Interview - Luke Wright

We loved "Joy" but how has it been going down and how have you enjoyed performing it?

I think I enjoy performing this show more than any other I've done. It feels very warm and relaxed and honest. Audience reactions have been really good. I feel a deeper connection with the audience than ever before.

As a morning treat I allow myself a poem a day from your recent anthology "Are Murmurations Worth It?" and love them. Was it an easy book to write?

Ahh, that's nice. I'm glad you're enjoying it. I didn't really 'write’ it as such. It's simply a collection of the poems I'd written in the 10 months before publishing it. My publisher, Penned in the Margins, stopped making books, so I thought I do a few pamphlets of poems freshly written. The first one, Peak, sold out its whole run in ten months so I did this new one. I've got a third on the way in November. After that I'll be publishing a full collection of poems about adoption with a proper publisher. But it's been nice making DIY books again, I haven't done it since 2009, but I really enjoy the process.

We met briefly this year and I showed you a picture of yourself from "Luke Wright's Poetry Party" in 2007, DARKCHAT's first year of existence, a free show you curated on the Meadows featuring the best current and up and coming poets. What do you remember from that fabulous show?

Very little! It was almost 20 years ago. I remember feeling very proud we'd pulled it off. And I do remember driving around Edinburgh on the route master bus Colchester Arts Centre owned shouting about the party with a megaphone. That was pretty special.

Obviously, we have been following your career since that time and have noticed a few changes.  You started as a poet who tells poems and chats to his audience before moving onto a performance poet where your show were incredible tour de forces, reading a rhyming poem for an hour, to telling linear stories such as "What I Learned From Johnny Bevan". You have now returned to your original style. Are these changes deliberately planned?

My bread and butter has always been performing poems and chatting in-between, essentially combining poetry and stand-up. I have also made three one man plays, the first of which you mention above. I had been writing longer and longer narrative poems and wanted to see what it would be like to dedicate a whole show to one story. I enjoyed the writing process but I essentially became an actor for a year at a time touring the shows around, which I didn't really enjoy. I do have the itch to write another play, but not sure I can stomach a whole tour!

You do seem far more relaxed and confident talking to an audience. Is that due to your experience of being on stage for a few years now or do you just feel more confident as a person and performer?

Bit of both. The longer you do something the better you get, but also now I'm in my 40s I feel more grounded and happier, this comes across on stage.

Similarly, your poems and stories  are more open and honest than ever. Is it cathartic talking through your personal issues on stage?

No, not at all. This isn't therapy. It's just material. I suppose the writing process helps me understand the stuff I'm writing about a bit better, but when it comes to making the show I just want to deliver the best show possible. I want the audience to feel the things I'm talking about but it's ceased to be real and raw for me by the time I'm on stage with it. That said, sometimes things will catch you off guard and you'll feel it again, but it's not cathartic.

Right, let's lighten the tone a little. One of our encounters with you came a few years ago on Arthur Smith's Pissed Up Show. In true Arthur style as he was told he could no longer drink (for health reasons) he invited on guests who had to have been drinking all day. What are your memories of that show, if you have any?!

I was on with Hardeep Singh Kohli, and it got a terrible review from one of the reviewing sites. A one star! But they were really nice about my bit. I think I did a poem called The Luck of the Bringers, but I can't be sure. Other than that, nothing. But I know I wasn't that pissed.

Most performers appear on other people's shows during the festival. What moments particularly stand out for you?

I twice went on the Hamilton's show. I really like Christine Hamilton, though their politics make me sick. 

How good are you at remembering your old shows?

They come back remarkably easily. If I was to read one of my plays aloud once a day for three days on the fourth day I could do it from memory.

Why do you keep coming back to the festival?

It keeps you honest. It's a festival that is obsessed with new talent, to keep coming back long after the industry has lost interest in you is a good reminder you've been lucky to make it this far. It's also a great way to get to know a show, get some critical engagement and enjoy the beautiful city of Edinburgh.

What do you think the balance is in your audience between regulars and first timers?

It seems to be about half and half.

We've been reviewing shows since 2007 but due to increasing accommodation costs we have moved outside the Scottish capital. (This year we stayed in Eskbank). You were spotted in Leith, is that where you normally stay? 

It has been these last three years. 

Putting on a show at the festival costs a lot of money. Do you have any expectations about how you will do financially? 

I generally break even over two weeks, which will do.

You are one of our first DarkChat memories. Can you remember any of the first shows you saw?

Stewart Lee doing Badly Mapped World in 2000 at Pleasance. I did my first gig in Edinburgh that year, 10 minutes at an open mic before a double act called The Orange Girls, featuring Miranda Hart.

We thought the shows on offer at Pleasance Dome this year we of particular high quality. As well as yourself we loved "The Shroud Maker" "Jordan Brookes - Fontanelle" and "It's The Economy, Stupid". Did you get a chance to see any of these or other shows you would recommend?

I didn't get to see any of those but I LOVED Alfie Browns' Open Heart Human Enquiry and Elf Lyon's Horses. 

So, now the festival has ended will you miss it or will you need a break?

I only did two weeks so I'm back home now with the kids, trying to relax".

Thanks to Luke for taking the time to answer our questions and we look forward to seeing what he does next. You can keep up with him on his website here and he will tour 'Joy!' across the country until May 2025. We suggest you catch him near you if you can.

Image courtesy of lukewright.co.uk