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Dinside the Cavernous Banshee Labyrinth in Edinburgh’s Cowgate, robed monks stand ominously on stage at midnight. It’s 2024, in the middle of Edinburgh, and nobody knows what’s going on. But in this prison-like sweatbox we are about to encounter a work that is equal parts fun and unrelenting.
Two years later, the Underground Monk Show is back. Although some views reach the edge with a good elevator ride, this is impossible to explain. “It’s really funny because that’s what we ask ourselves all the time,” laughs co-creator John Norris, who is also the brains behind the absurd comedy. Mr Chonkers. If you were to try to explain what happens, you could say that the show follows magical monks who, after an hour, each have a spiritual awakening of some kind, fueled by magical water that turns their visions into reality. There are flashbacks, dream sequences and otherworldly scenes where the actors move up and down the aisles, moving together as a unit.
But there is no agreement between them, which increases the tension. One night, the monks pushed things into the audience and a poor man in the front lost his hat during the entire performance when, along with the music of Gregory and the choirs, the monks considered it sacred to their cause.
As Norris executive producer Corey Podell explains, the show’s origins are vague. It started with a night called Monks and Nuns at the Elysian Theater in Los Angeles. “It had nothing to do with monks or nuns, but we were just dressed that way,” he says. “So from there, John was just like: why don’t we all dress like monks?
This year, with the help of Soho Theatre, the monks are coming out of their underground chambers to run in the elevated Assembly George Square Gardens in Edinburgh. It’s turned into one of those must-see shows, a joint show featuring Norris (produced by Sam Fishman) and LA players at the top of their game. An artist Claire Woolner known for his groundbreaking solo show A Retrospection; Max Baumgarten is a founding member of the successful experimental group of magicians Wet the Hippo; and D Marcucci it was part of Lady Magic, directed by Natalie Palamides late last year. Bill O’Neill, who has been appointed as Edinburgh’s new comedian in 2023. The Amazing Banana Brotherswill join the show when it arrives at London’s Soho Theater in January.
Norris says that the players come from different backgrounds. “There’s a lot of us from theatre, theater, theater, dance, art,” he says. “We’ll see what changes this year, but there’s all the humor – that’s always the goal – tension, liberation, beauty and grace.”
Their free spirit of creativity is fueled by something equally important: friendship. Many monks have spent many years doing different things together, creating a common language. “There’s a shortcut to it,” says Podell. Woolner believes that ensemble chemistry comes from knowing how to challenge each other. He said: “We have learned to play with each other by getting to know each other’s style of play, and then pushing each other in difficult areas to play,” he says. Risk perception is very important. Instead of presenting a set of stage performances, the company is always looking for ways to keep the performances alive and unpredictable.
Despite the move to a bigger venue, the cast is determined to preserve the show’s appeal and connection with audiences. Norris said: “What we lose in the intimacy of this beautiful little pit, we may gain with a watch, and perhaps add some things to this great room, and fill the place.”
Norris hopes audiences will experience “a good hour of escapism”, adding that his favorite films are the ones “that make you laugh, and you don’t know why”. One of the reasons people keep coming back is that no two theaters are the same. Woolner describes the team’s ongoing work to create a “one-off experience”. You may find yourself being doused with holy water, which is actually someone else’s pint, or caught in a romantic encounter with one of the monks.
So what will the audience hear when they arrive at this amazing event? “The fun is the high,” Woolner says without hesitation, then delivers the most accurate commentary you can think of on the Underground Monk Show. “I don’t know what it was,” he said, “but I must see it again!”
