US actor/comedian Miles Allen will take his show 'One Man, Breaking Bad' to the Kelvin Club for next month's Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Essentially, Allen is set to take us through sixty episodes of one of the biggest television shows ever created, in sixty minutes. We chat to Allen to see if he's lost the plot.
A cursory Google search shows you’re more well-known for your acting work than stand-up. Tell us a bit about how you got into comedy.
My desire, first and foremost, has always been to make people laugh. I started doing it through the medium of acting when I was in High School, then started doing improv and stand-up comedy when I moved out to Hollywood. I enjoy both as valid ways to entertain people.
Last year you posed as a homeless man in LA offering Breaking Bad character impressions for food. Was that your way of work-shopping jokes for this show?
Yes, it was in a way it was. The idea came in my living room, while I was entertaining my friends, who are also in the entertainment industry, with my Breaking Bad impressions, and then we thought how humorous it would be if I dressed up as a homeless man and did impressions for food. We shot four takes of it the next day. And the rest is history! Now we have a one hour show!
Covering sixty episodes in sixty minutes is a huge task, not to mention the endeavour of turning a drama into a comedy. What was the hardest part about putting the show together and how many incarnations has the show had since inception?
The hardest part, is not playing the characters, but rather holding conversations back and forth with so many of them for an hour, while keeping my voice strong. I’ve always been good at never shutting my mouth, but this is a new ball game. The show is constantly changing, I can’t really count how often it does. It’s been evolving for the better every time.
Which character was the hardest to grasp and why?
Gus Fring. He is so evil, and he rarely lets on to the emotion the character’s actually experiencing.
You’re headed to Australia next month for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, is this your first comedy festival?
This is my first, and I feel so blessed and honored to be experiencing it in such a beautiful place like Melbourne!
What do you hope devout fans of Breaking Bad will take away from your show?
I’ve heard that Meth never really leaves your body once you take it. I want the fans to know that even though the show has ended, it will never leave us. It will always be in our system. I want the show to be a love letter to the fans!
For more information and to book tickets, head to CherryRock.com.au
