The show I’m doing at the minute is called “Big Screen Shenanigans”, and I love that title; I think it sums up what I’m doing – playing around with the idea of what you can do with a big video screen. I did a couple of trial gigs last year, but 2012 has been the show’s first year “on the road”.
So there are parts where I’m singing a straight song and the video is providing the comedy; There are parts where I’m doing comedy songs and the stuff on the screen is like a video ‘prop’ – illustrating the lyrics;
Then there are the 3 sections with the other “Me’s”, and these seem to be the most popular bits so far – I guess there is something funny about having 5 identical blokes (6 sometimes) but one of them is nuts. I absolutely love the fact that the real live Me is being a straight man while a Video Me is getting great laughs from a live audience. That’s just Weird. Also fun.
The other thing I do is a duet with Elvis. It’s not the strongest part of the show, even though it was the hardest bit to put together. But it just doesn’t quite work for me, maybe because its a straight piece instead of funny, or maybe because its a slow song, or maybe because I don’t sing it very well; I don’t know – I still like the idea though: Of being able to sing a duet, through technology, with a dead Star. The first couple of times I did it I played live piano, which maybe worked better, but oh my god – Have you seen how much equipment I’m lugging about?!
Then there’s the ad break – those 5 TV adverts that I’ve “fiddled about with”. I like that bit, cos I can drink some lucozade and have a 2 minute rest, while still get to hear if people like my silly messing about.
So I like these Shenanigans, even if the show is less than perfect. I’m going to continue with this show for 2012 and ’13, but then in 2014 I’ll do a new show, I think. I have an idea called “Nick L’Mao Rocks” which is like a tribute to the world’s greatest rock bands – Where I’ll play the part of each member of each band on the screen and in real life – I can imagine lots of costume changes, and lots of great music.
I might leave that idea for the 2016 show, though. For the next one I might try and do more with the comedy “Other Me’s” – More dialogue, more interaction: Maybe the title for that one could be “Nick L’Mao and the Clone Band”. Hmmm.
I’ll stop babbling now, but I would love to hear your thoughts if you have any – Please leave comments below. And thanks for reading! x