Interview: Paulus The Cabaret Geek on new show WHAT WOOD VICTORIA DO?
From the creators behind the critically acclaimed Looking For Me Friend comes What Wood Victoria Do? - a brand new show that takes an even deeper dive into the world of Victoria Wood. We spoke to Paulus The Cabaret Geek ahead of his new tour.
After touring with Looking For Me Friend for quite some time, what is What Wood Victoria Do? about?
Looking For Me Friend: The Music of Victoria Wood reached 20k audiences over 6.5yrs of one-nighter performances. What Wood Victoria Do? tells a new story with the help of a fresh batch of bangers from the Victoria Wood Songbook, exploring community, legacy and how to find a path forward now Vic isn’t here to guide us. Where LFMF was a dialogue, with my pianist as Julie to my Vic, WWVD is a monologue and, as Victoria desired from a young age, sees me on-stage entirely solo.
Is there a particular song you're most looking forward to performing in this show?
After six years of the same 21 songs, I’m delighted to be singing ANYTHING different! The 10 new songs in this show are still being hammered into my head, and as such, are all a delight in their newness. Some - like ‘Music & Movement’ - I’m looking forward to doing because I first performed it as a teenager, so can relax into that one. Others are brand new to me and were discovered halfway through creating the show. It’s always wonderful to offer the big Victoria Wood fans an ‘Easter Egg’ that they may not have found yet, but ultimately the story we are telling dictates the choices. This is the B-sides, kid - get ready for a deep dive!
How does it feel to be starting your new tour at the recently renamed Victoria Wood Theatre?
To be premiering at the newly re-christened Victoria Wood Theatre in its first year, hot on the heels of the brand new Victoria Wood musical, Fourteen Again, feels both daunting and also a tremendous honour. The theatre owners were close personal friends of Victoria’s, and are on the board of the VW Foundation. We’ve been donating a portion of all profits from the shows and merchandise sales to their good work - £3,000 to date. I hope our visit to Windermere will deepen this working relationship and help the Foundation even more with their future goals.
You write and perform the show, with Sarah-Louise Young directing it. What does that collaboration look like and how do your styles of comedy blend?
Left to my own devices, I would bundle on-stage and shout some catchphrases then do a couple of my favourite comedy patter songs then lose concentration and start riffing the saxophone solo from the theme tune to Cagney & Lacey, but luckily my friend and director Sarah-Louise offers structure and discipline. A song must earn its place in the telling of our story - not just be ‘funny enough’ or ‘famous enough’. Having met as teens, I think I probably introduced Sarah to her first Victoria Wood sketch and/or song. I have a tendency to be very poetic, and also jump around tangentially story-wise. I’m like a distracted Duracell bunny. Sarah ensures no audience member is left behind and that the obvious but crucial is still clearly stated.
When did you first fall in love with Victoria Wood and her work?
When I was ten years old, and stumbled upon As Seen On TV. I would watch with my Mum. Every week, Vic would start the show with some stand-up to camera, and often wore boxy mens jackets, leather ties and have spiky out of control hair. Her physical appearance alone had a strong effect on this child; here was someone doing their own thing, and willing to look out of place for the sake of comfort and comedy. If she appeared today, there’d probably be a bunch of questions about her sexuality, simply due to her choice of ensemble.
What inspired you to create your own shows built around the work of Victoria Wood?
When Victoria died in 2016, the accolades and obituaries seemed to rather overlook her enormous prowess as songwriter. How many other successful entertainers can also boast having 400 songs registered with PRS, without a single co-writer involved? On first listen, a VW composition may seem like a simple, bouncy end-of-the-pier tune, but they are very rarely just that. There’s virtuosity beneath the honky-tonk piano surface. I was also interested to explore the effect she has had on legions of fans, and WWVD takes a deeper dive into those communities and the support they can and do offer one another.
Why do you think Victoria Wood has remained so beloved across the UK for so many decades?
Similar reason that I still have the same Denby tea service from the 90s - it’s well-made. Look at Dinnerladies; rewritten countless times; recorded twice with two different audiences and another script rewrite in-between, almost destroying long-term working friendships with cast members in the making - all to bring us 30 minutes of comedy perfection. She could have worked less hard, still got a commission, still got a second series and still had the show enjoyed and well received - but we wouldn’t still be watching it 30 years on. Like Fawlty Towers and Dad’s Army (VW was a fan) - I think she wanted a bullet-proof classic - and she achieved it. Victoria took the job of comedy seriously out of respect for the fans.
Why should people come and see What Wood Victoria Do?
With the apparently imminent announcement of Andy Burnham as our new Prime Minister, perhaps now is the perfect time to celebrate another hugely successful export from the great Northern Powerhouse we have in the UK. People should do whatever brings them joy with their spare time and money, and if an evening of musical comedy by a comedy legend, delivered by a cabaret stalwart with 30+ yrs experience ticks that box, then I’m here for those people - come and join the party! Or stop in and dip your nets, I’m not bothered either way.
For more info on What Wood Victoria Do? including tour dates, please click here.