The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Bruce Fummey
Perth Theatre, February 3
Acclaimed funnyman Bruce Fummey is looking forward to performing his latest show on familiar territory.
The self-proclaimed “finest comedian on the Afro-Celtic comedy circuit” grew up in the Fair City, where he attended Perth High School. Now based in Blackford, the Ghanaian-Scots comic will make the short journey north tomorrow, barrel-loaded with insightful social commentary and hilarious anecdotes.
His quirky Edinburgh Fringe hit How Can I Drive To A Gig With A Jakey On My Bonnet? is a departure for Bruce, 53, who works part-time as a supply physics teacher. As he explains, it was a bizarre, alcohol-fuelled incident on his own normally serene doorstep that inspired a move away from his “edu-comedy” Scottish history shows in favour of a full-on stand-up set.
“One night I was trying to drive to a gig and there was a jakey lying on the bonnet of my motor when I came out my house,” Bruce laughs.
“I couldnae get her off. I had to drop her off at her house but it meant I was late for the gig. That’s the story behind the title and I talk about everything leading up to that.
“There’s going to be a lot of filth and swearing but I don’t want to give too much away,” he continues.
“I was booked to do a gig recently and I thought of a story about something that happened while I was teaching at Perth Grammar School and things have led on from there. Basically a lot of the show’s about the way we look at people and things and the judgements we make. So I’ve included a number of stories about things that have happened in schools but the names will be changed to protect the innocent — or the guilty.”
Following tomorrow’s show — which takes place in Perth Theatre’s new Joan Knight Studio — Bruce will jet off for a series of performances in Australia and New Zealand where he’ll mix things up again.
“I’m doing the fringe festivals in Perth, Adelaide and Dunedin, which I’ve done for the last five years,” he says.
“I’ll do some Scottish history and some straight stand-up, I’ve got a couple of different shows going on. The show I’ll do in Perth on Saturday I’ll also do in the second Perth, and I’ll do another show called MacBeth Without The Shakespeare Bollocks, so that’s the Scottish history angle covered.”
Ever-meticulous, Bruce is confident that his latest material will travel successfully once again.
“In Australia it’ll be called How Can I Drive To A Gig With A Bogan On My Bonnet?,” he says. “When I did the show at the Edinburgh Fringe over time I learnt to translate what a jakey was for every different country. So a bogan will work down there.”