Chutes you, sirMarion And Geoff star Rob Brydon is bringing a stage

Words Stephen Phelan

Man walks into a doctor's office. He says that his life has become one long parade of pain, loss and disappointment, and he's finding it hard to stay positive. Doctor says, "The remedy is simple. Grimaldi, the greatest clown in the world, is playing in town tonight. He'll cheer you right up."

The man says, "But doctor, I am Grimaldi."

Ha ha. Okay, it's a pretty bleak joke. Not especially funny. But it gets at a particular vein of humour, somewhere between comedy and tragedy, that some performers can tap into with skill.

Rob Brydon could probably tell it and get a laugh. He does something like that when he plays Keith Barret in Marion And Geoff. Brydon gradually created the character of Barret while he was an ambitious comic actor stuck doing "crap work" for rent money - bland DJ duties on Radio Wales, providing the voice on TV ads for Tango and Toilet Duck, acting out role-play scenarios for a corporate seminar designed to address the problems of marketing thrush cream.

"I think you learn from doing those things," Brydon says, "In one way, I'm glad I could built up a fairly unique catalogue of references to draw on for my work. Even if that does make me sound a bit like Keith."

The closer Brydon came to giving up any hope of ever being professionally, creatively, successfully funny, the clearer Keith became - the image of a dejected man determined to be reasonable, taping his broken heart together with thin, weak strips of optimism.

Brydon's chance - that "Big Chance" of showbusiness myth - came a couple of years ago when he showed Hugo Blick, an old aquaintance at the BBC, a tape of himself in character as Keith, explaining that his wife Marion has left him for her business partner Geoff, but that he sees it "less as losing a wife, more as gaining a friend".

Blick thought Brydon had created a pitiful hero for our times. They co-wrote a series of these monologues together - with Keith delivering his hilarious, awful, amicable view of cuckolded estrangement into a video camera mounted in his minicab - and it worked. Viewers were amused and moved by the experience of watching this man hold up his brave face and the tense, compassionate laughs that come out while waiting to see if it is going to slip.

"He's talking about his life," explains Brydon, "but he's telling you things that he doesn't realise he's telling you. Baring his soul inadvertently."

Marion And Geoff is now loved by audiences and avidly praised by critics. The show's blend of comedy and tragedy have been recognised - Brydon won best newcomer at the British Comedy Awards, and best drama at the South Bank Show awards. And at last, he's free to do good work.

"I realise that it's a very appealing story. People now see me as this fighter guy who never gave up. I suppose I can see why, in retrospect, since I was slogging around, doing fairly low-grade stuff. I was even compared to Rocky by one critic, which is a comparison I really like."

Those early ten-minute windows into the character have expanded into half-hour episodes - and now, a live Marion And Geoff stage show.

At this year's Fringe Festival, Brydon, as Keith, will be offering the audience tips on an agreeable divorce. You'll be free to ask questions at the end. Keith is now such a fully realised character that he might as well actually exist. "I do feel very secure now improvising as Keith. I can interact with people quite nicely."

Obviously, living inside Keith's head makes it impossible for Brydon to see the show as the audience sees it. "To me, the show is more out-and-out funny than the TV show, because now he's a fish out of water, and he settles into it and makes a fool of himself. But a lot of people seem to find it very dramatic and sad. I think I adopt his mindset while I'm working, so I tend to deny how sad his situation is. It's not very healthy, and I'm always a bit relieved when it's over.

"Wait. I'm putting people off. Let's just say that the live show is definitely a comedy evening, but by nature of his character, there is a lot of pathos there still."

He doesn't really need to worry about anyone being put off. Brydon's talent has found pretty generous expression in Keith, the show will be well reviewed and attended, and he'll deserve it. But there is the open question of what else he can do (although his other TV work - acclaimed, uncomfortable comedies Human Remains and Cruise Of The Gods - suggests there's even darker blood in his humour).

"I do wonder if I'll be able to do something that resonates as much as this. In all honesty, I don't have the same drive that I had before I did Marion And Geoff. I had a real desire to prove myself. That was when I was Rocky if you like, that was my fight with Apollo Creed, my one shot at the title." But Rocky went on to fight Mr T and Dolph Lundgren.

"True. But I have worked with Brian Conley recently. Where does he fit into this analogy?"u Marion And Geoff, Assembly Rooms, August 3- 17, 7.30pm, (pounds) 11 ((pounds) 10)

Copyright 2003 SMG Sunday Newspapers Ltd.
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.