KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN | COMEDY INTERVIEW
One of four brains behind the acclaimed sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop, plus runner of serial killer podcat All Killa No Filla and a solo standup in her own right, Kiri Pritchard-McLean has made plenty of comedic noises already within the industry. She had a candid chat with Corey Aunger about her first solo tour, collaborative works and inspirations.
When was the moment you first realised you could do comedy?
I guess it was back when I was growing up in Wales, I used to go to this drama club and we would do sketch comedy there – well we do all sorts of things. But, it was the comedy I loved. When you start making people laugh, you’re like ‘this is all I want to do’, it’s very addictive. So, whilst all the other kids were going out doing drugs, I was just trying to rip off The League of Gentlemen sketches. [Seeing it] t was like somebody was making something for me. It was so exciting to see it because it was quite dark and there was loads of great stuff like Nighty Night on the television at the time. And I thought I would love to make stuff like this, because it had the real tinge of horror.
What was the motivation behind your show, Appropriate Adult?
I really believe in volunteering and contributing to your local community. I wanted to talk about what happened and the journey I had been on – and hopefully try and make other people want to volunteer as well. The back story with it, is me trying to decide whether or not to have kids, or to adopt children: and what the right thing is to do. I didn’t realise until I started doing the show that loads of people my age have decided not to have children. This show talks about all those reasons why, and I guess it’s all about growing up. Oddly enough, a 15-year-old girl is probably the person who has made me grow up the most: in being responsible to someone else.
Appropriate Adult has been described as a “morality tale about other people’s lack of morals”, could you expand upon this? What lack of morals are you criticising?
Everyone has levels of morality, and I talk about myself in that. Because the show talks about really big topics: engaging with whether or not you’re going to have children, the environment, being responsible to other people, and doing the right thing. That’s the moral of the show. because morality is subjective. I guess it’s about trying to find your way to doing the best thing and trying to understand the people who are on the other side.
Over the past year you’ve broken onto different platforms, such as TV and radio. How do you go about approaching these other types of media?
Radio is really nice especially, because you don’t have to do your hair! But you do have to think about these things differently. If people come and see you live they are in the room and get the full context, but on TV and radio they might catch a snippet, which has been edited. You have to be ready for people taking it out of context. I guess that’s one of the aspects of TV and radio that I’m scared about. Everything I’ve done so far has been received in good spirit, but there’s going to come a day when somebody says “I heard half a joke you did on a radio show and now I’m really angry with you, and here’s 8 tweets about why.” Generally, I just get girls asking me where I got my clothes from – which, in a way, is the best compliment you can pay me. Also, I’ve got quite spicy language, that’s just how I talk generally – so obviously you have to clean it up for the radio.
You are one quarter of the sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop. Are you the best quarter?
Absolutely. I’m the strongest one, I’m like the boss. I’m the evil puppet-master. Well the others perform in it and I don’t. So, I’m the one that tells them off, does the lights, and makes sure they’ve all got their P.E. kits with them before they leave the house!
Tell us more about the creative process behind Gein’s Family giftshop. And how does your role (as director and collaborative writer) affect it?
You’re right to use the word collaborative because it is a real team, and like a family. Everything we would do, we would do together. We’ve had this line-up change which has been really difficult, but I think we’re more on the same page now than we’ve ever been. It all feels like we’re pulling together in the same direction, which is really liberating. We sit down, and we hang out, basically as friends, and stuff comes out of that. We sit around and talk, like “have you seen this horror film” or “have you seen this sketch” and we get inspired by other things. Having a new member in Adam has brought about a new set of sensibilities to the table. He’s interested us to this world we didn’t know existed, I believe it’s called “culture”.
Do you prefer working solo or in a collaboration?
They’re edifying in different ways. I love working with Gein’s. It’s such a fun kind of gang mentality. Especially being on tour is so much fun. Even if you get stuck in traffic for six hours, it’s with three of the funniest most intelligent people I know. But you also have to manage interpersonal relationship and three other moods. Well, it’s mainly on them to manage my mood. But, I guess there’s a touch of loneliness maybe when you gig a lot on your own. I don’t ever feel like that when I’m with Gein’s. Also, if it goes brilliantly on my own, it’s quite nice to just take the credit and not have to share it.
You and fellow comedian, Rachel Fairburn, have a podcast – All Killa No Filla – what was the inspiration or motivation behind dedicating a podcast to serial killers?
It’s because we are both so fascinated by it and have such similar views on these people and the psychology behind it. It isn’t hero worship, we make that very clear, but true crime is an absolutely huge genre especially with women. If we are interested in talking about it, there must be people interested in listening to it. That’s how it all came about, we just took a punt and it’s just grown and grown and grown.
Who is your favourite serial killer and why?
Well I’ve got a top three, you can’t pick a favourite! Firstly, H.H. Holmes, who had a murder castle in Chicago during the world fair, he’s absolutely fascinating. And there’s Jeffrey Dahmer. And finally, there’s a murderer, which is different to a serial killer, but he’s the person who got me into all this weird stuff. His name is Ed Gein, which is who Gein’s Family Giftshop is sort of named after. He’s sort of who Psycho is based on, and Leatherface from Texas Chainsaw Massacre. So yeah, he’s a good one but we both know that’s not the right word. He’s an interesting fellow.
Gein’s Family Giftshop will be at various venues from Wed 14 Mar. Info: http://www.geinsfamilygiftshop.co.uk/#recitals
Kiri Pritchard-McLean: Appropriate Adult will be at the Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff on Sat Mar 17 and Cinema and Co., Swansea on Thu 22 Mar http://www.kiripritchardmclean.co.uk/appropriate-adult/
All Kill No Filla will be at the Glee Club, Cardiff on Sun 22 Mar: https://www.livenation.co.uk/show/1091325/all-killa-no-filla/cardiff/2018-04-22/en