Topical sketch-show comedy returns to Worthing this Christmas

The Treason Show makes its first visit to Worthing since the pandemic with That Was The Year That Was 24.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers.

00:06Lovely to speak to Mark Brailsford of The Treason Show, usually based in Brighton,

00:11but the great news is this Christmas you are heading to Worthing and it's going to be your

00:15first Worthing date for The Treason Show for something like seven years or so. What's

00:21the thinking in coming back now? Why now? Well, we always loved playing Worthing actually.

00:26When we were doing the shows a few years ago, well before Covid-19, the audiences we got in

00:32Worthing were fantastic to us and we loved it. It's just we didn't have a really suitable venue

00:37for the show and now with the rooms, the comedy rooms that are sometimes called in the Guildhall

00:42Centre, just recently opening, this great space has appeared and we think, well, let's give this

00:49a go. Fantastic and there's a bit of pressure, isn't there? You're wanting to get 150 people,

00:54if you do that, that gives you the green light to come back and possibly every other month,

01:00possibly every month if things really build. What's your feeling? Is the audience there?

01:05You've got to think of it, haven't you? I think so, yeah, and I hope so, put it that way. I'm

01:10putting a lot of hope and optimism into this. I think we can get that and I think also because

01:17Worthing doesn't have this kind of thing. It doesn't have a, yeah, loads of places have got

01:22stand-up of mixed ability and standards. It's kind of ubiquitous at the moment but a full

01:29on topical sketch comedy show live with parody songs and a big entertainment feel is a rarity

01:34in any part of the country and one of the biggest show of its kind in the UK. Go on then, a bit more

01:41specific. What are you bringing to Worthing? What's the fun? Right, well, if you want to come

01:47and have a laugh, a laugh off what's going on in the news because let's face it, it's been a

01:51challenging year for the news. Then this is the place to be and sit in that audience with other

01:56people laughing your head off to take your mind off it all and make you realise that actually

02:02you're not alone. You're not alone finding the world absurd and the best way to deal with stuff

02:09at the moment is to laugh at it and it's great therapy, it's great entertainment. We're promising

02:17to give you all guns blazing, having a great time, having a wonderful laugh at what's in the world,

02:23with music, gags. When you laugh at these things, do they go away? They're still there but it gives

02:27you an escape, doesn't it? I think it's an escapism, yes, exactly. I think escapism is exactly what we're

02:33offering and a lot of fun. I think that's what we all need now. I think in times like this,

02:39the more entertainment we can give people, the more interesting and fun our lives are. Fantastic,

02:46good luck with this new venture, keep me posted. Lovely to speak to you Mark, thank you. Thank you.