Mark Maier: Objects

By london_ken Last edited 230 months ago
Mark Maier: Objects
objects.jpg

The comedian Mark Maier brings his acclaimed show 'Objects' to London this month and it's well worth checking out. Originally called 'Fat Baby on the Rampage' the show was well-received at the 2004 Edinburgh Festival, and now plays in Hampstead under a rather more prosaic title.

The show is based on our tendency to anthropomorphise inanimate objects, as evidenced through swearing at Windows XP for crashing all the bloody time or assigning names and sexes (usually female) to our cars. But obviously it's a lot funnier than the description we've just given. So here's the funny man himself in his own words:

"When you're young and you get a set of felt tip pens your main aim is to destroy them and leave the tops off.

So in the show the angry pens become like Quentin Tarantino characters - Mr Blue, Mr Red and Mr Green and so on.

One of the other objects is a grain of sand. That comes from my days growing up in Newcastle and we had to run along the beach as part of school sports, so it's all done from the grain's point of view.

We all tend to give objects personalities, even if it's just playing with toy soldiers."

Well, some of us may give objects personalities but we've never come even remotely close to assigning a personality to something like a grain of sand. But then again, we're stuck at a PC tapping away all day, while Mark Maier is doing a job he no doubt loves, where people pay him for his silliness. So who's the mad one?

You can read the rest of the enlightening interview at London 24.

Objects started this week at the New End Theatre, Hampstead, and continues tonight, tomorrow, then 19th-22nd, 26th-29th, all at 9.20pm. If you want an earlier showing, you can catch it at 8pm on 15th, 16th and 23rd January. Tickets are £12 (£10 concessions) from the box office on 0870 033 2733. More details are here.

Last Updated 13 January 2005