The Double Bill

My science fiction comedy Pilgrim Shadow and Ray Newell's A Recipe for Disaster (which I am directing) begin a run as a double bill next week at the Dugdale Centre in North London. Tickets are still available, so if you're interested head to www.dugdalecentre.co.uk to book yourself some tickets!

Rik Mayall.

A bit late I know, but as Rik would say - 'piss off, who cares'. I'm not going to try and spin you a yarn – I'm just going to tell you the facts.

I didn't know Rik - I'm just another fan who never met him. I was brought up on 80s and 90s British comedy, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that from the ages of seven to fourteen, I wanted to be Rik Mayall. The first comedy script I remember writing was an episode of Bottom. I was about 10 at the time, did it with another boy who had the same fixation with it as me. We’d write it, act it out – brilliant fun. The script itself was shit, but it was brilliant fun. Around the same time I had a lot of confidence issues. I was an insecure little kid, always nervous about the next day, thinking ahead of all the things that could go wrong. Quoting and repeating put-downs I heard on Bottom to bullies was my only defence in an all-boys secondary school that felt like some kind of dystopian prison. My group of friends at that school were all Bottom fans - that was our common ground. In 2003, I saw Bottom live in Hammersmith with two of those friends, who cosplayed as Richie and Eddie for the evening. It was the final tour that Rik and Ade Edmondson would ever do together, so I’m glad I saw them perform together when I had the chance.

My plays have been compared to Bottom on more than one occasion, which I can only take a great compliment. Rik Mayall's work on The Young Ones, The Comic Strip, Blackadder had a profound influence on not just my writing, but my sense of humour, who my friends are, my career, and my personality. If Rik Mayall hadn’t have been a thing, I may have ended up an accountant. Close shave. Recently, I bought The New Statesman box set, and it’s like discovering Rik all over again. His effortless charisma, his paranormal comic timing, his presence – this man could make anything funny. I can’t imagine how amazing it would have been to work with him, or even just going for a pint with the one-man comedy tornado that was Rik.

Rik is the first of my personal heroes to die, and he won't be the last, but he just might be the greatest comedian who ever lived. No-one was a good as Rik in his prime.

Pilgrim Shadow / A Recipe for Disaster. Comedy Double Bill. The Dugdale Centre, 20th, 21st, 22nd November 2014.

'The Future Boys are back! This Autumn will see the return of PILGRIM SHADOW, Steve Jordan's acclaimed science fiction comedy play from last year's Camden Fringe Festival. Join Tyler and Gary, the Future Boys, as they embark on a quest for a lost treasure haul in the far reaches of the galaxy.

The show will run as part of a double bill with Ray Newell's A RECIPE FOR DISASTER, with both plays starring Cliff Chapman and Adam Joselyn. So, even if you've seen Pilgrim Shadow before, there's a whole new play as part of the bargain! 

The show will run for three nights, 20th, 21st and 22nd November 2014, at the Dugdale Centre in Enfield, North London as part of a joint production between Bad Bat and the Enfield Theatre Co-Op. And guess what? Tickets are on sale NOW.' - taken from badbat.co.uk

The Probleming Reviews

★★★★ '...the quality of Jordan's writing has always been in his characterisation, ensuring each is given just as a particularly well-crafted arc as the plot. Here, the trio are unravelled in just three, well-considered and tightly-crafted scenes that do justice to the whole piece... Just round the corner, you could plonk your cash down for (Jeremy Dyson's) Ghost Stories. Yet if the audience on my evening is anything to go by, you could save a good £30 a ticket. The laughs come thick and fast, in all different varieties. Whether you love the cheesey, slightly nerdy references Jordan seems to revel in or the swears intelligently placed like landmines across the place, this has 'em all... Jordan cares for his characters, well-evidenced throughout, and juggling a trio well. Scripts are, frankly, impeccable... it's this continued attention to detail that makes Jordan's writing such a great investment at any level.' - Views From the Gods.

'Steve Jordan's best play yet. A diverting blend of comedy and horror, with a nice line in really foul-mouthed profanity.' - Andrew Cartmel, novelist and screenwriter.

'The chemistry between Gallagher and Stirling is rather like French and Saunders in the days of old or if you prefer a sitcom example, like Baldrick and Blackadder... Joselyn is note perfect as the socially-awkward Dave, whose cheerful demeanour is offset by his strange behaviour. The best thing about The Probleming though is the characterisation of all three parts. None feel underdeveloped and all have their moments to shine. Some of the biggest surprises come from unexpected moments of pathos that creep up on you between the laughs.' - Female Arts

'Atmospheric... Adam Joselyn as Dave is spot on with a combination of social awkwardness and ambiguity and comes with a childlike enthusiasm about his passion. Emma Stirling as Cynthia is sarcastic and cynical and her superiority complex shows through. And the cheerful and naive Nicole, played by Ellen Gallagher is positively infectious.' - The Public Reviews

Horror times!

Tickets for my new play, THE PROBLEMING, a comedy horror, are on sale now. The play runs from 28th July to 2nd August at the lovely Tristan Bates Theatre in Covent Garden as part of Camden Fringe 2014. The play tells the story of three unlikely friends ghost-hunting through their university grounds at night, and discover more than they bargained for! You can buy tickets from the theatre's website.

For more info, posters, news and other bits and pieces on THE PROBLEMING, visit Bad Bat Productions.

Continuing the horror vibe, TERROR TALES OF WALES, the latest anthology from the eponymous series edited by bestselling author Paul Finch, is on sale now on Amazon. The anthology features a short story of mine entitled 'The Offspring'. The book looks to be selling very well - many thanks all who spent their hard earned cash on it!

It's going to be a busy month!

Terror Tales of Wales

I'm delighted to say that my short story THE OFFSPRING will be included in TERROR TALES OF WALES, the next instalment of the TERROR TALES series - a collection of regional British horror anthologies edited by bestselling author and screenwriter Paul Finch.

I'm already a big fan of the series, so have a story included in such a great collection with so many true masters of the horror genre is a big deal for me. A huge thank you to Paul for the opportunity.

The book, which will be released in June, is available to pre-order now on the Gray Friar website. Here's the back-cover blurb.

Wales – ‘Land of my Fathers’, cradle of poetry, song and mythic rural splendour. But also a scene of oppression and tragedy, where angry spirits stalk castle and coal mine alike, death-knells sound amid fogbound peaks, and dragons stir in bottomless pools …


The headless spectre of Kidwelly

The sea terror off Anglesey

The soul stealer of Porthcawl

The blood rites at Abergavenny

The fatal fruit of Criccieth

The dark serpent of Bodalog

The Christmas slaughter at Llanfabon

And many more chilling tales by Stephen Volk, Tim Lebbon, Simon Clark, Priya Sharma, John Llewellyn Probert and other award-winning masters and mistresses of the macabre.

Previous books in the series include -  TERROR TALES OF THE LAKE DISTRICT, TERROR TALES OF THE COTSWOLDS, TERROR TALES OF EAST ANGLIA, TERROR TALES OF LONDON and, my personal favourite, TERROR TALES OF THE SEASIDE.

Interview with The New Current

'Writer & director Steve Jordan recently spoke with The New Current about Bad Bat's upcoming debut production, THE PROBLEMING.

'Was it challenging writing a horror comedy play?

While writing my style of comedy has always come naturally to me because I grew up on classic British sitcoms, the horror aspect is more challenging. I think there’s a lot more funny comedy out there than genuinely scary horror, so we want to make sure we don’t short-change our audiences with something half-heartedly spooky. When the play moves into horror, expect edge of your seat stuff.

I think SHAUN OF THE DEAD and SCREAM are two excellent examples of of the genre, though SCREAM is often billed as a straight-forward slasher, I see it more as a incredible parody of one (in a good way) - there's a reason why the two genres are such common bedfellows. In my mind, they can both fold seemlessly into the other.'

Read the entire interview on their website, HERE. Tickets are on sale now.' 

taken from bad bat.co.uk