The title of Aidan Goatley’s comedy routine, Ten Films With My Dad, reminds me of a friend of mine who, as a youth, used to go to the pictures regularly with his father.
One of the films they went to see, accompanied by a bag of sandwiches and other comestibles, was The Cincinnati Kid, with Steve McQueen as a card-playing mean streak outfoxed by wily Edward G Robinson. Youth takes a tumble against age and experience in that film.
“The first film my father took me to see was Jaws. I was five,” Aidan said. “He was a naval man and didn’t see anything wrong with that.”
The other nine films in the show are: The Greatest Story Ever Told; Star Trek, The Motion Picture; Went The Day Well? Escape To Victory; Aliens; Die Hard; Avatar; Raiders Of The Lost Ark; and The Blues Brothers.
“I use film clips, but they cost a fortune. So when I was at the Edinburgh Free Fringe, I remade the film clips using my dog Kimble – he is the shark in Jaws. I have a big title sequence and then I come on. It’s me telling stories, going through the ten films,” said Adrian.
“I took the show back to Edinburgh last year and had packed out audiences, queues round the block. It was just amazing. I had loads of kids coming up with their dads.
“It gets a bit emotional at the end, some people cry, finding that it stirs up a lot of emotions,” he added.
When we spoke, he was without an agent. The show had been touring village halls; but in the summer he’s taking it back to Edinburgh, to a bigger venue due to public demand.
“It will still be the Free Fringe. I get donations. I made quite a bit last year, which was lovely.”
He has a different arrangement with the National Media Museum, where you can see this show during the Bradford International Film Festival.
While he’s at the museum, he’ll also be road-testing material for another routine with the provisional title Aidan Goatley Is On The Mend.
“I was offered another show because they had an extra space, so I’ll be doing this at lunchtime, about 20 minutes. There are film-related bits in it, but this show is more about mental health,” he said.
“It’s about coming out of depression and seeing the world in a lighter way. Before I bottled things up. This is about saying things. I am recovering. I still have moments, but I am lucky to have a family, people to talk to.
“I find myself in a situation now where I do say stuff; I am diplomatic, of course, but it’s on a much happier plane to be able to express yourself,” he added.
Aidan Goatley’s Ten Films With My Dad is at the National Media Museum on Sunday, starting at 9pm. For tickets, ring 0844 8563797.
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