EDINBURGH 2023: Ikechukwu Ufomadu Q&A

BWW catches up with Ikechukwu Ufomadu to chat about bringing Amusements to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Amusements

Certainly! Amusements is an hour-long presentation of humour, all delivered while standing. On that basis, one might venture to call it stand-up comedy, and such a one would be correct. Over the course of the show, the audience can expect a heaped helping of words (both spoken and sung), along with a bit of light dancing and the judicious use of a few select props. On the whole, the material tends towards the silly and the absurd, while maintaining broad relatability by riffing on such shared cultural touchstones as the alphabet, numbers and more. I hope both the content of this answer and its underlying, roundabout logic conveys something of the feel and spirit of the show.

How is the presentation of the show crucial to the storytelling?

An astute question. Here's my attempt at an answer. There’s a level of formality in the presentation of the show and the way I perform that’s rooted in my ongoing amusement at the seriousness with which play is often pursued. I find the tension between seriousness and play to be a rich wellspring of humour for me. Without that formality, I wouldn’t be able to tap that wellspring in quite the same way.

Why bring it to Edinburgh?

Curiosity is a big part of it. I’m curious to find out what kind of insights into the show I might get from doing it back-to-back every night for a month. I’m curious to find out how my comic sensibility translates or does not translate (though hopefully it translates) with a more international audience. I’m curious to find out how I’ll change as a performer over the course of the month. Beyond curiosity, let me just quote Frank Sinatra and say, “I don’t care how long you been in this business. There’s nothing like performing for live people, baby.” 

With this being your festival debut, do you think you know what to expect from the Fringe?

I think I know what to expect. At the end of the day though, I do not actually know what to expect. I’ve heard it’s tiring. I’ve heard it’s a grind. I’ve heard I should make a special effort in caring for my mental well-being. My pre-Fringe self hears all this and thinks that it can’t possibly be that strenuous/demanding/unforgiving. I hope my post-Fringe self doesn’t look back on my pre-Fringe self as a fool. 

What would you like audiences to take away from it?

What I don’t want them to take away are any of the show’s props or the venue’s technical equipment, as this would impede further performances of the show and likely be considered a crime, and who needs a criminal charge hanging over their heads at Edinburgh? What I do hope they take away are lovely memories of an evening well-spent. The kind of memories that’ll bring a faint smile to their faces for at least the next ten or twenty years. And if, for some reason, they’ve had to watch this show in order to fulfill a requirement for school, and must now write an essay about it, I hope they take away a reconsideration of the fine lines between seriousness and play, sense and nonsense, and stagecraft and statecraft. 

Amusements by Ikechukwu Ufomadu will be performed at 5.40pm in Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Two) from 2nd – 27th August (Not 16th)

Booking link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/amusements-ikechukwu-ufomadu

Photo credit: Zach DeZon.

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