Show: Luke Kempner: Macho Macho Man Venue: Pleasance Courtyard - Above Time: 6.40pm Dates: 3rd – 29th August (not 17th) Photographer: Matt Crockett Links: Profile and Social Media
Hi Luke, please tell me about your 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, Macho Macho Man.
HELLO. Well it’s a dissection of modern day masculinity through stand up, impressions, musical theatre and being an Arsenal fan.
It sounds like a serious TED Talk now, haha. It really is a jam-packed show of everything. Singing. Impressions and laughs. Me trying to tackle the thorny heavyweight issue of masculinity is like David Attenborough being replaced by Rylan. It’s a lot of fun.
I loved your previous show, House of Faces. We’ve had a global pandemic since then! How does Macho Macho Man differ from what you’ve done before?
Well, this, it’s a very personal show. The show was originally for August 2020!! It was going to be all about me struggling with my masculinity and whether or not I was ready to become a father! Well, obviously we’ve had quite a lot happen since January 2020, so my child is 16 now haha. So now the show is mapping out from the moment I found out I was going to be a dad up until the birth. It’s very much me working out if I can be the macho macho man I THINK I need to be to be a good dad. Full of fun sketches including Ant And Dec hosting Toxic Masculinity Get Me Out Of Here.
You perform contemporary impressions ranging from Piers Morgan and Bojo to Ted Hastings and Paul Hollywood. Have you had any pushback from people currently in the public eye?
Well Bojo is yet to come and see my show. Maybe now he has some free time he might pop in? I’ll get him a comp. I’ve always done my impressions with a light ribbing. It’s not full of hate. My main objective is silliness more than trying to be hurtful. I always feel that if anyone came to see me do an impression of them they’d be able to laugh along. Even TRUMP. (Maybe not Trump)
You starred in Spitting Image, Steph’s Packed Lunch and had over 10 million views of your videos online. Do you prefer working in a TV, or radio, or performing live in front of an audience?
I love it all. My main favourites is anything Live. Be that TV, Radio or in a theatre/club. I love the pressure of live. It’s now or never. You can’t stop Live TV and ask to do it again. Spitting Image was a dream come true though. I loved every second. We have a live show coming in 2023, so I’m excited to do some voices for that too.
Finally, ask and answer a question of your own.
Are you happy with your show?
I REALLY AM. It’s so packed full of laughs and other opportunities to show off. I am a massive show off but not in an arrogant way. I just love for everyone to be having a good time and I really do feel I will give everyone a good time with this show. It has some life lessons in there too!
Tickets: Luke Kempner: Macho Macho Man
