If you’re a fan of sweet breakfasts and happiness, then Marcel Blanch-de Wilt’s comedy Pancakes is the show for you. Blanch de- Wilt is a seasoned comedian who brings sincerity and silliness to his sketches. His most recent tours have been to Chicago and New Zealand. Now that he’s back in Adelaide, we were able to ask Blanch- de Wilt a few questions about his upcoming season and get a taste of the light and fluffy texture of his show.
Blanch- de Wilt’s foray into comedy was theatre, “… [I] used to be involved in independent theatre after high school before, [realising], that it was unsustainable to be making [a] new work each year and making no money.” He shared that his, “friends were getting too old to be working for free, [so he] entered into solo stuff to ensure that the only one losing money was [himself]”!
When coming up with Pancakes, Blanch- de Wilt, “wanted a show where the first priority was FUN. Not just funny – but to give the audience a sense of joy, lightness, and ease. [Pancakes] is a title that [is] automatically associated with something sweet and fluffy, and that’s exactly what I want it to be.” In developing the work, a theme of “battling the cynicism in the everyday” arose as he captures the effort “to be more positive and optimistic despite everything going on in the world.”
If you like John Mulaney’s The Sack Lunch Bunch and Comedy Bang Bang, you will be into Pancakes. Regarding the family-friendly pitch, Pancakes is still, “for audiences about 13+…”, with no, “specific jokes for 7-year-olds”. In Blanch- de Wilt’s past shows he “had found [himself] doing more jokes that we’re *almost* clean so decided to take the challenge of going all the way. It was an interesting process to develop a show that people could take their teenagers to without worrying about the awkward car ride home.”
Blanch- de Wilt hopes to see a, “big range of ages in the audience,” as he has, “been fortunate in the past to have shows that appeal to a broad range of demographics. [He] hopes to [entertain a] crowd that enjoys a bit of goofiness, silliness, and a well-crafted joke about brunch, that sort of thing.”
Be assured that Blanch- de Wilt wants his audience, “to relax and have fun”, as he will, “do all the heavy lifting” in the kitchen, whisking the mix for ultimate fluffiness. However, he shares an important reminder that, “this isn’t TV”, so comedians, “can see you, and “the more energy you give [them], the funnier [they are].” So it may be an awkward breakfast-themed fifty minutes together, “if you give [him] crossed arms and blank expressions from moment one”.
If his pancake topping preferences of “fried bananas, Nutella and peanut butter,” are anything to go by, we’d say you’ll be in for a tasty and wholesome time. Bon Appetit! You can catch Pancakes at the Rhino Room in Hell’s Kitchen from 10 to 14 March at 7:15pm.
