Furiozo: Man Looking For Trouble, an interview with Piotr Sikora
Furiozo is one of those special word-of-mouth shows that you hear rumblings about throughout the month and sure enough, once I’d seen it, it became one of the highlights of my Edinburgh Fringe.
It’s a gentle, fascinating and exceedingly hilarious look at blokes, love and rage.
I had a little chat with the man behind Furiozo, Piotr Sikora, ahead of his Soho Theatre debut.
Do not miss this one, pals.
Piotr! Tell us about the show!
This show is about my relationship with rage. Using the character of a furious Furiozo, we explore rage and how it affects us, how it is a very natural and very human emotion, yet how society can reject this or try to squash it completely. Also, rage makes us a bit stupid, it is a good emotion to play with for a clown.
How did you become a performer?
I started when I was severely depressed. I was an unhappy student of law, and wanting to find a better use of my life, went to therapy, which led me to improv, which ultimately led me to discover clown and the joys that come with it. I became a clown by accident, like most clowns. The story is longer but this is the essence of my journey.
Where did this character come from, and how did you develop it?
Furiozo was inspired by my time in Edinburgh actually. I was at the fringe festival with my first show (a kids show) and noticed all these Scottish "blokes". I started to notice how this "bloke" was similar to ones in Poland, in Australia - I started to see a universal archetype and wanted to research this hypermasculine energy.
How does the arts landscape in Poland compare to the UK?
Well Poland is my artistic home, we have a big improv community in Warsaw that raised me as a comedian, especially my two teams "Klancyk" and "Hofesinka" had the biggest impact on my comedy path. The biggest home of alternative comedy is Resort Komedii- thanks to them I had space to devise Furiozo As it goes for clowns there is not much of a scene there - or you only find Circus clowns, who wear typical red noses. There are also hospital clowns of course. In the UK, I find there is more awareness of the "contemporary art of the clown", a genre of comedy that is beginning to develop and we are seeing more and more often in theatre. The superpower of clown, however, is that it crosses these cultural divides, it is relatable across a broad spectrum of audiences.
What artists would you point to, as people (or companies), that have had a lasting impact on the work you make?
Natalie Palamides and Dr Brown ! These two performers have opened up a whole world, showing me what clown can be in a contemporary context. I see them rediscovering clown and pushing their audiences to come along for the ride. There are plenty of super-inspiring clowns around but these two have a special place in my heart. Also, 3 of my most important teachers have been Paola Coletto, Aitor Basauri from SpyMonkey and Matteo Destro. I owe a lot to them!
What’s the best and worst gig you’ve ever done?
My best gig is always in front of me, waiting for me. I find the best gigs normally happen when you don't expect them - beautiful surprises!
My worst gig definitely has to be my first night of Furiozo at Edinburgh Fringe. I was performing for 7 drunk people at 1am - it was a tough fight but we made it through.
Lastly, Why should people reading this book a ticket?
To experience something. The biggest beauty of life is to have experiences, and this show will... well it will give you, I'm not sure what, but definitely something.
Furiozo is on at Soho Theatre this Friday and Saturday (26th and 27th of April) tickets can be purchased here.
Photo by Michael Schult Ulriksen