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Looking for some quality comedy entertainment to check out?
Who better to turn to for under-the-radar comedy recommendations than comedians?
A lot of high-concept comedy comes out of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
2004sGarth Marenghis Darkplaceis one of the most unique shows of the bunch.
Played by Holness, Marenghis show is like if Stephen Kingstrailer forMaximum Overdrivegot six episodes.
ItsMST3KmeetsThe Office.Which is perhaps why Stephen Merchant is such a fan.
Merchant discussedDarkplace,Berrys extraordinary voice, and visiting Stonehenge with an Academy Award winner.
When did you first encounterDarkplace?I was at the Edinburgh Festival when it was a theater show.
I went to see it several times, and I was so entertained by it.
I thought it was so funny.
I loved Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, the two guys who created it.
I dont think it ever really got the plaudits and attention that it deserved at the time.
But I get a tweet or an Instagram message about it almost every day.
People are still discovering that show and watching it.
One of the pleasures of that festival is seeing something fully formed that youve never encountered before.
But [at Edinburgh], youre seeing something in its raw, purest state.
Im sure the people who sawFleabagin its formative stages felt the same way.
It seems like the Edinburgh model helps things come out as more singular products.
It runs for a month.
And theres no pressure.
Youre sort of in the dark, left to your own devices.
Some people pop and break through they have their moment, get some attention.
And lots of other people use it as a development opportunity, try new things.
No idea is outrageous enough or strange enough.
And Garth Marenghi is a great example of that.
His voice is so rich and extraordinary that when youre talking to him, its otherworldly.
Theres something about him that almost seems like he was drawn by a cartoonist.
Everything I see him in, he creases me up.
I dont know if youve seen him asToast.
Oh yeah.Hes so innately funny, but he plays it all with an earnestness and a sincerity.
Theres no one else like him, really, as an actor or comic performer.
He can sing and everything.
Hes kind of extraordinary.
I could see him in a lair, stroking a cat with that extraordinary voice.
And Ive always wanted to play Q, so maybe I could be in it, too.
I dont know whod play Bond in that version, but that would be fun.
Darkplaceis so good it wins over people who arent usually fans of cringe-watching or making fun of bad art.
Why would I waste my time watching bad stuff?
But that was a truly extraordinary piece of bad cinema.
So even now, I admire anyone whos got something finished.
His pomposity and self-aggrandizement is such a great comic convention.
And all of that was there in the stage show.
I was more than happy to be a part of it.
But it was a lot of fun.
People will still send me little GIFs of me marching through the set.
It works on so many levels.
Its such a contrast toThe Outlaws, which is very grounded.
WithDarkplace,the pleasure is that you are living in a heightened universe.
Thats much more like playing.
But the benefit to that is that you’re able to be more touching, more affecting.
you’re free to move people in a different way.
How did Christopher Walken get involved?Christopher Walken phoned me and said, Im desperate for work.
Is there anything for me, Steve?
Where did he come from?
Christopher Walken just sort of came into our heads, and we managed to get the script to him.
The next thing I knew, hed come to England to be in the show.
It was sort of insane.
It reminds you why you got into this game.
And no one was around, so he could walk around and not get noticed.
Although he and I did go to Stonehenge together.
We had a day off, and Chris really wanted to go to Stonehenge.
And she was like, No.
I took her to one side and said, Hes 78 years old.
Hes an Academy Award winner.
Hes come 3,000 miles.
These things have been here 5,000 years.
You cant just let him touch a stone?
And shes like, No.
It was so typically British that even someone like Christopher Walken cant touch the stones.
Thats not how we roll in England.
Theres not much left on your bucket list.
I think hes something of a history buff.
It was really magical.
He found it quite moving to watch the sunset with something as mysterious and exotic as that.
It was a surreal moment.
Do you have any pet theories as to what it is?
Well, I suppose its obvious why.
But theres something quite pleasing about that.
And to share it with Christopher Walken is doubly pleasing.
