The Fringe Audio Intro - Aisha Leverett, Friendship Giveaway!
Respondent: Aisha Leverett, Writer/Director Name of Company: Friendship Giveaway! Name of Show: Abandon Ship!
"I’m already thinking about next year because audio forces you to think about comedy and communication in a way that can lead to fun stuff."
1. Why should anybody see your show?
Well, it’s a radio show so I don’t know how much they’ll see, ha ha. I guess your imagination is what you’ll see. So you should “see” this show because a healthy imagination is one that is worked out regularly. It’s 20 minutes of silliness done seriously.
2. Why Atlanta?
Atlanta never ceases to find new ways to be interesting. An audio fringe festival is a great way to distinguish the Festival from others and gives out-of-towners like me a chance to be a part of Atlanta’s great art community.
3. What inspired you to create this?
I’ve become fascinated with fan fiction and shipping because it explores how people respond to popular culture, something I’ve been interested in academically and as a person of comedy. Abandon Ship! is a first step in working out some potential show ideas that go beyond just making fun of poorly written (but beautifully earnest) fan faction.
4. What’s your creative process for something like this? Are you approaching it differently b/c it’s a festival or is it just business as usual?
My creative process for this particular piece was 1) come up with an idea that involved a lot of people and was very ambitious technically, 2) break ankle, 3) come up with another idea and format that uses one of the very best performers I know, Wolfgang Stein to create an entire world with only a few characters, 4) Profit?
5. When people walk out of your show, they’re gonna be saying,”….
Oh, I hate that Declan!
6. Is this your first festival?
I had a piece in last year’s audio fringe called Within Earsight about a set of twin children who solved gruesome mysteries on their very own weekly radio show! I’m already thinking about next year because audio forces you to think about comedy and communication in a way that can lead to fun stuff.
7. If your show was an animal at the Atlanta Zoo, what would it be?
There’s a type of monkey called Wolf’s Guenons and since Abandon Ship! stars Wolf, that seems appropriate.
8. Will your show save mankind?
No, not at all. Not in any way possible.
9. Any Atlanta-based celebs you’re secretly (or not secretly) hoping will tune in?
Does Elton John still live there? Maybe he listens to it and forwards it to his friends at the Beeb?
Lois Reitzes would be awesome too. I’ve tried to describe her voice to non-ATLiens and she defies description.
Above: Looks foxier than she sounds
10. Random Atlanta Couple Who Doesn’t Ordinarily Go To These Sorts of Things (RACWDOGTTST, for short) wanders into your show blind. What happens to them? Are their minds blown? Are they freaked out? Are they seduced by your gentle artistry?
Maybe they look at the night sky a little differently. Maybe they wonder how a species that produces everything from The Cosby Show to Teletubbies to Eurovision is gonna look to “outsiders” should they ever find us. Maybe they get cupcakes. Maybe they’re just thankful for their “ship” they’re in.
11. Describe your show in three words.
Resistance = ill advised.
Click here to listen to Friendship Giveaway's show, "Abandon Ship!"











