Gareth Gwynn: Cyril, Aces and Eights
For Camden Fringe 2025 we are attempting to reach 100 interviews to highlight as many of the shows performing as we possibly can. Every day we will publish new interviews, so do keep coming back to see how close to our target we can get. You can find all our Camden Fringe interviews here.
We love how inspiration can come from many directions. For Gareth Gwynn it was found in his grandfathers 100 year-old poems. What started as a reading at a local festival has now become his Camden Fringe show, Cyril.
We caught up with Gareth to find out more about both his grandfather and show ahead of performing at Aces and Eights for three nights from 28 July (tickets here).
What can audiences expect from the show?
It’s a stand-up show – but the stories take place over a 100 year period.
A few years ago I was, very unexpectedly, invited to an event at the Gower Festival to read some poems that had been written by my great-grandfather, Cyril Gwynn.
Cyril was a seafarer in the First World War and then a farmer – but he was also a poet. He became a bit of a local celebrity around the Gower Peninsula, which is a rural area just west of Swansea, reading these poems in pubs. Some of them are really funny and they’re now a great record of the places and people – But all this was very much his side-hustle. He used to compose them, in his head, as he ploughed fields and then recite them from memory.
It’s amazing because, by contrast, I’ve just had to turn Spotify off so I can fully concentrate on answering these questions. No field is being ploughed today.
So I suppose it’s about me and him. It’s a comedy show about living in a city when your ancestors thought tarmac was all a bit much.
Is Camden Fringe going to be the show’s first time on stage, or have you already performed elsewhere?
Only once – and a while ago now. After the Gower Festival gig, I booked an hour at the Machnylleth Comedy Festival, to see if there was more in it. There definitely was and I felt like it was a good proof-of-concept, but since then I’ve been doing way more straight stand-up and also dug into Cyril’s history a bit more too – all of which is working its way into the hour – So it’s the first time in this form.
It’s still a work-in-progress, but also, some of it is over 80 years old. It’s safe to say, those bits are run-in. It probably balances out.
How long have you been working on the play?
So the incident at the heart of it, when I was first asked to speak about Cyril at a public event, happened in the summer of 2022. Since then it’s been something I’ve wanted to return to. I kept picking at it between other comedy writing jobs – and doing bits at open mics, but these dates in the Camden Fringe were booked to make me finish the story!
Is this version how you originally envisioned it or has it changed drastically since you first put pen to paper?
There were some key elements of my life and Cyril’s life which I knew would feature – but as I started sticking it together, and working bits up as individual stand-up routines, there ended up being a bit more of myself than I’d expected. But from what I know about Cyril, and as you’ll discover if you come to the show, he wouldn’t mind too much.
What was it that drew you to this show and role?
I’ve been doing comedy writing or performing now for nearly 20 years in one form or another. I’d known of Cyril and family members had suggested maybe doing something with Cyril’s poems for years – but I could never work out what. It wasn’t until I was stood on stage, reading them out-lout that something clicked. So honestly, it was that moment at the Gower Festival!
Being a fringe festival, we all know sets have to be bare minimum, how have you got around this with your set and props?
I made a rule for myself on day one of writing this that I wouldn’t use any technology Cyril didn’t have access to – so no PowerPoint or complex music cues and I’ve stuck to that… so far. But I might allow myself a smoke-machine to recreate the atmos of a 1920s Welsh pub.
Are there any plans for what comes next after the show has finished its run – for you or the show?
I’d really love there to be – but the main thing which needs to happen when this Camden Fringe run is done is return to Wales and perform it to my uncles and aunts and see if I’ve got any facts wrong!
If you had to describe your show as a colour what would it be?
I’ve thought about this! Cyril released a small book of poems in the ’70s. It’s an odd, green colour, with orange writing – so I think that’s the colour-scheme in my head.
If you had to describe your show as a meal what would it be?
I was going to say “something a farmer would have eaten in the 1920s” but that conjures up images of something wholesome but stodgy – And those aren’t two words on the mood board!
If your show had a soundtrack what songs would definitely be on it?
The first time I ever performed Cyril’s work, at an event for the Gower Festival, I was on the same bill as the superb singer-songwriter Mal Pope. He’s from the Mumbles, so I should go for one or two of his songs. I’m going to specify Butterfly by Mal Pope because Mal also sang the theme tune for Fireman Sam and we all know it’s an absolute banger, but it’s probably not right for this.
If you could perform this show anywhere in the world where would it be?
Well Cyril was from Gower, so definitely there. And he died in Australia, so maybe there too? In fact, I’m going to get a map of all the places he went with the Merchant Navy and do an absolutely perplexing tour.
What is the weirdest or most unconventional prop used in your show?
I thought this was going to be a fairly prop-light show, but I’ve got a routine about a hideous doormat. I did the bit on stage a few weeks ago and on the way home the brilliant Bec Hill, who had organized the gig, sent me an eBay listing for an identical doormat. So maybe that!
What’s the most valuable piece of advice you’ve received during your career, and how has it influenced your work on this show?
There’s probably loads, but this is the one that springs immediately to mind – Before I became a comedy writer, I was a radio producer. I was working for XFM South Wales and struggling to get an interview with the Stereophonics down to under four minutes (just realized what a Welsh story this is). Anyway, as I was umming and ahh-ing about what to do, my boss said to me “the audience won’t know what they didn’t hear” and it does free you up to be a bit more ruthless and hack something out.
What words of advice/encouragement would you give anyone thinking about doing Camden Fringe next year?
Is there a question missing that you feel we should be asking you?
Yes – “What have you cut out?”
Thanks to Gareth for sharing this story of Cyril with us. If you want to see the show, it will be playing at Aces and Eights from Monday 28 to Wednesday 30 July.
