Lil Wenker is a Gaulier-trained clown from Minnesota who is now based in London. She performs in alternative comedy nights all round the capital. She’s no stranger to the Fringe, having performed in Edinburgh as part of Chekhov’s Gum with ‘Crap Ballet’. This year she debuts as a solo performer with ‘Bangtail’, a spaghetti western-themed clown show about a masculine identity crisis. We spoke to Lil about the show, the archetypes of the spaghetti western, and the response of Scottish audiences to her name.

Can you tell us about ‘Bangtail?’

‘Bangtail’ is a clown western about a cowboy-turned-accountant searching for his purpose. It’s loosely based on my father, Alan — an accountant at an animal feed company in small town Minnesota. It’s a loving ode to watching old westerns together when I was a little girl, mixed with a tribute to the Marx Brothers every now and again. The show started when I DM’d Cecily [Nash] on Instagram after seeing ‘Troll‘ at Ed Fringe. I loved ‘Troll”s insistence on classic physical comedy, that I found myself laughing at a show with barely any language. After the infamous DM, Cecily came to one of my gigs and after a few glasses of Malbec, I pitched her the idea of a cowboy-accountant. Since then, we’ve watched a lot of westerns, listened to Cowboy Carter a few thousand times, and trolled the aisles of Brick Lane Vintage Market for the perfect leather vest.

The show looks at an identity crisis through the tropes of spaghetti westerns. What is about that subgenre that appeals to you?

God, they’re just so weird! Firstly, the character archetypes are so distinct and ripe for play. Everything is hyper exaggerated: the scowls, the grunts and groans in place of dialogue, the uber-masculine lead-with-your-penis walk. I feel endless possibilities in what I can imitate, and honestly the show has gotten too long because I have too much fun grunting at the audience for the first few minutes. I’ve taken the note, and I’m reeling it in. Anyways! I also find the genre funny for its strange juxtaposition of hyper-masculine and hyper-theatrical—its mix of insanely slow, tight shots on men’s eyes darting back and forth mixed with the sudden magic of stumbling onto the perfect clue or a new location entirely. It’s an extremely grim and dirty world mixed with a very silly world of make-believe where anything can happen. It’s war and death mixed with childlike play and dress-up. And the westerns—they take themselves so seriously, but they’re so epically stupid. They’re genius.

For those unfamiliar with your work, how would you describe your comedy style and approach to performance?

I describe my aesthetic as, ‘The Small Tragedies of the Everyday.’ I’m obsessed with aspiration within mundanity, specifically the desire to be A Great Man. A dear person in my life once described me as being obsessed with, ‘fucked up little guys’, and I’ve never felt more seen. I love understanding what makes people tick and sharing the beauty and tragedy of these people’s idiosyncrasies on stage — they’re funny because they’re relatable and remind us of ourselves, our own desires and fears.

My approach to performance is highly physical, interactive, and spontaneous. I love playing with what’s in the room — it’s part of the reason we built audience interaction into the show. The way people’s impulses change night to night keeps the show alive for me. And people are so weird! They always surprise me and let me surprise myself. A reviewer once described my performance style as ‘unbridled lunacy’. I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Your show is directed by Cecily Nash who created ‘Troll‘, which we loved last year. What has she brought to the show?

Cecily is brilliant in so many respects, but she is above all such a wonderfully ruthless editor. She helps me harness my chaos, and honestly I know I couldn’t have gotten close to making my first solo show without her. She is also a brilliant movement director. Lately, I’ve been described as a physical comedian, and I genuinely believe this is wholly her doing. She gives me note after note about each movement and game of the show, and because of it I’ve started to find so much more humor in my body than in my words. This is new for me, and it’s so exciting. Mr. Philippe Gaulier always told me that I speak too fast and my American accent is too strong. So I’ve taken his note, and Cecily’s, and I stick to physical comedy. I am also exhausted and subsequently ripped.

You’ve performed at the Fringe before as part of Chekhov’s Gum with Crap Ballet. What for you are the best and worst things about the Fringe?

The best things are many: being able to walk into the most unassuming room in the world to see a show that can completely blow your mind, at all hours of the day, for an entire month; living in a beautiful city whose buildings are older than my country’s constitution; performing for keen audiences day after day!

Honestly one of the worst parts about Fringe for me is its pace: I feel there is so little time to enjoy and celebrate other people’s and your own accomplishments, to feel the highs and the lows. It’s become an environment where work and success can easily overshadow the actual artistry and community of it all, even though those should be the most important things. I’m really lucky to have Cecily on my team to help remind me of the festival’s joy.

Did you have any really memorable Fringe experiences, good or bad, either as performer or as an audience member?

I flyered at my first ever fringe in 2019—the summer after my first year in uni. I had just started trying comedy that year and wanted to learn more about fringe theater / alt performance / etc. It was then, August of 2019, that I learned the true significance of my name, Lil Wenker, having been raised in good old fashioned Minnesota. People would come up to me at the festival and say something like, ‘I’ve heard of you. Your REAL NAME IS LIL WENKER???!!!? MENTAL!.’ Since then, I’ve known my life’s fate is becoming a comedian.

Beside ‘Bangtail’, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August?

I’ll be performing at lots of spots, including ACMS, ‘Bad Clowns and Good Friends‘, ‘Hot Rubber‘ show, Grubby Little Mitts‘ variety night, etc etc. I am also co-hosting (with my darling Sara Segovia) ‘Mom’s Room‘ at 11:55pm August 6 and 7. It’s a wild and ridiculous act swap night, and we’ve been hosting it monthly in London since October. And then I’ll be about, walking around, eating lots of little treats, giving out flyers in my cowboy hat and leather chaps, which is its own kind of performance…

Are there any other acts at the Fringe that you would recommend audiences see?

Piotr [Sikora]’s ‘Furiozo‘, ‘Troll‘, Alex Franklin, Madeleine Rowe’s ‘Knight, Knight‘, Freddie Hayes’ ‘The Magic Lady‘, Rachel Kaly, the list goes on and on …

‘Bangtail‘ is at Pleasance Courtyard – Cellar from Wed 31 Jul to Sun 25 Aug 2024 (except Mon 12)

‘Mom’s Room‘ is at Hoots @ Potterrow – Big Yurt on Tue 6 and Wed 7 Aug 2024