Tracey Collins brings Dancing Animal to Oxford this September. Daily Info sat down with them do discuss Tracey's new acts and what audiences can expect from the show.
Daily Info: What’s Dancing Animal all about?
Tracey Collins: Dancing Animal is a new solo show of mine. Where I perform two new musical comedy characters and some stand up comedy. I named it Dancing Animal after a Kurt Vonnegut quote which references the inching role of technology in society, the joy of leaving the house and the importance of human contact. I absolutely love live performance and engaging directly with an audience in my shows. I want to share my passion for human connection through laughter, singing, movement and general silliness.
DI: What can audiences expect from this show?
TC: I'm delighted to be returning to The Florence Park Community Centre with Irregular Folks. It’s such an immediately atmospheric and warm venue, and with Alan on the sound we always have a riot.
I’ll be opening the show with ‘Samantha Groans’. The Sex & The City parody you’ve all been waiting for. Samantha has left NYC for a saucy new life in London. She’s got songs to sing and stories to tell, all sizzling with innuendo. And there will be biscuits.
I will then be taking off the wigs to perform as myself. Expect observational stand up comedy, and I will share the ridiculous ideas and experiences I’ve had in the world of entertainment.
I will close the show with Northern cowboy ‘Shaunia Wayne' He’s a Shania Twain tribute artist who looks and sounds nothing like her. Armed with a can of Carling Black Label, he tells stories of his tragic love life and reworks Shania’s back catalogue for some hilarious renditions.
DI: You are introducing some new characters to this show. Where do these come from and how do you go about creating them?
TC: I will get a quick flash of inspiration for something new, and then start thinking about how to rewrite it in my own style. I loved the idea of exploring Samantha Jones’ life in London, when she left NYC to live there in the new TV series And Just Like That. I'm not interested in straight impersonation. But I start by finding the essence of the character and then expanding the idea into something more off-the-wall, with a musical comedy twist.
For Shaunia Wayne, a friend at a venue I perform at suggested I do a Shania Twain act next. So I got to work with finding my inner Shania. And she happened to be a Northern Cowboy, heartbroken and down on his luck. Expressing himself through reworked songs.
DI: Do you have a favourite character that you've created? Or is that like asking you to pick a favourite child!
TC: Haha! They are defo all my favourite children! But right now, I do have a soft spot for Shaunia Wayne. His reworked songs are such fun but he’s deeply tragic, and I love that comedy is rooted in Tragedy. The audiences have reacted beautifully to him, instantly being on his side and wanting him to be okay.
DI: Can you sum the show up in three words?
TC: Playful, chaotic and random.
Tracey Collins performs at Florence Park Community Centre on Saturday 21st September and tickets can be purchased here.