Performing at the Manchester Fringe
By Lauren Johnston
The Twisted Capers (who also go by the name of Myles, Connor, Tom & Lauren) first met at university, except Myles and Connor; they first met in the womb. Studying the BA TV & Radio course at the University of Salford, it wasn’t until the second year that they all met as presenters on the local television station That’s Manchester. After that seemed to go well, it was around a year ago that they decided to have a go at forming a sketch group, creating videos for online platforms.
The name ‘Twisted Capers’ was pulled from a Matt Berry lyric in ‘The Hangman’ featured on his album Opium. With Matt being a huge inspiration to the group, it was only right to steal from him, as all great art does…
There was already an exhibitionist streak among them: Myles and Connor were in the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2010 as part of boy band Connected, Tom was a finalist in sketch writing contest Sketch In The City and had already been making his own solo comedy work, and Lauren once got her trousers pulled down in ASDA in Grantham.
Having had encouraging feedback from Facebook and YouTube videos, after launching with Stuffed Crust – a short musical based on the intimacy of a pizza delivery – the next thing the Capers must do is perform live. Being poor graduates, Manchester Fringe this summer is the perfect opportunity and it’s not too far north (i.e. Edinburgh) which is handy because Connor doesn’t have a head for heights.
After a scout around the city and a challenging decision between two fantastic venues, the Capers chose the Lounge at Gullivers pub on Oldham Road as their Fringe home for three nights – the 7th, 8th and 9th of July. The convenience of a projector, lights and a sound system were the contributing factors, as well as the central location. This means short sketches or music videos can be played between live sketches to allow for character changes.
To introduce the night with a short set is the brilliant stand up Tony Wright, finalist of the Student Chortle Awards 2017. Coming together, the Twisted Capers hope this will be an hour of upbeat merrymaking in the greatest city of them all… now all they need to do is rehearse.
In the meantime you can check out all of the Twisted Capers’ sketches online by visiting their Facebook page and YouTube channel.
https://www.facebook.com/twistedcapers/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWO2hdNGAhwK1Dj-da5-0tA
