Buzz’s very own Keiron Self recounts his YouTube sketch show alter ego Martin Decker’s journey to the big screen in Cardiff’s Chapter…
Martin Decker proved to be a lifeline for me during the pandemic. A man going through a midlife crisis doing YouTube videos from his bathroom, Martin allowed me to escape from the confines of my house and became a creative endeavour that wouldn’t stop evolving.
Initially the character of Martin was conceived as a monologue for theatre, written by Kevin Jones (Cardiff Boy), a renowned editor on the likes of Y Sŵn, Casualty and Keeping Faith. I had worked with Kevin years ago on a short film called The Cornet Player, where I had to shave my head live on camera. This was something else. And no head shaving seemed to be involved, just some well-written mid-life angst about a man whose marriage was on the verge of collapse, trying to find an outlet to express himself.
COVID put paid to any more stage development, however. Working with Kevin again had been fantastic and we wanted to maintain the creative momentum, so he wrote some shorts as Martin, trapped in his bathroom tries to become a YouTube star, filmed entirely on an iPhone and a Go-Pro camera. It was a way of keeping the character alive, whilst obeying Covid regulations, masks were worn, distances kept and there were definitely no parties, just a lot of sitting outdoors, hand sanitizer and avoiding each other in the one room it was all being filmed in, Kevin’s own bathroom.
It certainly gave us both something to laugh about for what we thought might be one or two episodes, made for own sanity more than anything, but it became an itch we could not stop scratching. Ideas snowballed and a series of around 20 YouTube shorts were made. When lockdown laws were relaxed, we even managed to get other local actors involved, and shifted locations: Roath Park, Bute Park, a car… oh, the glamour! Then when COVID returned, I filmed from my own bathroom, passing it off as Martin’s mum’s.
After doing so many loosely connected ‘bits’, we thought we might have enough material to shape a movie. A movie made on our own terms on no budget…apart from the coffee and custard slices given to guest stars. And thanks to Kevin’s directorial and editing wizardry, extra filming and the kindness and generosity of friends and fellow creatives, Martin Decker is about to have his premiere at Chapter in Cardiff. He’s even going to introduce it himself. I’m looking for the right tie to wear…
It’s been a tragicomic odyssey: two and a half years in the making, made with a lot of heart, and an experience for which I shall always be very thankful. Playing Martin helped maintain my sanity in those turbulent months, even as he was losing his sanity on screen. Hopefully, a sequel/new endeavour won’t require a global pandemic to jumpstart it…
The Martin Decker Show is showing in Chapter at 5pm on Sun 14 May
Tickets: £8/£6. Info: here
Martin Decker is on Twitter
words KEIRON SELF
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