Welcome back to our Offbeat Spotlight series. Over the next few days we're highlighting all the strange and wonderful things that the Offbeat Festival has to offer. The Offbeat Festival runs from the 9th-15th of September, and is a collaboration between The Old Fire Station, Oxford Playhouse, New Theatre and Gloucester Green Market. In addition to a multitude of shows, there are also workshops, and exhibition, late night events including a poetry slam, comedy scratch night, and listening party, and more.
Here, we're highlighting the third of the Late Night Offbeat series, six free events that all start at 9pm, from Tuesday - Sunday. Stilly, a local illustrator, writer and performer has made a reputation for himself through his rhyming stories accompanied by projected illustrations. In Mildish Urges for Childish Dirges - Stilly’s Terrible Drawn Tales the terribleness comes not from the quality of the art - the pictures a hand drawn in black and white pen and are quite detailed - but rather the gruesome and darkly comic nature of their plots. We caught up with Stilly to find out more.
Daily Information: Hi Stilly, thanks so much for taking the time to talk with us today. Your blend of illustration, storytelling and dark comedy has made a bit of a local spoken word legend. How did you get started in this medium of storytelling?
Stilly:Thanks for having me. I’ve always been interested in telling stories, whether they be jokes or films or anything. But I also want to try new mediums that haven’t been tried before. I was an average film maker and prose writer, and writing and drawing a graphic novel is just so time consuming. So I like illustrating short story poems. It’s probably the oldest form of storytelling, and still very popular, but not many people seem to be doing it these days. The nations favourite 100 poems have about 30 structured story poems in them, but if you go to a poetry event today most poetry will be in free verse and will focus more on mood and introspection rather than on story.
DI: Your show contains six separate tales, all primarily featuring children. Did you envision the stories as a set, or bring them together over time?
S: Basically, I wanted to get a story collection together in a book. I have written and drawn over 50 stories and my initial idea was just to put a random set together. But when I showed it to a “First Book Coach” they told me that it was too random, and advised me to work to a theme. I had quite a few stories involving children, some from ten years ago, so the styles of the drawings and poetry are all quite different. But I think that it works as show.
DI: What have previous performances looked like? Any favorite memories?
S: Performances can vary according to the venue and the organiser. But it is always just me, my projector, screen and the magic of a lantern show. Mostly I play poetry groups or open mic sessions. I prefer open mic sessions because with most of them, anything goes. They often advertise for storytellers but I think that these are rarely performed, it’s mostly guitar players and poets reading from a book. So when they see me, armed with a projector and film screen, asking to perform an illustrated PowerPoint presentation, the person in charge can often get alarmed.
Once a guy pointed at my screen bag and very excitedly enquired “Is it a didgeridoo?” He was very disappointed when I pulled out my projector screen. But worse was a pub in North Yorkshire who were very suspicious of anything electrical. I asked them if it was possible to turn off the lights before my performance so that the audience could see the screen better.
The lad behind the bar was outraged, as he had no idea where the light switches were. “We just turn off the mains at the end of the night. We don’t bother with switches!” I went ahead with my poem in full light until halfway through the third verse all the lights went out and a voice shouted out, “Found It!” The lights didn’t come back on all evening.
DI: Who is this ‘perfect for fans of’? If you had to compare the vibes of your show to another piece of media, what would it be?
S: Anyone who loves a good funny yarn. During lockdown I thought that I would find lots of other illustrated story performances; Zoom just seemed perfect for it. But alas I never found one. But if you like Edward Gorey stories, or Albert and the Lion or Tales of the Unexpected, then I try to create that sort of “vibe.” It you like to laugh with a shocking twist, then this is the show for you.
DI: After Offbeat, what's next for you?
S: My next book and show is going to be called The House that Bled Blood. It is another six poems which are all linked by the same gruesome location, but are all set in different rooms and at different times from the 1840s to the present. I have spent the last six months writing it and I hope to crowdfund the book and maybe a new show too. A real play for voices but with pictures.
DI: Finally, please describe Mildish Urges for Childish Dirges in three words.
S: Terrible Drawn Tales
The Late-night Offbeat: Mildish Urges for Childish Dirges is on at the Old Fire Station cafe, on Thu 12th Sep, 9pm. For more info and to book tickets, click here.