A brand-new show from one of the country’s most outstanding comics, '*@#!KING CLOWN', is Frank Woodley choosing to take this regular ascription to himself and his work and just go with it, pushing new tales through the wringer and guaranteeing waves of laughter.
“It has a little pun in it,” Frank says, “but I think I’m just going to call it 'King Clown' like that – that works, doesn’t it?”
It works very well, indeed, forgetting the fact it's missed completely until Frank points it out – “Oh, well, that’s not good!”. Once the pieces of his broken spirit have been picked up from a good pun wasted, Frank happily dives into talking about '*@#!KING CLOWN';. “Have you seen the poster?” Frank asks eagerly. Indeed, and in it, Frank has flamboyantly adopted the guise of King Louis XIV, aptly tying in a once-living king with his own would-be title as King Of The Clowns.
Frank is of course known for his very theatrical, physical brand of comedy. “Not just regular stand-up,” he agrees. “This guy I play on stage has a kind of childlike innocence to him.
“The show is very theatrical stand-up, whole chunks of it is me talking, then there’s some visual bits, a few songs as well, and a story about me going to. . . Well, going to a physical comedy workshop in June of last year and then it all derailing when I got there. Turns out I just participated in a workshop run by a psychotic Russian master clown!”
There are all sorts of bits of stand-up in Frank’s new show, including a description of his daughter’s ballet concert, where Frank was witness to five and six-year-olds and their own comedic brilliance. “I aspire to have the brilliance these littlies have,” he declares. “Lots of tangents, a song about loneliness in which I meet some aliens – it’s hard to articulate!”
Existential, extra-terrestrial, and extra complex – if Frank’s hearty laugh in reaction to hearing these words ascribed to his new show are anything to go by, that’s what you’re in for when he takes to the stage. “Yeah, and there’s all these tangents but quite a few visual sketches,” he finishes.
In league with Director Bob Franklin, Frank’s been given a set of eyes that see creative nuances he may have missed on his own. “Bob’s brilliant because he’s extraordinarily unpretentious but he has a theatrical flair [and] a big comedic mind.
“His role has been unorthodox – we got together for a few months and talked about what the show was going to be, with three or four raves about all sorts of things. He helped me write the show, as well. He really gave me a sounding board while I was developing the material and structure of the show.”
A physical performer, you might liken Frank’s characteristics and methods to those of English comic Lee Evans – only not as sweaty. But why this particular figure in history? “Actually, the Louis XIV thing, it’s not like I do a thing about the French Revolution, it’s mainly that I went to France and I was like, ‘am I a King Clown or am I a F...ing Clown?’ You know, ‘what’s the difference between both concepts?’
“Also, I thought it was an interesting zeitgeist image because of the way it feels there’s something in the air at the moment in terms of the cancel culture stuff.
“The reign of terror with the French Revolution and the guillotine seems like an interesting metaphor for cancel culture as well. This is not a period piece or anything like that.”
Frank Woodley Tour Dates
8 March – Spiegeltent Hobart13-15 March – The Tivoli (Brisbane Comedy Festival)
19 March – Canberra Theatre Centre (Canberra Comedy Festival)
26 March-19 April – The Forum (Melbourne International Comedy Festival)
28 April – Spiegeltent Wollongong
