It is August which only means one thing – it is Camden Fringe time! Over the next few weeks we are chatting to acts that are performing at the festival and finding all about their show and what they would call this years iconic Camden Fringe Pigeon! Today we speak the drag-king comedy group The Bareback Kings about their show.

Date: 10th – 12th August
Time: 21:00
Price: £15 Concession: £13
Location: The Hope Theatre
Ticket Link:  https://camdenfringe.com/events/the-bareback-kings/

Hello! Tell us about yourself ? 

We are The Bareback Kings who are bunch of rag tag mad lads who sometimes get it wrong, but always try to get it right. We are the all dancing improv comedy sensations that don’t allow locker room talk to go to unchecked…even if we started it!

How did you come up with the name of your show that your taking to the Camden fringe?

Well we thought…we’re hot to trot…so why not name our show after the best thing we know…ourselves…and that’s on self love. Period! 

Tell us a little bit about your style of show?

Our show is a fast paced mosaic of hot boy band dance routines, tongue in cheek agony advice and a improv set, based in a public house.

What will your set be about?

It will be about whatever the audience feeds us, spied through the shrewd filter of folks who are drag kings and enjoy the exploration of the world through the lens of gender. As well as all of that highbrow stuff, it will also be totally dumb at points, like in a thrillingly silly way.

What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?

We are looking forward to so many shows it would be impossible to list them all, however here a non exhaustive selection:

*Close Quarters – Michelle

*Birthday – Holly Stars and Richard Energy

*Singh’ing in the rain – Mandeep Singh

*For the Last First Time – Charlie Dinkin and Fraser Parry

*Brown Girl Noise – Haldi

*Transparency – Jaden Adams

*You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry – Holly Hall

*August – Thaniya Moore

*The Two Horsemen – Liam & Tom

*The week I forgot – Lynsey Bonnell

Have you done the fringe before? What have been some of your favourite shows to date and why?

We have done the Camden Fringe and The Vault Festival to name a few and have great memories of both our own and others shows. There was a Bareback Kings show where a couple laid it all hilariously bare in the conversation with the lads and it was wild and wonderful.

In regards to another artists show, there is the phenomenal Bicurious George who created some educational bangers about the exquisite and queer planet we all share. 

What advice would you give to others who want to perform at Camden Fringe next year?

Just do it! Whilst the Edinburgh fringe has largely become an exclusitory elitist pastime for those who aren’t local, there are a tonne of fringes that have sprouted closer to your home and they need your innovation and you need their support when it comes to marketing and beyond. If not now…then when? 

What is the best thing about performing at the Camden fringe?

It is a boost of energy into London that creates theatre and arts experiences that are accessible both for performer and audience, that maybe can’t reach the lofty madness of west end pricing. 

London can be an expensive place to perform in – what key advice would you give to performers that is a sort of life hack?

Think about the art form you specialise in and how many people would love to benefit from your experience. So curate and facilitate workshops that cover that and attach it onto the show either in venue or nearby to help the show pay for itself.

What are your three favourite things about Camden?

*Nightlife 

*Punk Heritage

*Street Art

Favourite one liner you have done in a show and why?

“I’d love to paint you in Oil my dear… but as a medium it is just too crude” – Brent Would.

It’s a favourite because it was an enteriely unintentional double meaning…the creative God’s were flowing through him! 

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

It would of course be the inimitable Kate McKinnon who is a comedy idol we all share. She’d then immediately tell us she wanted to make a sitcom with us and we’d move to Hollywood. 

The iconic image of the Camden Fringe is the Pigeon – if you could call this years pigeon a name to represent its style what would it be and why?

We’d call them the Spanish word for pigeon that also doubles as the word for soul – Paloma! She has a tonne of heart and whole lot of soul.

If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?

On twitter: @BarebackKings

On Instagram: @TheBarebackKings

And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show? 

Live, Laugh, Lads