King Bob with a twist of comedy

May 5 2009 by Johnathon Menzies, Perthshire Advertiser Tuesday

LOCAL funnyman Bruce Fummey will take Perth Theatre on a romp through the life and times of Robert the Bruce when his latest tour comes to the Fair City on Friday, May 8.

The third in his series on Scottish heritage, “About Robert the Bruce” follows on from well-received material on the Jacobites and the Robert Burns epic, Tam O’Shanter.

Blackford comic Bruce (44), who doubles up as a supply teacher at Perth High School when not on stage, said the country’s past is a veritable gold-mine when looking for inspiration.

He said: “After I choose a topic I research it for about five or six months before performing on stage. You need to know the facts behind the story before you can make it funny.

“The Robert the Bruce tale already has funny bits in it – it’s about a man, inside a cave, talking to a spider!

“My wife goes mad when she gets home from work and the house is a mess because I’ve had my nose in a book all day.

“But the reading about were we come from as a nation is fascinating,” he said.

Father-of-two, Bruce – who helps run Just Laugh Comedy Club and is a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe – is adamant that any would-be audience member put off by stuffy history lessons at school will enjoy his comic twist.

He told the PA: “You can say that any subject is boring, it just depends on the teacher.

“I studied physics because when I was at school there was a group of inspirational people giving the lessons.

“People make blockbuster films about historical figures. I like to do what I call ‘edu-comedy’.

“I want people to come away from a show, obviously thinking it’s funny, but to look back on it and think they’ve learned something.

“When I do stuff in venues with the Comedy Club I just talk about everyday things and, a lot of the time, you can fill a whole show just by feeding off the audience.

“The best moments are when something happens that will only ever happen on that one night. Someone in the audience will say something and the whole room erupts, that’s special.

“The one-man shows are slightly different because people are specifically coming to see you. They’ve given up their time and money.

“But it’s great when you get a combination between your own material and audience participation, those are the best times,” he said.