Centuries-old art can be a stuffy affair. But what if a comedian were to pick it apart, write it a new history or tell its story in a more relatable way, with a few laughs thrown in for good measure?
Such is the deal at Art Laughs, a roving comedy night that brings some humour into arts and heritage spaces. It’s coming to The Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre for the first time this weekend – marking the first time the archive space will host a comedy night.
Comedians including Jamie D’Souza, Harriet Braine and Annie McGrath will be taking audiences through some of Royal Museums Greenwich’s most, er, unusual objects, while the event’s host, art critic-comedian Verity Babbs, will be taking visitors on comedy-led tours of the store. Improvisers Dom O’Keefe, Giles Gear, and Sophie Ward of Giddy Aunt Improv will also be on site, poking playful fun at the collection’s paintings
We spoke to Verity Babbs and Collections Engagement Producer at Royal Museums Greenwich Khursheed Hussain to find out more about what to expect from the event…
Holly O’Mahony (HOM): This is the first time the Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre (PPMCC) is hosting Art Laughs. Where in the venue will it be hosted and how do you expect things to play out?
Verity Babbs (VB): Throughout the night, there will be different sections happening in different areas of the building.
We will have improv inspired by the collection’s paintings happening in the depths of the Painting Store; art-inspired stand-up in the Learning Space; and a guided tour showcasing objects in the Relative Humidity Sensitive Objects Store and the 3D Objects Store.
PPMCC is a complete treasure-trove so it was important for us to make the most of the entire space and celebrate as many parts of the collection as we could.
HOM: Verity, you’re an art critic-comedian and the one delivering the tour I believe. What sort of funny items will you be calling out?
VB: The guided tour will take a look at a varied selection of objects which stood out to me when I came to visit the space – everything from a Titanic peanut to celebratory jugs and celebrity dogs!
HOM: The improv and stand-up portions of the evening will see some of the paintings dressed down for laughs. Are you able to tell us more about the pieces which will be under the spotlight?
VB: The three improvisers we have performing on the night – Dom O’Keefe, Giles Gear, and Sophie Ward – will be creating scenes based off the characters, landscapes and narratives seen in the paintings in the Painting Store.
All of the paintings are hung on roller racks, and it will be down to the audience to choose from 86 of them!
The comedians won’t know what will be chosen, so the scene will be completely guided by the audience.
The stand-up section featuring Annie McGrath, Jamie D’Souza and Harriet Braine will be more loosely art-themed, and as three of the most up-and-coming names on the comedy circuit today, it’s definitely not one to miss.
HOM: It’s a great idea, having a comedy event that interacts with the setting rather than just immersing audiences in it. What inspired the format?
VB: I work in the art world and found myself becoming disheartened by how humourless it all was, so I created Art Laughs, first as a series of video interviews with comedians about an artwork of their choice and then as live events which have been to the Edinburgh Fringe, National Gallery, The Cartoon Museum and now RMG.
It’s a way of bringing a little bit of light-hearted joy into conversations about art.
I believe it’s important to make art more accessible to people who haven’t studied it or spent much time in gallery or museum spaces, and having the comedy nights right there amongst the art works makes for a really impactful and enjoyable night.
HOM: You’re not working with any old comedians, though. Several of them, like you, have an art world background or have studied art history. How did you go about finding the right people for the job?
VB: I have worked with some amazing acts along the way.
Harriet Braine is a phenomenal musical comedian with a load of hilarious art historical songs, and Annie McGrath is a writer, curator, and host of the ‘Secret Artists’ podcast as well as being a talented stand-up.
Jamie doesn’t have an art background but has taken part in several Art Laughs events and is just plain funny.
The improvisers taking part in the night are three of my absolute favourites to perform with, first meeting in the Oxford Imps [a long-running improvisation group in Oxford] and now all performing together each month as Giddy Aunt Improv.
HOM: Lastly, what are your hopes for the future of the event? Will you make it a regular thing if it’s a success?
Khursheed Hussain: Our hope for this event is to get more and more people from different backgrounds to be engaged with the collection at PPMCC.
If this event is a success, we would like to run it regularly and I’m sure Verity would love for Art Laughs to have a consistent home in London.
We want to bring fun and truly welcoming conversations about art to more people, and what better place to have them in than the collections of Royal Museums Greenwich.
Art Laughs is taking place at Prince Philip Maritime Collections Centre, Nelson Mandela Road, London SE3 9QS.
June 3, 7pm – 9pm.
Admission: £20/£18 concessions.
