Jake Mace
Scout Durwood’s upcoming EdFringe Musical Comedy Apocalypse Cabaret: Songs for the End of the World follows a lonely karaoke jockey, the sole survivor at the end of the world, who decides to go out singing. They aim to put together a smorgasbord of original songs, ‘pop bangers’, audience interaction, and existential musings. We caught up with Scout for a pixelated pint to find out more about what inspired the show.
You can catch Apocalypse Cabaret: Songs for the End of the World from July 30th to August 24th (not the 12th or 19th) at Dairy Room at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 21:20 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Scout, your show is all about a lonely karaoke jockey is the sole survivor at the end of the world, and decides to go out singing – tell us about what inspired the show.
Scout: This show has been a pretty major evolution for me. In 2023 I got scooped up by Spiegelworld and ended up spending two years hosting the circus. That put a pause on a lot of the personal stuff I was touring at the time. When it came time to emerge from that show in the spring of 2025, the world was really different. It didn’t feel appropriate to go back to laugh-a-minute songs. There was a collective heaviness that it felt important to address. The first iteration of this show was too serious. My director, Ellie Heyman (she/her) was really adamant about including more personal narrative in this show than I am wont to do, which was phenomenally challenging. I have an enormous phobia of being boring, especially onstage, so it took a lot of massaging for the show to land in a sweet spot of not to heavy and not too light.
I tend to work in rabit holes—I find something that is interesting to me and workshop different projects around the topic until something sticks. For my movie, YOUTOPIA, the rabbit hole was cults. When I found myself in a weird and isolated part of the world working in the circus, I started to get interested in loneliness, the feeling of being “other.” It was my first time as an adult without queer community and I found myself becoming really, really depressed. So I dug into that depression and ended up becoming interested in the psychology around suicide: how a decision like that can feel inevitable in one moment and impossible in the next. I read a lot, I watched a lot, and I ended up landing on the idea of a karaoke jockey in an apocalypse as a construct capable of managing both extremes. We’re going down, so why not doing it singing.
Jake: You describe the show as a darkly hilarious, high-octane spectacle – tell us what the audience can expect going in?
Scout: The first act of the show is largely pulled from my existing work, so the show starts with a pretty major energy blast: comedy music, talking with the audience, wine on stage—classic cabaret that I know and love. SO there’s your high octane. From there, the show strips power from its protagonist and starts to devolve into a psychological deep dive of what it means to leave the world behind and whether or not the protagonist would return to the previous world if they could. The second act leans heavily into narrative based on my real life—spoiler alert, there may or may not be a puppet involved—and then the third act marries the two, going back to the audience to share a tender moment. A coming-together so to speak.
The tempo of the show was modeled on a night of heavy drinking, so we start with party vibes, descened into an emotional overshare, and come out having shared something really special and initmate with our friends.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Scout: My biggest hope is that the audience takes away a feeling of having been presant for a live experience, to know that even when lonely, we are not alone. I also hope that this show helps remind us about how often laughter and sadness intersect. Maybe a feeling of beauty about the full range of human emotions. Also, I hope everyone leaves with a song stuck in their heads. That’s the ulitmeate gift that keeps on giving, if you ask me.
Jake: Tell us what you’re most excited about for EdFringe 2025.
Scout: I cannot freaking wait to be in a place where live shows are the main event. I’m ready to spend as much time as possible *not* staring at a screen. I’m hoping to see as many shows as humanly possible.
Jake: If your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Scout: I am a proud beverage goblin, so I’d say my show is a glass of water next to a sugar-free energy drink next to a glass of boubon, neat.
A reminder, you can catch Apocalypse Cabaret: Songs for the End of the World from July 30th to August 24th (not the 12th or 19th) at Dairy Room at Underbelly, Bristo Square from 21:20 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Lamesha Ruddock
