Grown ups love teens’ adult show
According to Will Poulter, his chances on having a career as an actor are, at the very most, slim.
Looking at the 15-year-old’s already sterling resume – which includes a lead role in the movie Son of Rambow, and a part in the forthcoming Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader film alongside Liam Neeson – that comes as a real surprise.
“It would be great if I could continue acting, but I think that it’s very unlikely I’ll be able to make a proper career of it,” says the affable youngster, who played bad boy Lee Carter in Son of Rambow, and is currently appearing on the Fringe in School of Comedy – a sketch show for adults, performed by teenagers and devised by his drama teacher, Laura Black.
“It’s all so competitive, and the chances of making it in this profession are slim,” he continues. “It’s a dream, of course, but I’m under no illusions.
“Put it this way,” he adds, “I’ve got my back-up plan should things not work out.”
A wise head on young shoulders, the young Londoner made his Fringe debut last summer in an earlier incarnation of School of Comedy.
“It’s a lot of fun being back in Edinburgh,” he says. “We had such a great time last year, and though I was a lot more nervous doing it the first time around, I still have great memories of it.
“The show was an enormous success. People seemed to love how original it was.
“I can remember there were a few gaping mouths, but they generally belonged to adults who didn’t have children and had forgotten what it was like to be 15 years old.
“The reaction this year has been just the same,” he adds. “We were just getting so many people in, so we’re all very pleased about that. It’s a real dream come true.”
For making his dreams come true, Poulter credits his drama teacher Black. “I was very lucky to get involved in acting really,” he says. “Ms Lawson was running an after school club, where people could get together and just try improvisational routines. She’d worked as a comedian before and just gave us scripts to read and try out ideas with. We got the chance to perform the act at school, and it’s just all developed from there.”
That development has seen the kids put in just as much work to the show as the crack team of comedy writers Lawson enlisted to help write the show for an adult audience.
“All the material starts really with the improv games we played with Ms Lawson,” explains Poulter. “We got to explore each character we created and try out different settings and situations to build workable scenes. It’s a real group collaboration.”
And it seems the kids have built a real team spirit between themselves. “We spend every day with each other really, and it’s still always a lot of fun,” he says. “It’s good to share this weird experience, because we’re still only really children at this adult festival.”
This image of an ‘adult’ festival did initially concern Poulter. “There was a worry we might have just been seen as a novelty,” he explains. “We definitely didn’t want to be just some kids doing adult comedy. But we’re all really proud of what we’ve created, people have been coming along to the show with an open mind.”
The show – which also stars Ella Ainsworth, Lily Ainsworth, Max Brown, Jack Harries, Africa Nile, Beth Rylance and Arthur Sturridge – is soon to feature on an episode of Channel 4’s The Comedy Lab, which is an thrilling prospect for Poulter.
“The idea of our work being on TV is just amazing,” he beams. “It would be so incredible to do more television, but you’ve got to have that ultimate goal.”
Getting bums on seats in Edinburgh was a challenge in itself, but the hard work Poulter and his gang put in paid off. “We’ve really had to work hard with the flyering but it helped so much,” he enthuses. “Everyone I’ve spoken to who has been to see the show really seems to have loved it, and the audience reactions have been really encouraging as well. Lots of laughter.
“We have a really great laugh ourselves just doing it,” he continues. “Essentially, it is kids doing adult comedy, so it’s a little bit different in that respect from other shows on at the Fringe this year. But I think the most important thing is for everyone to have a good time.”
School of Comedy, Pleasance Courtyard, The Pleasance, 1.40pm, until Sunday, GBP 9 (GBP 8), 0131-226 0000
