00:01So we're here outside the Lich Gate Tavern in Wolves and we're with...
00:05Introduce yourselves guys. I'm Steve Pottinger of Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists.
00:10And I'm Emma Pursehouse of Poets, Prattlers and Pandemonialists.
00:13Cool! And this is going to be a venue on a rather special event that's coming up.
00:18What's happening? Go on, tell us. What's happening? When's it happening?
00:21We've got some funding to put on the Midlands Fringe in Wolverhampton.
00:25And the dates are...
00:27The 5th to the 27th of July. Cool.
00:30And we're going to have it across three venues in the city centre.
00:33And there will be a total of 15 Fringe Shows.
00:36Awesome! So we're going to have the Lich Gate, we're going to have Katie's Cafe and Cafe Royale.
00:42And then a couple of special acts at the Arena Theatre. What's happening there?
00:46Not announced the acts yet, but they're going to be really high profile comedians.
00:50I can't tell you that much. They are taking themselves up to Edinburgh.
00:53So they're kind of doing a bit of a trial run of the show.
00:57Yeah, so you'll get to see what's going up to Edinburgh.
01:00And it will be one on the Friday night and one on the Saturday night.
01:03And somehow you've managed to pull the magic out of the bag and get some funding from the Arts Council.
01:09So they obviously were very impressed with what you've got planned.
01:13Because it's not that easy to get money out of the Arts Council.
01:16There's a lot of people looking for funding, but it's great to see some more funding coming in to Wolverhampton to put stuff on here.
01:24Because there's so many good little venues here and great talent in the area and the region as well.
01:33Yeah.
01:34And we just want to flag it up and give people something to enjoy over summer.
01:38And hopefully we'll get a real variety of artists wanting to take part.
01:41Yeah, so it's going to be like poetry, what bit of music theatre, a bit of everything going on?
01:47It could be one person shows generally, maybe two.
01:50But doing theatre, poetry, talk to one person.
01:54It might arrive by plane.
01:56Yeah, so it will be whatever people kind of want to.
02:01I'm trying to make sure that we give people a range of different stuff.
02:06So it's not 15 things that are all the same.
02:08Yeah, yeah.
02:09There will be a good range of stories and...
02:11Styles of performance.
02:12Yeah.
02:13So if people want to find out a bit more or get involved, even performers still?
02:17Yeah, still have options for that.
02:19How do they find out more guys?
02:21Well, we've got a website which is pandemonialists.co.uk
02:26Get in on there.
02:27There you go, nice bit of promo.
02:29And we'll have a page on there which will link then for performers.
02:34There's a form to fill in if they want to apply.
02:37And for everybody else, there'll be more information as we have it.
02:40So you guys, you're no stranger to Fringe when the Lit Fest is on you organise a Fringe event, don't you?
02:46Yeah, we do.
02:47And you both perform as well?
02:48Yeah.
02:49Yeah.
02:50So I can't think of anything like this in Wolves before.
02:55Is this kind of the first time we'd have a proper Wolves Fringe event?
02:59We think so, yeah.
03:00Yeah, as Fringe.
03:01I know they've had comedy festivals before, which Creative Black Country put on a few years ago now.
03:08Yeah.
03:09But I don't think there's been a kind of Fringe as such.
03:10Yeah.
03:11I can't think of one in the West Midlands, to be fair.
03:14Which felt like, you know, there's how many people live across the Greater West Mid.
03:19Yeah, yeah.
03:20And there should be something here.
03:21Yeah.
03:22So we thought, you know, because it's a long way to go to Edinburgh to go and watch something and the costs are high.
03:27So we thought, yeah, have something in the middle of the country.
03:29So would you love it to become an annual event then?
03:33In our dreams, yes.
03:34I mean, what we're hoping is that this year we'll put it on, it'll go well, it'll be a success, we'll learn what works, what we can develop, and we'll have more time to start thinking about doing the future.
03:50But yeah, it'd be lovely.
03:51So for this year, you're kind of more behind the scenes rather than on the stage doing performing.
03:56But it'd be great if, I've got to ask for a little performance just for me and our viewers.
04:02Have any of you got a little, a little something you can do?
04:05Well, you've got the first poet laureate at Wolverhampton here.
04:07Yeah, I was the first poet laureate at Wolverhampton.
04:08Yeah, I was the first poet laureate.
04:09Oh, wow.
04:10Okay.
04:11I'll step away and let you know.
04:12This is a poem that I wrote on a bus in Wolverhampton, and it's called Black Country Day Savers.
04:18The man with the gap-toothed smile is off back to his flat where he lives alone.
04:22See that tattoo?
04:23He says.
04:24Him proffering a forearm.
04:26Me fumbling for glasses.
04:28Cause the devil's in the detail.
04:3075 quid that was.
04:32Red heart, skirt, a woman's name.
04:34For a moment he looks lost.
04:36Done down Wensfield, one Friday.
04:39But I dumped me by Sunday.
04:41I joke he needs another wench.
04:43One who's called the same.
04:45Fah!
04:46He lets out a belly laugh.
04:48Forget that.
04:49When you're gonna be back?
04:50I ain't no homing pigeon.
04:52He's wrong of course.
04:54We all are.
04:55Heading home to roost in our respective city lots.
04:59I turn to wave when I get off.
05:01And he's there, looking out through the glass, waiting to wave back.
05:06Cause that's what we do here.
05:08We wave.
05:09We laugh.
05:10We count the cost.
05:11Cant on buzzies.
05:12Natter with strangers.
05:13Leak out these little bits of our marvellous, glorious lives.
05:18Not long.
05:21The blue out.
05:23Half pickings crosss itself.
05:26See szczepel 15's.
05:27Feel it to ask a few more.
05:28And these little bits
05:29of our marvellous, glorious lives.
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