In the first workshop for No Direction Home, Tom Parry told his cohort: “Don’t try to be funny. Try to be interesting”. In the past 18 months since the group’s foundation, this advice has proved fruitful, as the collective has gone on to grow and thrive.
Parry, responsible for the comedy stylings of Pappy’s as well as his solo work, cannot help but be pleasantly surprised by the success of the group. “None of us,” he says, “can believe how successful it’s been.”
He understands the importance of comedy as a tonic to the portrayal of refugees and migrants in the media. “The media discourse,” he says, “is, ‘Oh these poor refugees, they need our help’, or ‘God, these refugees coming over here …. But both responses are dehumanising. Whereas there’s nothing more human than laughing with someone.”
Tom Green, producer of No Direction Home for Counterpoints, notes: “What you get from people who’ve never considered this as a career is a freshness, a directness and honesty – and a connection with the audience that’s amazing.”
He notes the importance in the range of topics covered, stating: “At that first gig alone, we had people talking about dating or food or their grandmother or being bombed in their home country or crossing the Channel. It’s a full range.”
Green concludes: “There’s some really fantastic talent out there. Which raises a broader question about who gets the chance to be a comedian – about who could do it, given the chance.”
