Walkabout Mime Act With Soundtrack

Gothic slaphead Futter finds himself a teensy bit out of his depth when he’s left minding the
baby in this highly original comedy walkabout.

Mr Futter appears (at first double-take) to have evolved from the same gene pool as
Uncle Fester from the Addams Family but further investigation reveals the resemblance to be superficial. You are welcomed into Futter’s unique world of love and horror - the quirky world of a misunderstood lovable misfit doing his best to look after a rather challenging baby.

Clearly not a natural when it comes to childminding, Futter uses a small arsenal of unorthodox paraphernalia in an attempt to calm his noisy infant. These include soft toys impaled on a kebab skewer, a ‘medieval’ rattle and disconcertingly similar bottles of gripe water and embalming fluid! Surprisingly, no harm befalls his tiny passenger and every effort is made to defend his charge from any misguided attempts of mistreatment. Always on the lookout for new employment, Futter offers his unique babysitting services to new parents and has been known to negotiate a straight swap for a less noisy baby and pram!

Connecting with both the parent and the child within us all, Futter bonds emotionally (and sometimes over-enthusiastically) with people of all ages. This walkabout is largely improvisational, and relies on interaction from the audience, blurring the line between reality and make-believe for a playful, feel-good experience. Children and babies find the show especially fascinating.

The intriguingly-adorned, genuine 1930s pram has been fitted with a high quality PA system that allows atmospheric and bizarre musical accompaniment to be broadcast from hidden speakers, along with highly convincing baby sound effects. Horrace, the anatomically-accurate noisy infant within, is animated with jiggling arms and beautiful eyes that can be remotely triggered to glow red.

Sonic Scenarios include:

(i) Subtle: with convincing cries, gurgles and windy emissions.

(ii) Alarming: where the child turns into a snarling, snapping beast and is only satiated with a large bottle of embalming fluid that is noisily slurped on.

(iii) Psychedelic/surreal: where the baby apparently communicates telepathically with Futter
and everyone else within earshot.

When asked for a photograph, Futter reciprocates with his own ancient bellows camera, often snapping large groups arranged ‘artistically’ around the pram.  Lining the pram hood is a portrait gallery of infants he has previously minded, and audience members may also be treated to a viewing of his holiday photographs. This album of sepia prints shows Futter pushing the pram through various iconic scenes – the Pyramids of Giza, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, etc.



Full DVD showreel is available on request

While there’s a subtle dark undercurrent to the performance (would you employ him as your nanny?) the emphasis is firmly on comedy, and laughs are plentiful. This original and stylish act has a wide appeal and has gathered much acclaim. It is suitable for street, festival and family-orientated events.

“Now that’s what I call REAL Goth!” – teenage Goth, Norwich Forum 2006
                                 
Normal running time is 30 minutes with three performances a day. More flexible programming may also be accommodated. For more information or to make a booking enquiry please email Bert by clicking on the postbox icon below.