3:28pm Wednesday 8th September 2004
By Michelle Fleming
WHEN an 80-year-old pensioner shuffled into his theatre seat at Edinburgh's Pleasance theatre during the fringe festival, student Raph Shirley felt the pressure.
Twenty-year-old Raph, an actor with the Cambridge Footlights troop, knew the chap had high expectations.
Raph reveals: "This guy had been coming to the Footlights show for 40 years. He's 80 now. He remembered Peter Cook. It's exciting to think of the people that have gone before you and that high standard. But it's kind of a double edged sword. It can be quite intimidating but mainly it's exciting."
The intimidating bit is filling the shoes of Britain's best comedians - ever.
Think the Pythons, Stephen Fry, Peter Cook, Hugh Laurie and the sacks more talent that started out with the Oxbridge comedy group.
True, the pressure can be demanding but by and large the name proves the golden ticket for the young cast taking their first steps in the world of comedy.
Raph admits: "Of course the Footlights name attracts a lot of people. We get a lot who have been coming to everything we do for years."
Britain's best comics lend their legacy but do they lend an ear?
Raph reveals: "I've met a few of them. I've been in contact with Stephen Fry and Harry Porter who was our archivist and I've met a few others like Mel and Sue and Germaine Greer. They gave us advice and some are very keen to help with the club and give us support. At the moment we are thinking of setting up a small committee of old members who have been there and are doing it. I really like Monty Python and loved Peter Cooke's sketches he would be my idol. I'm very proud of our history."
Raph got involved in Footlights in his first term at the university.
He says: "It's the biggest drama society in Cambridge - we have more than 300 members but we only do comedy. It's cool as we meet up a lot and have writing workshops it's lots of fun."
Well-oiled students enjoying late night drinking sessions were the Footlights' first audiences, making for a cushioned entry into the world of stand-up.
But performing outside Cambridge's warm womb is the real challenge and what Footlights ultimately strive for, says Raph.
"It's really relaxed with these 11pm standup sessions with everyone very drunk and very friendly," he laughs. "The audiences are quite nice in Cambridge it's easy to be a comedian there and sometimes can be a shock to go into the big world. Footlights has its place in the comedy world and it's really picking up now.
We've got this guy Mark Watson who did a 24-hour show in Edinburgh this year.
"We're going to have a regular slot in London next year which will bring us a larger audience."
Raph, a physics student, chuckles: "I've heard there's a shortage of science presenters so I might try and get into the education side of it. There could be a niche there. A lot of us want to be performers of some sort but for the moment we're just messing around really."
The explosive arrival of Monty Python's Flying Circus took everyone by surprise in 1969 and took British comedy to a whole new level. One wonders if John Cleese would have predicted such a success.
Raph is worried today's television companies are not bold enough to blaze the trail with a new idea just now, but remains optimistic for the future.
"It's a pity as they don't seem ready to take a big risk at the moment. There's been some really great things like The Office recently that has been a huge influence on so many comedians in bringing the naturalist element to comedy but there's been a lot of dodgy stuff too.
"There's a lot of disparity in comedy right now. Comedy is kind of questioning what comedy is. . The edges are becoming a bit more blurred."
They performed their latest series of sketches, Beyond a Joke, to a packed out popular Pleasance theatre in Edinburgh.
Raph joined seasoned actress Sarah Solemani in the Edinburgh Fringe but she has landed a role in a film with Judi Dench and has been replaced by Sarah Campbell for the national tour.
Nick Mohammed, who is also a member of the Magic Circle, is in the show with Ed Coleman and Jonny Sweet.
"It's an energy-fuelled series of sketches set to a bizarre backdrop of humanity. It's not just plain wordsy it has a really nice aesthetic. It's a piece of theatre more than anything. It's got surrealism but is quite subtle. It's a series of sketches built on the kind of theme of taking banal situations and turning them around."
It follows the stories of a series of strange characters trapped in a small town in the hills after a snow fall, the like of which Britain has never seen before.
The controllers may be afraid to take risks but Raph is adamant one good habit the Footlights picked up from their forefathers was never to shy away from pushing boundaries.
Beyond a Joke The Cambridge Footlights is at Wycombe Swan, Monday, September 13.
Tickets: 01494 512000
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