Mary Redmond on ‘Maz Pantz’ at Canal Café Theatre
After the success of our 2025 Camden Fringe Interviews, we thought it only right to attempt a repeat for 2026. So throughout July we’ll be publishing new interviews each day to give a taste of what to expect from London’s best fringe theatre festival. The festival starts Monday 3 August this year, so we may give ourselves a couple of days off inbetween the end of the interviews and the first shows… then again, we might not.
You can find out more about Camden Fringe, along with details of every show playing this August here. You can also find all of this year’s interviews as they are published here.
In a festival landscape packed with heavy themes and complex narratives, sometimes what we need most is pure, unabashed comic relief. Enter Maz Pantz; a bonkers, character-led solo sketch comedy show landing at the legendary Canal Café Theatre this August for Camden Fringe 2026.
Created and performed by comedian Mary Redmond, Maz Pantz blends physical comedy, mime, puppetry, quick character shifts, and cinematic voiceover. It’s an erratic, high-energy spectacle packed entirely into a single suitcase.
We sat down with Mary to talk about abandoning restrictive narrative rules, learning to sync live performance with pre-recorded audio, testing material on live audiences, and why a random wooden birdhouse made the final cut.
If you had to describe the vibe of Maz Pantz in just one sentence, what would it be?
A bonkers, character-led solo comedy sketch show performed by an insane woman using mime, physical comedy, and cinematic voice over!
Why is 2026 the perfect time for Maz Pantz to hit the stage?
Through all the doom and gloom of the past few years, I think we need alternative shows like this to provide some comic relief.
Has the show changed drastically since you first started creating it?
It has DEFINITELY changed! I first started the show by trying to fit it to a certain genre and narrative. I later found that this was very restricting to my creative process. Once I became more open, I started to create better, more creative, and unique material.
What is the biggest physical or technical challenge you face on stage?
Throughout the show, I quickly switch between characters, accents, and physical skills like mime and puppetry, which is a huge challenge. There are also moments in the show where I follow along with the audio, which requires a lot of practice and immense focus on stage, as well as staying in character. It sounds like a lot, but because I love doing it, it’s a great challenge for me!
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this?
Everything I use on stage fits into a suitcase, which means I have to choose my props and costume very carefully. It has taught me that less is more and you really only need the essentials.
If you had to describe your show as a colour, what would it be?
I would probably say yellow, because it’s a bit erratic, bold, and you probably need to look away if you stare too long!
What’s the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show?
I would probably say a wooden birdhouse. I hadn’t long moved house, spotted it in the garden, and honestly thought, “That’s so random, it has to go in.” And it did!
What does “success” look like for you this August?
Learning and growing as a performer is my main goal in becoming successful. I really just love making people laugh and telling stories, so if I can do that, it’s a success to me.
What advice would you give to anyone thinking about bringing a show to Camden Fringe next year?
Test out your material on an audience! I know it seems obvious, but you will never know what truly works until you try it on a LIVE audience. Some material that I didn’t think was funny, was, and some that I thought was funny just wasn’t to most people. It’s the only way to be able to progress and see what really works.
Many thanks to Mary for the chat. You will find Maz Pantz at Canal Cafe Theatre from Friday 21 to Tuesday 25 August.
