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The Hunchback of Walker Dam

Lemon Tree Studio – 2004

‘Never short of gags or imagination.’

— P&J

‘Bristles with imagination and originality.. another winner from the Flying Pigs.’

— Evening Express

Pausing briefly to get married (Greg & Susan), move house (John), move to Glasgow (Steve), and, somewhat inconveniently, emigrate to Australia (Oli & Chrissy), the time was right for Flying Pig to return with an all new production.

Replacing Oli was no mean task, but as luck would have it, Moray Barber, experienced performer and long time friend of the Pigs, had returned from his years of exile in deepest darkest Edinburgh, and was quickly recruited.

Returning to the Lemon Tree for what was to be the last time, we made, for the first time, full use of video projection to stage Robbie Shepherd’s attempt to better David Blaine’s feats of endurance, relate the untold story of Jimi Shand’s psychedelic adventures in 60s London, and to allow Oli to continue to play Ronnie in spite of being on the far side of the world. We also saw the return of the Liar after a two year break and the creation of our political heavyweights, the Licensing Board.

Cast
John Hardie
Moray Barber
Craig Pike
Susan Gordon
Steve Rance
Elaine Clark
Greg Gordon
With
Andrew Brebner

Script
Greg Gordon
Andrew Brebner
Lyrics
John Hardie
Andrew Brebner

Directed by
John Hardie
Musical Arrangements
Steve Rance
Craig Pike

Sponsors
Ledingham Chalmers
CMS Cameron MCKenna

 

Previous show: The Madness Of Kingswells – 2002

Next Show: Best Back – 2004

Best Back

HMT at Hilton –  2004

‘The Best of Flying Pigs does everything it says on the packet. If you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket, do so. Your sense of humour depends on it.’

— Evening Express

An invitation to perform at HMT’s temporary venue at Hilton led to Best Back, our second outing of 2004 and our second ‘Best Of’ production.

Opening announcement: “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, this is Flying Pig Productions. Welcome to ‘Best Back’, oor ‘best of’ compilation. So if ye think this is bad, you should’ve seen the dirt we left oot!”

Initial concerns that our fanbase might balk at being asked to again fork out their hard-earned cash to see material which they now seemed to know better than us proved to be ill founded; enough of you wanted the proverbial another chance to see The Mither! Wedding saga, The Buckie Drifters, Ghengis Khanna and The Liar; Mother Theresa to enable us to sell out our first great muckle venue. Even a couple if feet of snow couldn’t deter the diehards, and as we gathered at Greg and Susan’s for the traditional wine and stovies, we were all agreed that the concussion suffered by one of our number inadvertently head-butting an opening car boot while loading props out of the theatre was a small price to pay for another successful show.

Cast
John Hardie
Moray Barber
Craig Pike
Susan Gordon
Steve Rance
Elaine Clark
Greg Gordon
With
Andrew Brebner

Script
Greg Gordon
Andrew Brebner
Lyrics
John Hardie
Andrew Brebner

Directed by
John Hardie
Musical Arrangements
Steve Rance
Craig Pike

What the Papers Said
Aberdeen Evening Express

In just six years, the Flying Pig has travelled from its launch pad at Aberdeen’s Lemon Tree to the stage of Her Majesty’s Theatre, earning itself a good few air miles – and a theatre full of fans – in the process. This latest show reminds us of their journey so far, presenting the eight talented comedy actors who started out in Student Show and now find themselves perfectly at home on the stage of the city’s largest theatre, where it looks as though they might be tempted to stay. As a “Best Of” show, theatregoers will have seen some of the material before, but predictable it certainly is not, as you reacquaint yourself with such classics as Mither and Archie and Davie, and laugh all over again at the hilarious lines you certainly won’t remember from last time. Characters retired a few shows back make a welcome return – The Liar, Oor Faither, Ghengis Khanna and the boys from The Cruel Sea provide some side-splitting moments, while rewritten lyrics for some of the best-known pop songs vary the pace and become classics in themselves. The Best of Flying Pig does everything it says on the packet. If you can beg, borrow or steal a ticket, do so. Your sense of humour depends on it.

Previous show: The Hunchback of Walker Dam – 2004

Next Show: The Seagull Has Landed – 2005


The Seagull Has Landed

His Majesty’s Theatre – 2005

‘Flying Pig reached the pinnacle of their success with their awesome debut on the newly refurbished stage of His Majesty’s Theatre.’

—Evening Express, 29 December 2005

After managing to lure a good number of hardy souls out to darkest Hilton in the bleak mid-winter, a long-standing ambition was realised when, in an unguarded moment, those in charge of HMT asked if we’d like to come and play in the Big Theatre. Being the sharp, professional operation we are, we checked the contract, hummed, hawed and kept ’em in suspense for a number of tenths of a second before saying yes in a thrilled, but slightly feart, collective voice.

Selma and Eddie added a fresh twist to the Mither and Faither saga; Minker TV Gold made it’s debut, Hilton John’s candid confession was a musical highlight and Aberdeen’s bid for the 2016 Olympics provided both a setting for a host of old favourites and new characters and a suitably grand (and daft) finale.

They asked us back you know. Some folk never learn.

Cast
John Hardie
Moray Barber
Craig Pike
Susan Gordon
Steve Rance
Elaine Johnston
Greg Gordon

Script
Greg Gordon
Lyrics
John Hardie
Moray Barber

Directed by
John Hardie
Musical Arrangements
Steve Rance

Sponsors
Sparrows Offshore
Town & County
CMS Cameron MCKenna

 

What the Papers Said

Aberdeen Evening Express 12/11/05

Flying Pigs Root Out Crackling Comedy.

Anyone following the progress of Flying Pig Productions knows they reached the pinnacle of their success this weekend with two sell-out shows at HMT. The local comedy group’s popularity has exploded since its first show at The Lemon Tree in 1998, later moving to the Arts Centre and finally alighting at HMT at Hilton last year. Now the company makes an awesome debut on the newly refurbished stage of His Majesty’s Theatre with The Seagull Has Landed. The beauty of the Flying Pigs is its ability to fit any venue, and please any audience. Last night, with its familiar pink sets and costumes, and carefully blended comedy and music, it finds the perfect home on Aberdeen’s largest stage. Greg Gordon’s side-splitting scripts reacquaint audiences with old favourites Mither and Faither, Archie and Davie and The Liar, while introducing Scotland The What?-style characters Selma and Eddie, the jobsworth Doctor’s Receptionist and Aberdeen City Council’s Licensing Board. With Aberdonian Pavement Dances taught by a line-up of couthy experts, and music fro The Buckie Drifters, Glen Camphill and Hilton John, local comedy has found a home in a new generation. Pigs might fly – only time will tell us how far.

Previous show: Best Back – 2004

Next show: Desperate Fishwives – 2007

Desperate Fishwives

2007 – His Majesty’s Theatre

‘Fabulously funny, outstanding’

– Press and Journal

‘If you have a ticket – hold on to it tightly… you’ll love every hilarious minute.’

– Evening Express

‘A week at HMT’ – the fantastical ambition first voiced in the Lemon Tree bar after our first show became a reality in 2007 with ‘Desperate Fishwives’. A small preview tour (or ‘Tourette’) took the nascent production to the good people of Aboyne and Laurencekirk, raising funds for local good causes and providing the cast with a couple of slap-up home-baked post-show feeds. It was all new stuff, bringing Minker TV Gold and the Planning Officer to the stage for the first time. Not to forget Mither and Faither’s coach trip to Paris and our requiem for Grampian TV.

Gallery

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A live recording of ‘Desperate Fishwives” is available on CD from the Flying Pig Shoppie.

Cast
John Hardie
Moray Barber
Craig Pike
Susan Gordon
Steve Rance
Elaine Clark
Greg Gordon

Script
Greg Gordon

Lyrics
John Hardie   Moray Barber

Directed by
John Hardie

Musical Arrangements
Steve Rance

Sponsors
Sparrows Offshore
Ledingham Chalmers
KR Steel Services Ltd
Esslemonts
Gavin Bain and Co
The Marcliffe Hotel
CMS Cameron MCKenna

What the Papers Said
Press and Journal 8/3/07

DESPERATE FISHWIVES PROVES A BRILLIANT CATCH

There was a time when the comedians calling themselves the Flying Pigs performed in the smaller, less grandiose venues of Aberdeen. In the early days of the performers’ career they found time for humble critics and would of occasion even write my review for me and print it in the programme. Now of course the Flying Pigs are in a different orbit and packing out HM Theatre to the ceiling every night until Saturday this week and I have to write my own review of their fabulously funny, outstanding show Desperate Fishwives. Still it’s the least I can do in exchange for a fantastic laugh. I’ve said this before but it seems even truer now – the Pigs have grown into the realms of HMT, they are the inheritors of ‘Scotland the What?’, in more ways than one since John Hardie, one of the principal Pigs, is Buff Hardie’s son. Now I’ve made the comparison you’ll know what the Flying Pigs are all about. Basically about helping North-east folk laugh at themselves. In a sense last night’s audience were onstage in the many, colourful, daft and couthy characters written mainly by Greg Gordon. Poor Torry gets a ribbing, as usual, but then so does Milltimber. Even the programme is a hoot. The show runs until Saturday and should not be missed.

Evening Express 8/3/07

FLYING PIGS KEEP THE LAUGHS COMING

Laughs were flying last night, as the Pigs played their first night at His Majesty’s Theatre to a sell-out crowd.This, the group’s 10th show, sees them back at HMT for the second time in as many years, playing to full houses for five nights. Quite a jump from their humble beginnings, when in 1998, their first show Last Tango in Powis played two nights at the Lemon Tree. Now, they’re exactly where they were headed, with a show which has snowballed in popularity but remains the same blend of irreverent songs, skits and hilarious characters guaranteed to have you in stitches. Often likened to Scotland The What? for a new generation, the group certainly comes from the same comedy stable. John Hardie (yes, Buff’s son) and Craig Pike share some of the show’s funniest moments on a pink park bench, with the musings of instantly familiar old boys Archie and Davie.Meanwhile Susan Gordon and Craig Pike take their well-loved characters Mither and Faither on a coach to Paris – accompanied by a troublesome prostrate and a pair of unwanted friends. With Greg Gordon’s Andy, the jobsworth jannie, sharing the laughs with Craig Pike at the council planning department lamenting the building of the Kepplestone flats, Desperate Fishwives goes where most of us fear to tread – and emerges laughing. If you have a ticket – hold on to it tightly. As ever, you’ll love every hilarious minute.

Previous show: The Seagull Has Landed – 2005

Next show: How To Look Good Glaikit – 2009

 

 

 

Desperate Fishwives – Radio Scotland- Series 1

Recorded at Aberdeen Arts Centre 2007


‘You made my mum laugh, which is harder than you might think.’

– Kenny McBride

Much to our delight and surprise, someone working at the BBC’s Beechgrove studio in Aberdeen had put the word out to HQ that there was something worth seeing in the frozen North.  So it was that we met with Radio Scotland comedy producer, Margaret-Anne Docherty, who’d journeyed up from Glasgow to see Desperate Fishwives. Happily, she liked what she saw, (particularly the title!) and proposed a series. “Um…Ok.” We decisively replied, and so began the process of sorting out which sketches would work for radio and for a nationwide audience. Then we wrote some new stuff, just to be on the safe side… We recorded the shows at our old stamping ground, the Aberdeen Arts Centre on the 22nd and 23rd of June, and Series 1 was  broadcast by BBC Radio Scotland on Saturdays at 12.00 noon starting on the 1st September.

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Waiting for the green light…

 

 

Episode 1 BBC Radio Scotland 12:05 01/09/2007

Episode 2 BBC Radio Scotland 12:05 08/09/2007

Episode 3 BBC Radio Scotland 12:05 22/09/2007

Episode 4 BBC Radio Scotland 12:05 06/10/2007

 

After the first series aired, we had literally several messages of lukewarm encouragement. However, the one we enjoyed the most came from Jeff Zycinski, the head of BBC Radio Scotland who said, in an interview with the Times, “we have been inundated with requests for a new series of Desperate Fishwives, so we must be doing something right.”

That’ll do for us!

For copyright reasons, we cant post any clips from the radio shows, but  ‘Archie & Davie on The Moosie’ and ‘Up my Close – In Torry’ are up on Youtube, so fill your boots!

There’s more info about all our radio output on the Desperate Fishwives BBC micro-site.

Cast & Production Team

Cast

Written by

Produced by

  • Margaret-Anne Docherty

Production Assistant

  • Shaun MacDonald

Next: Desperate Fishwives Radio Series 2

 

Desperate Fishwives – Radio Scotland- Series 2

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‘Laugh out loud funny’

– Bryan Burnett

All those folk who’d pestered the BBC for more Desperate Fishwives (thanks for that, by the way) got their wish in July 2008 when we recorded six more episodes for BBC Radio Scotland.

There’s also now a wee BBC micro-site all about the radio shows.

The series was broadcast on the following dates:

Episode 1 – 18:10 Friday 25/07/2008

Episode 2 – 18:10 Friday 01/08/2008

Episode 3 – 18:10 Friday 08/08/2008

Episode 4 – 18:10 Friday 15/08/2008

Episode 5 – 18:10 Friday 22/08/2008

Episode 6 – 18:10 Friday 29/08/2008

It was repeated on the national digital network, BBC 7, in the first 6 weeks of 2010.

Five enterprising listeners enjoyed the “Caledonia Bank” sketch so much that they posted it on Youtube, where, in total, it’s had almost half a million hits.

The audioclip has been emailed around the world; (we’ve had reports of it reaching Australia, Alaska and Abu Dhabi) you can check it out here; or here, and also here, here, and here.

Cast & Production Team

Cast

Written by

Produced by

  • Margaret-Anne Docherty

Production Assistant

  • Lauren Mackay

Previous: Desperate Fishwives Radio Series 1

Next: Desperate fishwives Radio Series 3

Desperate Fishwives – Radio Scotland- Series 3

‘Do we have to listen to this?’

– John’s 6 year old niece.

(Fair play to her, it was Christmas day, she had better things to  do)

Would we do a Christmas special? Came the enquiry from high up in the Radio Scotland firmament. In fact, will you do five, and we’ll put them out every day of Christmas week 2009?

Well, why not?

We recorded on a suitably dreich couple of nights in November, and the shows went out at lunchtime on the 21st, 22nd 23rd, 24th and 25th December. The perfect audio accompaniment to the peeling of a big pile of sprouts.

[oqeygallery id=2]

Cast & Production Team

Cast

Written by

Produced by

  • Margaret-Anne Docherty

Production Assistant

  • Lauren Mackay

Previous: Desperate Fishwives Radio Series 2

Next: Desperate Fishwives Radio Hogmanay Special

Desperate Fishwives – Radio Scotland- Hogmanay Special

The Hogmanay Special is a bit of a badge of honour for Scottish comedians, so we were affa pleased to be asked to produce one for Radio Scotland. Highlights included Robbie Shepherd raking through the archive to find lost tapes of the White Pudding Club, new characters The Bakery Wifies and our own version of Auld Lang Syne.

No prizes for guessing when the show went out; there was also a New Years Day repeat for everyone who was either too busy or too boozy to catchit on Hogmanay.

[oqeygallery id=2]

Cast & Production Team

Cast

Written by

Produced by

  • Margaret-Anne Docherty

Production Assistant

  • Lauren Mackay

Previous: Desperate Fishwives Radio Series 3

The Madness of Kingswells

2002 – Aberdeen Arts Centre

“Every line delivered with precision by a confident and talented cast.”

– Evening Express

“I was sore from laughing at half time!”

—David Morrice

Back in the Arts Centre, this time for a 4 night run, we got some unexpected free publicity when the local press used our title to report on plans to build a football stadium to the west of the city. That didna harm oor ticket sales. And so the first Flying Pig audience to break 1000 discovered the fate of Wee Alickie, the defunct Green Final’s cartoon paperboy, saw Robbie Shepherd’s efforts as a roving reporter and met Billy and Dougie; ex-trawlermen turned Air Stewards.

Cast
John Hardie
Elaine Johnston
Oli Knox
Craig Pike
Steve Rance
Susan Webster
And Introducing
Greg Gordon

Script
Greg Gordon
Andrew Brebner

Lyrics
Andrew Brebner
John Hardie

Directed by
John Hardie

    Musical Arrangements
    Steve Rance

      What the Papers Said

      Aberdeen Press & Journal 03/10/02

      Flying Pig Productions, the North-east’s very own kings and queens of comedy have gone all multi-media in their new show at Aberdeen Arts Centre, and with hilarious results. Led by John Hardie, Craig Pike and Susan Webster, the Flying Pigs have rightly earned an excellent reputation for ringing laughs from homegrown targets. Their latest show, The Madness of Kingswells must be their best yet. Written by the brilliant Greg Gordon and Andrew Brebner, the show successfully develops some familiar favourite characters and takes them far beyond our comedy expectations. While the new characters just seem to get better and better. Expertly produced and performed, the Madness of Kingswells really does guarantee a hilarious night out.

      Aberdeen Evening Express 03/10/02

      I must confess to being a Flying Pigs fan – along with, I suspect, most of this first night audience. Often likened to Scotland The What?, the self-styled humour of these Student Show stars bears a passing resemblance to their predecessors. However, with four years’  experience now behind them, the group is making an impact all of their own. The Madness of Kingswells transports the comics from The Lemon Tree to Aberdeen Arts Centre, greatly increasing the staging potential, which director John Hardie oversees with his usual imaginative flair. Lighting and slide shows aside, the comedy has also moved up a gear, with writers Greg Gordon and Andrew Brebner turning in some of the group’s funniest moments yet, and every line delivered with precision by a confident and talented cast. It’s as much fun as any theatre-goer can handle.

      Previous show: Prime Cuts – 2001

      Next show: The Hunchback of Walker Dam – 2004


      Prime Cuts- The Best Of Flying Pig 1998 to 2001

      2001 – Aberdeen Arts Centre

      “Like watching a home game in which the whole team scores, even the keeper.”

      —Press & Journal

      ‘Scotland the What?’, the next generation.”

      —Press & Journal

      Alan Franchi’s kind invitation to headline the first Aberdeen Arts Centre Comedy Festival with a “Best Of” show took us by surprise. We’d known we were going to have to replace Laura Sinclair, who was off to drama school, but we didn’t realise we’d have to do it within a couple of months, for our biggest show to date. So we were very pleased to welcome Elaine Clark to the team, just in time for the move from our compact and bijou home at the Lemon Tree to a venue more than twice the size. Ever positive and forwards-looking, we hypothesised (and fretted) that :

      A larger venue + material the punters have heard before =

      Loss of intimacy + audience ennui =

      Nae b*gger laughing.

      We needn’t have worried; the laugh which greeted Archie and Davie’s reminiscences of Gothenburg 1983 nearly blew John and Pikey’s flat caps off, and Oli’s impassioned impression of Chewbacca singing the works of Barbara Dickson almost hospitalised one loyal fan, which is always nice.

      We also recorded our first CD, now sadly sold out. Sadly for anyone who wants one. Happily, though, for Andrew’s folks who finally regained full use of their loft in 2008.

      Cast
      John Hardie
      Oli Knox
      Craig Pike
      Steve Rance
      Elaine Clark
      Susan Webster

      Written by
      Greg Gordon
      Andrew Brebner

      Directed by
      John Hardie
      Musical Arrangements
      Steve Rance
      Craig Pike

      Sponsors

      Town & County
      The Press and Journal
      Gardner Accountants

      What the Papers Said

      Aberdeen Press & Journal 20/10/01

      The Aberdeen Arts Centre was packed last night for Flying Pig – Prime Cuts and rightly so. Born from Students’ Charities Shows, Flying Pig is in one sense Scotland The What?, The Next Generation, with John Hardie, Craig Pike Oliver Knox and Susan Webster magnificently taking the lead roles. In other words, if you’re from the North-east an evening with Flying Pig is like watching a home game in which the whole team scores, even the keeper. Exploiting local scenes and characters and giving them a distinctly surreal twist is Flying Pig’s secret. The sharpness of the writing and the power of the performances, however, raises it far above its Student Show origins. The laughter rocked the Arts Centre last night as one hilarious sketch followed another. Basically a greatest hits collection, this all too rare appearance of the Flying Pigs is not to be missed. They fly again at the Arts Centre tonight and cannot be recommended enough.

      Previous show: All Quiet On The Westburn Front – 2001

      Next Show: The Madness Of Kingswells – 2002