumbernauld (18 Mar), Cottiers Theatre, Glasgow (24 Mar) and Scottish Storytelling Centre, Edinburgh (31 Mar).