Alistair Aitcheson chats to the Bath Fringe team about his show, The Crowd Creativity Show
How would you describe your ‘Origin Story’ – how did you get started ‘in the business’ and what is it about performing that keeps you going?
My background isn’t in performance - I actually come from the world of video games! I’ve been a professional game developer for the past 13 years, and for a long time I’d had this dream of making games that are played on a stage, with an audience. This dream became a reality in 2016 when I created my first interactive stage show: The Incredible Playable Show. I’ve been obsessed with mixing games and performance ever since!
I just love showing people what’s possible with games and play. Games aren’t just about sitting in front of a TV with a controller - they can get you running around, making noise, maybe even getting up on-stage and making your friends laugh! In my new show I use games to make art.
The point of my shows is that everybody in the room gets to contribute. When you leave my shows you should feel like you’ve helped make something unique and special - that it would have turned out different if you weren’t there. To give someone that experience is the happiest thing for me.
Tell us a little bit about your Bath Fringe 2023 Show
The Crowd Creativity Show uses the technology of video games, but we’re are using it to make art and comedy. And by “we” I mean me and the audience - it’s a creative collaboration for the the entire room.
I’ll be on-stage doing drawings, poetry, and dancing. At any point in the show you can type messages into your phone and they’re instantly added into what I’m doing. So, if I’m reading poetry, you can type to add and replace any words you like, and the computer will instantly add them into our poem. We may start with a little bit of Shakespeare, but by the end we’ll have transformed it into something totally new.
The show began life as a series of livestreams on my Twitch channel. Bringing it to the stage takes it to a whole new level. When everyone joining in is in a room together there’s this energy there and it gets very daft very quickly. I love it!
What is it about Fringe Theatre that excites you?
I love the opportunity to bring something totally new to the table. Acts like mine are a little bit unusual, a bit chaotic and unpredictable. It’s great to have a space I can take it to where people will say “wow, that sounds really odd… count me in!”
What is your favourite thing to do in Bath when you’re not performing?
One of my proudest memories is running the Bath Half Marathon in 2016. I’d never been a particularly fit person. A couple years prior even running one mile seemed like an ordeal. So to show myself that, yes, I could get fit, I could train myself to run 13 miles, that’s something I’m really proud of. After the race I went with my family to a beautiful and very fancy tea shop. I was dripping with sweat, smelling absolutely awful, eating these super-fancy cakes, and feeling like “yeah, I’ve earned this.”
Bath will always be connected to that memory for me: sweat, cake and joy.
What advice would you give to people just starting out?
Go for it! I’ve done quite a lot of clown and improv classes in recent years. In improv and clown you go on-stage with absolutely nothing prepared and figure it out on the spot. You’ll be amazed with what you can come up with in the moment.
It's normal to feel scared of getting up in front of an audience. Improv will teach you that you can feel that fear and push on anyway.
In an alternate universe, what career path might you have followed?
I’m quite lucky as I already lead a double life, doing both video games and performance! So, picking a third career path is quite difficult. Maybe a goose? I think I’d do well as a goose.
The Crowd Creativity Show is on at Widcombe Social Club on Wednesday 31st May. Find out more.