🎟 FRINGE FIX With James McCann

If James Donald Forbes McCann had to write a review for his Fringe show it would simply read: "Man has heart attack on stage and is released from this mortal coil". And if that doesn't have you queueing for tickets, well you're a lost cause!

James is on Instagram @jdfmccann, has an excellent YouTube channel and a podcast/donation drive called The James Donald Forbes McCann Catamaran Plan.

You can buy tickets to his Fringe show The James Donald Forbes McCann Catamaran Plan Extravagan(za)! here: https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/the-james-donald-forbes-mccann-catamaran-plan-extravagan-za-af2023

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
A mixed one and two point three Fringe Fix with
Eddie Banner James Donald, Forbes McCarn good morning.

Speaker 2 (00:08):
Hello Eddie. It's so nice to be here. Yes, it is.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Why do you add words onto your name?

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Why do Yeah? Yeah?

Speaker 1 (00:15):
And subsequent question is Donald Forbes your real middle names?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
They are?

Speaker 1 (00:20):
They are?

Speaker 2 (00:20):
And it's because of Madonna and Prince and they were
people to always go they're so famous they only need
one name. But I always saw that as a sort
of weakness that you know, you're famous, yes, but you're
taking up less space. If you're really famous, like a king,
they always have six seven names. So if you've got
more names, I say, use it right, don't be afraid
to take up space. I'm a girl boss. Lean in,

(00:44):
you're a girl boss. I'm a man boss.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
You're a man boss. Okay, that's fine. Then the girl
boss is fine.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
I don't know.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Yeah, I'm not giving you a permission to do what
you want. You don't need my permission.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
Has The interview started with how I feel about women
in the workforce?

Speaker 1 (00:58):
What do you love most about your show?

Speaker 2 (01:00):
Hmm, oh I should have read these ask that again?

Speaker 1 (01:04):
As that again, James James Donald Fares mccahn. Hello, Hello,
What do you love most about your show?

Speaker 2 (01:12):
You know what I love most is that it stars
a wonderful comedian who's no it's you know, I've been
thinking about that. I've been watching television for the first
time in several years, and it's so controlled in a
way that I don't remember it being when I last
watched television. Even the ads. Every every ad is an
interracial couple. Every single ad I'm in an interracial couple.

(01:36):
My wife's Polynesian. I'm sick of looking at it on screen.
I don't want to be represented anymore. And so what
I like about The Fringe, and specifically my show, is
you can really just do anything you want because there's
no sponsor. There's no person looking over your shoulder saying
you've got to do it this way. You just do
it and you fail on your own terms.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
The spirit. It's your optimism that I love. If you
could write a one sentence review of your show, what
would it be.

Speaker 2 (02:00):
The man has heart attack on stage and is released
from this mortal coil. I don't have to worry about
that vaccine getting me anymore. It finally happened. The only
reviews that really help are either very very positive were
very very very bad. And I once had a chortal
review from Steve Bennett. People were quoting that to me
for some time, but it was good. People came to

(02:21):
the show because he said I should quit comedy and
that I was one of the worst performers he'd ever seen,
and that actually I think one year I got a
single star review and I've managed to have a star
on the poster after that. You just take what you can.
But the bad reviews, I think are better for the
ticket sales, which is the really important thing.

Speaker 1 (02:39):
What would your best worst review be the best worst
review if you could come up with a sentence.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
Of the two sexy to function.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
Do you have a pre show ritual for your show.

Speaker 2 (02:53):
There are comedians who will have a big ritual before
a show, and they'll rehearse their material and they'll say
it over and over again, and it comes across as
very labor when they're on stage. And I've found that
actively not having preparation and going and just listening to
the audience and talking to them as though they are
one congealed human being is much better because you're not

(03:14):
robotic and you're not doing your act. You're just talking
to people, and you can only really do that by
actively forgetting that you're doing that. Although it is nice
to have walkouts as well. I don't know what I
think about doing a shot.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
The more I'm talking about these things, the more it
sounds as if you want to have the worst show
ever and loads of people come to it.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Wouldn't that be great? It wouldn't we all remember together,
that's not this show. This I mean, this is a
big I'm just doing one show this time six hundred seats.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Wow.

Speaker 2 (03:43):
Yeah, So if I get it wrong, it's a lot
of people simultaneously to have a bad time.

Speaker 1 (03:48):
Again, your optimism is just phenomenal. That's your defining quality.
As far as I can say, what celebrity would you
love to see in the front row of your show?

Speaker 2 (03:57):
I wouldn't You wouldn't like a celebrity or I don't
care for celebrities. I want the people. I just want
the unwashed hoipoli to be there and experience the show
with me. Right, do you understand what I mean?

Speaker 1 (04:10):
I know exactly what you mean. The audience is your celebrity.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
Every individual is a celebrity to me. Of course, Kanye
West would be great to have in the front row
and we could have a conversation afterwards.

Speaker 1 (04:21):
You're a huge fan of the Kanye, Yes, why do
you love him so much when he's obviously like horrible
and terrible.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
Yes, he's unhinged and he's going through a particularly change,
you know, a difficult time at the moment, and he
actually wouldn't be allowed in the country. I don't think
have you followed this no, I'm I'm a no. Well.
Ever since he announced that he loved Hitler, there have
been calls from certain parts of the community to ask

(04:49):
that he not be allowed in the country because he's
just married a woman from Melbourne. But I mean he
I'd like to talk to him. I'd like to.

Speaker 1 (04:58):
Bring him down from the ledge, just give him a
bet of it.

Speaker 2 (05:03):
What do we do when someone has a view that's abhorrent?

Speaker 1 (05:06):
You know?

Speaker 2 (05:06):
Do do we just cut them out? Or do we
talk to them? And do we bring them in and
we say the music's great, you know, less of the wow,
No not, but more talk I think is always the
answer unless you start agreeing with them and you go,
I have to shut this down.

Speaker 1 (05:27):
Your poster was banned by the Free Oh yeah. Why.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
I saw a piece of a propaganda from World War
two that I really liked. I just like the way
it looked. It was a Japanese soldier getting ready to
invade Australia and it says he's coming south. And so
I said to my manager, make that poster again, but
put me on it as the Japanese soldier getting ready
to invade specifically South Australia. I'm coming south for the

(05:54):
Adelaide fringe and there's a big red rising sun on
there and the fringe that that could incite hate because
it was also it was the flag. Now it's currently
the flag of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Forces, but
it was also at one time the flag of the
im Burial Army of World War II era Japan. So

(06:17):
they were a bit trigger happy. But we had a
big you know, there was a newspaper story about it,
and they called. They didn't quite apologize, but they said, well,
well we'll allow it. But here's one thing they haven't
done yet that does upset me that the fringe they've
allowed the poster, they have yet to apologize to the
nation of Japan. And I spoke to Heather Krowl in

(06:37):
charge of the Fringe and she called me to sort
this out and she said, well, after hearing you talk
about your show, it doesn't sound as hateful as we
might have thought it would otherwise have been, and we
will allow the poster. And I said, that's great, but
the real problem here is will the Adelaide Fringe publicly
apologize to the people of Japan? And she said, I'll
talk to my team about that now. I don't know

(06:58):
how those talks have gone. She hasn't gotten back to
me about those talks, but I'm hopeful that she will
publicly be apologizing on behalf of the Adelaide French to
the nation of Japan soon.

Speaker 1 (07:07):
For a second there, you kind of sounded a bit
like a politician, hm.

Speaker 2 (07:12):
I gotta be careful about that.

Speaker 1 (07:15):
James Donald Forbes McCann, thank you, Rim And you can
catch James Donald Forbes McCann at the Royalty Theater, Angle
Street at eight pm on Friday, the tenth of March