Jake Mace
No doubt one of the more unusual offerings at VAULT Festival this year, we’re joined by the creators of Terry Wogan Screams, the game show to beat all game shows, of which some of your favourite game shows have been coagulated together to create one mindboggling live game show that promises to desecrate the memory of the titular beloved broadcaster. Now a regular on our series of pixelated pints, Benjamin Alborough returns to London following a run of his board game-based piece Absolute Monopoly, which we reviewed in Edinburgh last August. Acting as co-creators and co-performers, also joining us is comedian and Twitch Streamer Sean Morley. We sat down with the pair to chat all things TV, Terry Wogan and Sea Monkeys.
You can catch Terry Wogan Screams at VAULT Festival for one night only on Friday 10th February at 22.35. Tickets are available through the VAULT Festival Box Office.
Jake: Hi Benjamin and welcome back for another Digital Pint, and welcome Sean for your first! So tell us all about Terry Wogan and why you’re terrorising his memory with your new show.
Sean: I only recently found out about Terry Wogan when Benjamin began sending me youtube videos and laughing emojis. I only discovered he was a real person once we had committed to this show. But I would like to make one thing clear: we do not think we run any risk of terrorising Wogan’s memory as Wogan’s memory ceased to function on 31st January 2016.
Ben: Terry Wogan is a fake person I made up for a Twitch livestream. By incredible coincidence someone with exactly the same likeness and voice existed who had done many similar things. I discovered him having blocked every other content creator on Youtube Shorts. As inventor of the grindset mentality I decided to exploit this for personal gain. The rest is history.
Jake: Terry Wogan Screams boldly declares that there are “too many game shows” – what makes this live game show different and what can the audience expect going in?
Sean: Our gameshow eschews any set format and subtextually revolves around maintaining the ailing spiritual health of a newly animate Terry Wogan.
Ben: I would add that saying there are “too many game shows” is not to say ours is specifically different, just that we’ve condensed every single game show into one. We just also sort out what the deal is with this guy.
Jake: Tell us a little about your recent jaunt in crowdfunding a poster design, and how it all went.
Ben: Our producers reminded us that we said we’d design a poster for Vault but hadn’t yet. We decided that if it was on our work docket we may as well monetise it. We hosted a livestream where any donor suggestions would be incorporated unconditionally.
Sean: We gave the public too much trust and they repaid us by financially obliging us to show blu-tac images of Terry’s bare arse to Westminster Bridge.
Jake: Tell us more about the process of creating the show and what you have been up to ahead of the show landing at VAULT Festival.
Sean: I have been eating six raw eggs a day and watching The Floral Dance on repeat. Every evening Benjamin calls me via Zoom and we pay each other compliments to keep our confidence up.
Ben: Because of the semi-improvised nature of the show we have decided that Sean should focus on writing the written bits and I’ll rehearse the improv.
Now that we’re gearing up for VAULT Festival 2023, what are you most excited for?
Ben: The VAULT Festival artist pass entitles me to 10% off drinks so I have registered for 10 shows under different names and aliases. I assume the discounts are stackable.
Sean: The Tech Rehearsal. The highlight of any production. You get to perform the script you know so well with none of the nerves, none of the anticipation, none of the faff. It’s all downhill from there.
Jake: Fitting with the themes of our magazine, if your show was an alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverage what would it be?
Sean: Pure ethanol. Volatile, flammable, ready to evaporate.
Ben: Sea monkey water.
Jake: Is there anything you want to tell us?
Sean: The Queen is still alive.
Phoebe Bakker
