"It's like a hip-hop muppet show” Emma McAlpine talks to Fullmooners founder Andrew Maxwell about his late-night comedy phenomenon.
If you ever want to experience a slice of the anarchy that is the Edinburgh Fringe in one show; look no further than Maxwell's Fullmooners. Usually held at midnight on a full moon, this part-comedy/part-cabaret gig has been a cult favourite amongst comedy punters for the last five years. Formerly a Comedy Store stalwart, its timetable has been reduced of late due to the organisers’ increasingly busy schedules, but there are two upcoming gigs to look out for: one in London's Udderbelly tent this Saturday and one in Edinburgh's beautifully situated Princes Street Gardens on August 16th.
Set up in 2005 by Irish stand-up Andrew Maxwell, Fullmooners started out on a late Thursday night slot at the Comedy Store and immediately established itself as a gig with a difference. A haphazard, cacophonous descent into madness with costumes, moons, breakdancing, singing, jokes and howling, Fullmooners is exactly the kind of show you want to find yourself stumbling into at midnight.
Maxwell describes the concept: “The whole hulk of the show is that instead of applauding something when it gets a big laugh everyone howls at it. The comedian or singer also gets bathed in moonlight with a big gobo light shining on them. I dress up as a hip-hop Count Dracula and the performer feeds off the audience and it accelerates the whole thing. There’s a lot of craziness.”
Fullmooners has had some massive names appearing on its line-ups over the years, all getting swept along with the moony mania. Adam Bloom completed a Rubik’s Cube in 37 seconds, Brendon Burns has pumped iron half-naked while telling jokes, Ed Byrne did his best Prince impression and Simon Pegg made his first return to stand-up there after 8 years away from the circuit.
Because it’s such an intimate, eccentric gig; it’s a popular choice for comics, as Maxwell says: “Comedians are obviously big comedy fans so they like doing something a bit different. The bigger your name, the less fun you have. There are always eyes on you and you don’t get a chance to muck around as much.” Saturday’s gig will see the usual assortment of special guest comedians, breakdancers and regulars like the spellbinding songstress Lady Carol and the bonkers Sir Tim Fitzhigham.
Audiences members have ranged from goths to British soldiers but all have the same up-for-it attitude, ready to howl and join in with whatever stage antics are going on at the time. Maxwell tells me one year a drunken Jade Goody even turned up and got turned away by bouncers after her boyfriend threatened to burn the club down.
Unsurprisingly, the show has been a huge hit at the Edinburgh Fringe, with past shows held in spooky caves and organisers burning a wicker man on Arthur’s Seat (“The fire brigade weren’t that happy.”)This year’s show will be, according to Maxwell: “Our biggest Fullmooners yet, held in Princes Street Gardens. It’s such a Fringe institution we don’t need big names, we just want guys who are really respected.”
Maxwell's Fullmooners will be at the Southbank Udderbelly on Saturday 10th July and Assembly @ Princes Street Gardens on August 16th July.
See more Edinburgh previews
See more London stand-up
Return to the London Comedy homepage.
Add an event
Scoping Out London’s Coolest Historic Bingo Halls
London’s bingo halls were once a bustling part of many of the city’s communities, but as...