Edy Hurst

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 25th October 2024

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times. Right now we're looking ahead to the witching hour - which is what Edy Hurst could well have called his latest show. But no, he went with the less snappy but more interesting Edy Hurst's Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself. It's on tour now, including two dates over Halloween at The Lowry in Salford. But what lies beneath that title? Edy explains:

"Edy Hurst's Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself is a comedy show that combines live looping, the biggest DIY props ever seen on a risk assessment and an increasingly elaborate multi-media narrative to tell the tale of the Lancashire Witch Trials, the Vengaboys' secret concept album where they learned to circumnavigate the globe, and absolutely nothing else. Also I received a diagnosis for ADHD before making the show but let's not look into that."

Edy took it to Edinburgh in August, but will he be spooking it up to a whole new level now, given the timeliness of these Salford shows?

"For Halloween night / All Hallow's Eve / Samhain Eve itself we shall not only be premiering the show at Lowry, but for everyone attending we'll be doing a Halloween quiz afterwards in the venue with prizes for costumes and best team name. Have I made a whole section based on Bobby 'Boris' Pickett's immortal classic The Monster Mash? There's only one way to find out."

Amazing if it turns out to be 'no'. And what does he reckon modern witches would make of this production?

"Through support from Lowry's Developed With programme I've been able to work with a bigger team than I ever have previously, and this has allowed me to have a number of practising witches involved in the show, so that we're doing something spooky and silly, but that doesn't belittle the value of witchcraft and folk ritual practices."

Edy does it. Now, let's tread trepidatiously toward First Scare, Worst Scare:

The first Halloween you remember?

First Halloween memory was classic '90s Halloween memories for me; bin bags sellotaped to a shirt for bat wings, and seeing how much of mum's clothes could double as Dracula's wardrobe, and the excitement of getting to bob for apples followed by the terror that you have to get your face wet, open your mouth real wide whilst also holding your breath all for what, in hindsight, is a pretty lousy prize.

Favourite scary movie?

A big part of me wants to say E.T.: the timeless classic of a boy meeting a magical potato that comes back from the dead, all with the lingering tension of a mid-80s divorce. You know what, maybe I'll go to the mat for it. It was originally planned as a horror movie and definitely the first 15-20 minutes of it play the exact same beats. Plus, they go trick or treating! It's set at Halloween!! Could E.T. be the Die Hard of Halloween films?

Also, Haxan (you can see on YouTube in all its public domain glory) from 1922 is somehow both spooky-scary and a critical video essay whilst all being from over 100 years ago.

But for scary movies that are definitely scary movies I love anything by John Carpenter; The Thing is flawless. David Lynch's Eraserhead is firmly in my top 10 films, and particularly for my show I cannot recommend enough that everyone watch The VVitch.

Worst Halloween?

I once went over to a friend's house who lived in a rural part of Cheshire where we planned to go trick or treating - I think I was maybe 11 or 12. As he lived basically surrounded by farmland, they didn't go in for a lot of features like pavements or street lights, and it was both windy and rainy, the worst double act.

So we're walking around with raincoats covering most of the costumes except for masks, with a 5-10 minute walk between each house, and you could just tell with every knock that this was not a part of the world where people either enjoyed Halloween, nor made any preparation for children that may be knocking on doors.

I think we had maybe two people answer, and one of them gave us some loose change, and the other didn't have anything. I guess in hindsight we probably should have prepared for giving more tricks than receiving treats, but with only 35p in change collectively that would have probably only got us three eggs for throwing.

Your greatest fancy dress moment?

I'm a big theme park head, and I just don't think there's a greater fancy dress moment than when at a Halloween event, a mascot character dresses up in a costume. It's a hat on a hat, it's a story on top of a story, it's the thought that a cartoon living in the real world might also - when they're off work - go and watch horror films enough to pick a favourite character and make their own costume to celebrate them. Every time you pull at a conceptual thread it gives you another incredible scenario.

And what's the most regrettable costume you ever came up with, onstage or off?

For my last show, Edy Hurst's Comedy Version of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of H.G. Wells' Literary Version (Via Orson Welles' Radio Version and Steven Spielberg's Film Version) of the War of the Worlds, we of course had a martian invader, a grand figure of unbreathable red satin, two broom handles with tentacles at the end and a large plaster of paris fishbowl helmet.

Whilst I don't regret inviting the Martian Emissary to each show at all, I wish that I'd considered how by 11pm a small attic room in the Mash House at the Edinburgh Fringe during the middle of August might have just collected all the heat from the daytime, and add to that the Martian helmet visor's penchant for fogging up and I did think about my life choices a few times.

Any memorable trick-or-treating experiences?

You can see my worst Halloween above for a fairly unmemorable experience, but another one recently where I took my daughter was completely the other round. The decorations and spooky paraphernalia was like that 00s film Deck the Halls level of competition.

It's a family area and it's all a 'just a bit of fun' vibe, but I think somebody really severely buckled under the competitive pressure. They decided the best thing to do, in an area that is largely for families and small children getting sweets from their neighbours, is, alongside the standard cobwebs and glow in the dark plastic decorations, to project a looping video of a silhouett-o of a man climbing onto a chair in the front bedroom, as there was a silhouett-o of a noose hanging from the ceiling.

And like, that's not, that's not spooky right? It's definitely upsetting, but it's not very Halloween specific is it? It might even be illegal? Let's wait to see if my daughter does one of these and see whether it was as memorable to her as it was to me.

The scariest hotel you've ever stayed at?

There wasn't necessarily anything spooky or scary about where I was staying, but I was in a room in London last year for a week, and had specifically booked the place because, out of all the shared flats in the area (read: in my budget), it was the only one that said it had a lockable door. Great, I'm staying with a stranger, famously the strangest of people to stay with, but I can lock the door when I want to, and possibly leave valuables in there when I'm out.

You know I wouldn't be telling this story if it didn't turn out that there was no lock. I asked the host and they said they weren't allowed locks on the door. You know, for safety. But for some reason there was a keyhole in each door. I know it's not the scariest thing in the world, but perhaps the real terror was the friends we made on the way, the friends being Airbnb support.

At this risk of sounding like someone that wants to speak to a manager, it's just wild and scary to me that there's not a really quick "Oh right well that obviously makes the place seem dramatically less safe than it was advertised as, so we've obviously got a plan of action whenever this happens to our customers" and instead more of a '"oh wow, we never thought someone could lie on their listing for whatever reason they choose to." So that's fun!

Either that, or a hotel I stayed in in Canada where they had taxidermy on every inch of the wall space. First and only time I've ever seen a moose or a wolverine.

Any weird reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions to this show?

People have been positive about the show generally, or if not have looked at me and thought I've made enough decisions in my life that their opinion should stay with them and their gods.

I did have a great moment at the Fringe this year where someone was very explicit that I needed to mention that James I in England would have been James VI in Scotland or I could face the wrath of Scottish audiences, and that this show instils such a keen demand for historical accuracy is frankly something I wholeheartedly endorse.

How would you be spending Halloween, if not at the Lowry?

I would pour myself a delicious glass of red wine, lie down in an empty grave with my arms folded over my chest, and play The Monster Mash on repeat until sunrise.

Edy Hurst's Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself is at the Lowry, Salford, on October 31 and November 1. thelowry.com