Vikki Stone Interview: Some People just can't take a joke

Image: Vikki Stone

Music and comedy don't often make the greatest of bedfellows, but when the two collide well then the results are often great; everything from the Mighty Boosh's offbeat Bootsy Collins parody Old Gregg to South Park's brilliantly vulgar 1999 movie Bigger, Longer, Uncut.

One comedian who manages to pull off the two well is Vikki Stone, who whipped up a bit of a viral storm with her ode to TV silver fox Philip Schofield (watch it above), neatly side stepping the obvious restraining order by keeping her amorous obsessions wrapped in humour.

She's currently about to embark on the

Hi Vikki, thanks for speaking to us. For someone who might not be familiar with you and your style, tell us what it is exactly you do?

I make comedy and music. Sometimes I make only comedy, and sometimes I make only music, but most of the time I do them simultaneously.

Music is a big part of your comedy show, how intrinsic was it in your childhood and when did you get the idea to converge both music and comedy as an act?

It just came naturally. Given how much time I spent studying music, when I decided I wanted to give comedy a go, it made sense that it had to include music.

Who else manages to mix the two well? 

Obviously Tim Minchin (above) - he’s a brilliant musician. Then there’s Alex Horne, whilst not playing himself, merges music and comedy seamlessly. Jonny and The Baptists are great comedy songwriters, and Frisky and Mannish have nailed the ‘Pop Parody’.

We understand your Instrumental show was based on your family and the death of your father. How cathartic has comedy been for you as a release, and are you a firm believer in it as a great vehicle for tackling bigger issues?

I never thought I’d be able to get a comedy show out of this subject, but I have. Comedy and tragedy are often bedfellows. I used to write very irreverent comedy, but I now feel a strong desire to write about more important topics.  Comedy can change attitudes, and it’s important to challenge both your audience and yourself.

We've been chuckling at a twitter spat you had with Kay Burley over a joke about her Royal Coverage, and it was actually via that social network where we at Skiddle first got a love for your brand of comedy. How much has social media helped you shape your style and build awareness?

Social media has been great for helping me connect with an audience.  As this new show is very personal, and the difficult subject matter has touched a lot of people, it’s nice to able to have a individual connection with audience members via social media.

As for twitter spats with Kay Burley, well, some people just can’t take a joke! She certainly helped gain me a fair few new followers that day. Probably the opposite of what she had in mind when winding me up on twitter!

We saw you performed at festival Number 6 recently, was it your first time? How good was it to be part of something so otherworldly compared to traditional UK music festivals?

Festival Number 6 is a really special festival, the location is just so spectacular, and the audience was a dream.

I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with playing festivals, as comedy stages aren’t normally equipped to deal with acts arriving with large pieces of equipment like pianos, and it’s often very difficult to get my piano from the car to the stage. The music stages have the infrastructure to deal with this, but the comedy stages often don’t, and Festival Number 6 was no exception. 

I’ll just need to get myself a roadie! There’s nothing else for it! 

Who would you cite as influences to your show both from music and the world of comedy?

Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, John Cleese, Ben Folds, Jason Robert-Brown, Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Alan Menken, Rogers and Hammerstine.  

Finally dream situation, you've been given your own Mini festival and there's a music stage and a comedy one, and you're allowed to curate the line ups for both. Not only that you've wangled an unlimited budget and a Delorean, so you can get anyone dead or alive on the bill. Who would you go for, and would you b

Okay, so here would be my fantasy line-up:

Music

Steeley Dan

Bette Midler

Barbara Streisand

Toto

Ben Folds

Fleetwood Mac

Steps

Meat Loaf

Bonnie Tyler (but a contract that states she can’t sing the Eurovision entry)

Comedy...

League Of Gentlemen

Flight Of The Conchords

Elaine Stritch

Jedward

A selection of internet cats

Vikki Stone brings her Instrumental Tour (watch the trailer above) to the Chorley Little Theatre on Saturday 1st November - head here for tickets or follow the box below.

Tickets are no longer available for this event