Jake Mace
Queer Musical Comedy duo Mel & Sam are bringing their show The Platonic Human Centipede to EdFringe, and in their own words, are going ‘weirder than ever’. The show is described as a turbo-charged hour of sketch and song celebrates friendship, co-dependency, and the horror of deep platonic love, and Mel & Sam have taken time to reassure us they’ve never really seen the film that they’ve derived the title from. But they say they do know there is always more you can do to show someone you love them.
We caught up with Mel & Sam for a pixelated pint ahead of the show’s arrival in Edinburgh at the end of this month. You can catch Mel & Sam: The Platonic Human Centipede from July 30th to August 24th (not the 11th) at Beside at Pleasance Courtyard from 20:45 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Mel & Sam! Your upcoming show ‘The Platonic Human Centipede’ has quite the title – tell us about what inspired it.
M&S: The title was inspired by us talking about how we feel like we could be attached (sewn anus to mouth) because as best friends, we are THAT obsessed with eachother. It was born out of us sitting around one day trying to come up with a new show idea, and then Sam proclaiming “ugh! I feel like we have no new ideas, because we’re just continually up eachother’s asses in a loop. We’re like a platonic human centipede.” We promise the show has nothing to do with the film though, it was just a diving board from which to think about how far we could take our co-dependency … that then made us think about all the other things in the world that might as well be sewn together because they are THAT intrinsically linked. That’s what the whole show’s about really!
Jake: The show musically explores the beauty (and horrors) of co-dependency – talk to us about how you found the music in that theme, how you found the comedy, and how you sewed the two together.
You: There is so much comedy to us in the idea that everything in this world has ‘a platonic human centipede’ – another thing that it is so intrinsically linked to, that the two things might as well be stitched together! Eg. ‘Millennials’ and ‘the compulsion to play a board game’. ‘Kristen Stewart’ and ‘Vampires looking for representation in media’. The set up of the show is that “all things have other things”, and so what we kind of ended up with was a show focusing in on what we see as ‘the unsung duos of the modern world’, that each have had an observational comedy song written about them. The show also features some famous, well known duos such as Bart and Lisa Simpson, Mr and Mrs Claus and Mario and Luigi. But in each case, we’ve chosen a really abstract, niche angle about their story to put in to song. That’s the kind of thing we do best!
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
M&S: Audiences coming to our show should expect to see characters they know and love, with stories they’ve never heard before. They should expect it to be a pretty in-your-face, no-holds-barred performance style that is pretty non stop for 60 minutes. They should expect to see two queer best friends performing all-original comedy songs and sketches cooked up from their bizarre brains that make you think “how on earth did you come up with that” but also “yes of course this makes perfect sense” all at the same time. Expect tight harmonies, big voices, outrageous characters, stupid physical comedy, character voices and lots of laughs.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
M&S: We’re hoping audiences walk away going “you know what. I never thought about it before. But these two things… they REALLY do go together” We hope audiences walk away with faces sore from laughing and rib cages sore from elbowing their friends sitting next to them, going “Omg, that’s SOoOooOo YOU!!!!” And. We want the girls, gays and theys who live on the internet to walk away feeling like this was REALLY a musical comedy show made for THEM.
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
M&S: We are most excited to see all the other whack art being made all around the world! There’s no other festival like Edinburgh, and we can’t wait to walk in to shows with 3 people in the audience and either go “what the fuck was that?” or “that was the best thing we’ve ever seen” and have the same amount of fun either way! We’re also JAZZED about seeing all the other Australian shows coming over to Edinburgh really getting their flowers on the international stage!
Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
You: Our show is a Long Island ice tea, chased with a shot of absynth. There’s bright colours. You know none of it is probably good for you. But it’s somehow still sweet? But it’s kind of abrasive? And hectic. And packs a punch. But you go back for more cos at the end of the day you’re a party girl in for a good time x
A reminder, you can catch Mel & Sam: The Platonic Human Centipede from July 30th to August 24th (not the 11th) at Beside at Pleasance Courtyard from 20:45 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
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