Richard Todd interview

Richard Todd is performing a show at the Edinburgh Fringe called We Need The Eggs. Let's find out 'eggsactly' (sorry) what's going on...

Who needs the eggs exactly?

We're talking metaphorical eggs here and, as such, we all do to some extent. It is a universal theme, more so than actual eggs as they would exclude vegans (even mentioning vegans threatens to make the egg theme far too tangible). I think most people can handle metaphors. No one was disappointed when Rocky failed to develop actual tiger's eyes in Rocky III (though, now I have written it, I am disappointed).

Do we need to bring any extra eggs with us to the show? Do you have enough to last the month?

We are talking metaphorical eggs, I cannot stress this enough, anyone carrying actual eggs into the show has either bad intentions, or has mistaken it for a late night bakery class or poultry farming TED talk, it is neither of these things.

Poultry farmers looking for career validation will be disappointed. The eggs in question represent the pursuit of the irrational, crazy and absurd.
Do I have enough to last the month? Lord knows. By the end of Edinburgh I am usually done with pursuing the crazy and absurd and am looking into something more grounded, like a bouncy castle proprietor.

Free range or battery farm? Scrambled or poached?

Oh lord! I would never scramble a metaphor, the intention would be completely lost. On a literal level, my preference is for scrambled eggs, although, very much like mashed potato, the process does demand greater quantities to fill the plate, so, if you are on a budget, and most Edinburgh performers are, you really ought to stay away from scrambling. And mashing. And getting mashed.

Obsession starts with an innocuous snack based discovery? Tell us more...

I found a crisp of a flavour that neither my girlfriend or me liked, in our bed, and if that is not enough to rouse a person's paranoia, I do not know what is. (The crisp is not a metaphor.) Obviously I pursue the discovery with the bullish tenacity of Sherlock Holmes, but whereas Holmes tends to get employed by a living entity, I am employed by my own personal neurosis, which really doesn't pay well.

We hear you teach art? Draw us something funny?