Totally Looped comes to The Haymarket (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Totally Looped comes to The Haymarket

11:20am Thursday 29th January 2009 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
•  

LOVERS of comedy and film have a treat in store at The Haymarket on February 5, with Totally Looped, an all-improvised show in which top comics dub new dialogue to old movie clips.

Hattie Hayridge, forever remembere as the face of on-board computer Holly in cult TV show Red Dwarf, told the Gazette about the show, improvisation and the possibility of another jaunt into space.

Totally Looped, which been described as Mock the Week meets YouTube, has come over from America for a British tour with comedy acts including Hayridge, Pippa Evans and The Penny Dreadfuls.

The Haymarket show next week will be Hayridge’s first.

She said: “I’ve never met the others before, we are doing a meet and greet the Monday before - I guess it wouldn’t be good if we got up on stage and were saying ‘sorry what was your name again?’”

The show has a revolving cast of about 12 people, with five in any one show.

“There will be a big screen on the stage and a computer wizz from America will show old film clips without the dialogue,” explains Hayridge.

“And then the five of us sitting on stage with mics will dub dialogue over the clips.

“There’ll be a compere-type person asking the audience for suggestions, so they know it’s not pre-written.”

Unfazed by an all-improvised show, the blond comic said: “I would hate it if it was half improvised and half from memory, for me improvisation and written comedy are different parts of your brain.

“Some people can do both at the same time, but I can’t - there goes the female multi-tasking theory!”

In fact, the 49-year-old began her comedy career in improvisation.

She said: “I went along to The Comedy Store in London for a laugh one night, I hadn’t thought of doing comedy, I was a secretary at the time.

“They said something about Saturday classes so I went along for fun, it was terrifying.”

She joined the likes of Paul Merton, Julian Clary, and Mike Myers for classes and found herself on stage on Sunday nights.

Asked about Red Dwarf’s Holly, a role she took over from Norman Lovett in the programme’s third series, she said further episodes are on the cards.

She said: “They are definitely filming two new episodes for [TV channel] Dave in February, but neither I or Norman Lovett know if we’re in it yet.

“With high-definition and 42 inch screens these days and me a little older I’m not sure how I would feel about doing it!”

Totally Looped is at 8pm, and tickets, at £16, can be booked at Anvil Arts box office, on 01256 844844, or online, at www. anvilarts. org.uk.

-Lucie Richards