"I think that one of the great things about going up to Edinburgh is that you get there, the door shuts and you’re in someone’s head for an hour." Adam Riches talks to Emma McAlpine about what the Fringe means to him.
I end my phone conversation to Adam Riches with a big smile on my face. Trying to build a rapport with a stranger over the phone is not always easy; nevermind over a mobile, right before the Edinburgh Festival; but Riches is utterly charming, funny and interesting to talk to. He also seems to have all the time in the world to chat about Edinburgh. Apart from transcribing the interview and writing it up himself, I couldn’t really ask the guy for more.
This will be the character comedian’s fourth Edinburgh show and as well as introducing a few newcomers he’ll be bringing back old favourites like the Yakult-obsessed piracy detective Victor Legit and Aussie sex pest Connor Connorson. “The point of the show this year is it's supposed to be like an American theme park, so there’s lots of different lands and rides”, he tells me. “There’s the western cowboy element in there and the Tunnel of Love for Connor. I can’t quite work out what land Victor’s in, he’s kind of on his own. Maybe Yakult Land!”
One of Riches’ notable skills is his sparkling interaction with the audience. Remaining in character, he often gets them involved with a lot of his gags to help drive the narrative of the show, resulting in some very funny ad-libbing.
“You just can’t always gauge how someone will react when the spotlight is on them but I think it gives the show a bit of an edge and it makes each one a bit different. It’s nice to have that injection of freshness where anything could happen at that particular moment.”
Riches is no stranger to improvisation, having spent eight years writing plays. In 2007, he produced a six-part comedy stage serial in the Lowdown Albany on Great Portland Street. Each week, the cast would improvise a new story in character, working behind the bar, in the toilets and on the stage. It was a huge success and got nominated for a Time Out Critic’s Choice Award but for Riches, the success and the workload didn’t match up:
“A lot of effort went into six two-act episodes, with a cast of sometimes 20 people for a relatively little end-product. I decided to take the characters from the plays out onto the comedy circuit and try them in five minute and ten minute spots. Connor was the bartender of course and Victor would appear in the bar busting DVD pirates.”
Although few people turned up to his first Fringe show in August 2007, Riches still managed to get enough glowing reviews to give him the confidence to keep going:
“I realised that comedy is a quicker way to move forwards with your career. Ultimately I want to produce sitcoms and films but to get to that stage you need more of a profile and acting on the comedy circuit gives you that. It’s worked well, I’ve moved forward faster doing three years of Edinburgh than I’ve done in eight years of doing plays.”
He may have moved fast in three years but he’s certainly worked hard to get there. In 2008 he even broke his leg live on stage during an Edinburgh show (a Yakult-related incident naturally) and returned to perform four days later so as not to lose momentum: “I was re-writing it in the ambulance on morphine!” he says.
With plenty of glowing reviews and good audiences behind him, Riches is now ready to take a break from the Fringe and work in a different medium like TV or radio, although he has no illusions it will probably mean sacrificing some control.
“As you move into TV your opinions are shrunk slightly. Edinburgh is one of the only places you get to decide what you want to do and say. For an hour, this is an explosion of me, good or bad - it’s what I’ve decided to do.”
Whether or not he returns to the Edinburgh next year, it is clear from speaking to Riches that he loves the Fringe and the creative spirit that it generates:
“When I go and see a show I just want to spend an hour with that person’s voice. I don’t have to laugh all the way through it or like it all, but I can get an awful lot from a little bit as long as long as I feel like I’m spending an hour with that person. One of the great things about Edinburgh is that you get there, the door shuts and you’re in someone’s head for an hour.”
So if you want to see Riches in Edinburgh he’ll be performing at 4pm every day in the Pleasance Courtyard. If you’re hoping to bump into him in a bar - you might have your work cut out for you:
“I don’t drink and I’m not the greatest mixer so I usually go and see a show and then check out whatever’s on sale at Tescos. If you see a guy hanging around Tescos waiting for the man with the price gun to appear; you’ll know it’s me.”
Adam Riches: Rides will be at the Pleasance Courtyard from 4th-30th August at 4pm daily.
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