Geekscape’s Not Quite The Next Big Thing: Drennon Davis & The Imaginary Radio Program
Regulars at the monthly Geekscape Presents show in Burbank are no strangers to Drennon Davis and Monique Moreau’s Imaginary Radio Program, one of the most original and unique acts currently in LA. Actually, one of my favorite Geekscape Presents moments was watching Jonathan London’s reactions when Drennon headlined. It was like someone had just told him that someone had Scarlet Witched the prequels out of reality.
Recently, IRP was invited to perform at the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Drennon has launched a Kickstarter to make attending a reality, so we thought it would be a good time to talk to him about the show, the festival, and couch farts.
Drennon: I just ate lunch so I might be a little tired and farty.
Geekscape: We can wait.
Drennon: This new leather couch makes for the best farts in history. I don’t why Lazy-Boy didn’t advertise that feature.
Geekscape: My couch just absorbs them.
Drennon: Probably a better feature in the long run. How many farts can it hold?
Geekscape: We have yet to see its limit.
Drennon: Pushin’ the limits, I like it. Does having a leather couch make me sound rich? ‘Fuck that guy and his leather couch!’
Geekscape: We’ll make sure to mention that the rest of your apartment is empty.
Drennon: And that my cat has FIV. From dirty needles.
Geekscape: Poor Jack. Ok, let’s do this. HEY DRENNON!
Drennon: Hieeeee!
Geekscape: So I have seen your show a million times and been in it once or twice and I still have a hard time describing it.
Drennon: Ok, so it’s a pretty crazy show and sometimes I have a hard time describing it too but here goes nothing – it’s a fast-paced musical sketch show where I use an imaginary radio dial to scan a huge variety of stations and musical genres, creating characters, songs, impressions and commercials on the spot using a loop pedal, musical instruments and special drop-in guests. That was the long run-on sentence explanation. The short version is I make fun of everything on the radio. Anything from NPR to LMFAO.
Geekscape: You’ve been doing musical based stand up for at least as long as I’ve known you, around when do you think your act started evolving into IR?
Drennon: Well I started doing portions of it in my stand-up sets in SF but it wasn’t until I moved to LA a few years ago that I started doing full sets of it – 15 to 20 minute versions. About a year ago I decided that I wanted to make it a full 90 min show and get more people involved. It’s a lot of fun.
Geekscape: Over the last few months it seems like Monique went from ‘featured guest’ at your monthly Nerdist Theatre show to making IR a duo.
Drennon: Yeah, sorta. I still do it on my own from time to time but Monique is definitely more of a full time cast member and musical accompanist now. She adds a lot that I’m not able to do on my own musically. She great on a synthesizer and has a wonderful classically trained opera voice.
Geekscape: What does a trip to Edinburgh mean for the show?
Drennon: When I was first invited to Edinburgh, I didn’t really understand how huge it was because I’m a dumb American. But after doing research, I realized that it’s the biggest festival in the world and unlike most festivals now that are completely meaningless; this one actually opens a lot of doors. I’m already getting offers to play in Scandinavia and from what I understand a few networks are pretty interested in the show just by being accepted. I mean, it could mean nothing but it’s pretty rad that things are already starting to happen from it. Basically it opens up a ton of international and national opportunities. It’s a festival where weird acts and musical groups get the spotlight which I’m really looking forward to since I’ve never experienced anything like that.
Geekscape: Yeah, the scene here isn’t very musical comedian friendly.
Drennon: Never has been. Hell, I’ve never been very friendly towards it and I do it! I will say though, that everyone has been getting much friendlier with us now, which I really appreciate.
Geekscape: You’ll be working with the sketch group the Pajama Men, which you seem pretty pumped about. Let’s talk about those guys, since they’re not a household name in the States.
Drennon: The Pajama Men are one of the biggest comedy acts to come out of The Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the last few years. They are two dudes who wear pajamas and do some of the most amazing sketch comedy I’ve ever seen. Because of their success in Scotland, they are now working on their own show for BBC with the director of the Mighty Boosh. They like my show and are basically taking me under their wing and helping me produce it.
Geekscape: Maybe so people understand the need a little better, why is a Kickstarter necessary to get to Edinburgh?
Drennon: Well the scope of the festival is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like it. There are literally thousands of shows competing for audiences and though our show has an amazing venue and fantastic producers, Monique and I are still forced to come up with some unexpected last-minute funds for it. Unfortunately we’re still broke-ass artists.
Geekscape: So you guys have to raise money to get there and survive for the duration of the festival. Are there actual show costs involved?
Drennon: Basically. The Pajama Men are putting up all the ads and publicity costs but we still have to pay for posters and the things we’ll have to rent there for the show. This thing is way bigger than anything I’ve ever done before. The budget is crazy. It gets stressful because it seems like things keep coming up.
Geekscape: It seems like a big risk vs. reward ‘leap of faith’ kind of thing.
Drennon: Oh absolutely. There’s no other festival like it. No other festival offers so many opportunities but on the other hand, there are no other festivals where the performers have to put so much into it. There’s no way we’d be doing this if we didn’t have help. It’s strange because I do have a lot of different people backing the show but even then, it’s incredibly expensive. Everything in Europe is expensive. Except maybe Greece.
You can find the Imaginary Radio Program Kickstarter here. They’re down to the wire and have some great prizes for backers of the project. Invest a few bucks and help get IRP to the next level!
