ArtsMatt & Finn
October 2008 43www.the-actuary.org.uk
The George Lewkowicz experience...
Over a year ago a group of us from Warwick
University decided we were funny enough
to write a sketch show for the Edinburgh
Fringe festival. Why? I have no idea.
A year later, as I walked down the Royal
Mile with an ice-cream in one hand, pink
umbrella in the other, I thought how aptly
this reflected my time in Edinburgh, a city
where you never know if the sun will shine
or you'll be trapped by floods.
The first performance of our show An
Evening Without Dignity was a disaster
-- wrong lines, disappearing props, and
people appearing on stage instead of
remaining firmly in the wings. Yet it was
this performance that won us our best
review -- a happy four stars out of five
from a lovely, but slightly deluded, man
from The List.
Not for the first time, Matt and Finn find themselves facing
`an evening without dignity' but at least this time there's culture involved
Festival fever
We eventually settled on a comedy style
that involved cling-film men, terrorism, and
a man with a colander on his head. It was
intelligent sophisticated humour that we
-- if perhaps no-one else -- were proud of.
We liked to think we were the Marmite of
sketch comedy.
Although I looked, I didn't find any
other actuaries. Instead I was surrounded
by hoards of arts students, except for
Jack Heal, the other mathematician in
our show, who won the Chortle Student
Comedy Award. So if anyone reading this
is looking for a funny grad...
Performing for the whole month was an
exhausting and exhilarating experience. We
had to fight to pull in our audience each
day. When they left still laughing, we knew
we had done our job.
The festival was amazing. It felt as though
anything and everything could happen.
Would I do it all again? Well certainly not
for the full three weeks, but the festival had
such a buzz that I can't wait to go back. The
fund-raising has started -- our production
company Tea Fuelled Art will be holding an
Arts Party that will feature the best of the
Fringe on the 21 October in the Candid Arts
Centre in Islington, and you're all invited.
For more information, visit
www.teafuelledart.co.uk
This month we turn our attention to one
of Britain's greatest artistic and cultural
events � the Edinburgh Fringe festival.
To fully explain the Fringe we turn to
an actuary's favourite tool -- statistics.
The 2008 festival featured 31 120
performers, across 2088 shows in 247
venues, covering comedy, theatre, music,
opera, dance, and more. The Fringe
experience is finding yourself surrounded
by a 5000-strong crowd watching a
famous comedian one moment, then in a
small pub watching a bunch of students
perform for an audience of three the
next. It's the sheer variety that we love.
So if you find nothing at the Fringe to
entertain you, you should probably
go back to memorising mortality
tables. Of the 31 120 performers in
Edinburgh over August, we know of
at least one who holds down a day
job as an actuary. George Lewkowicz,
an actuarial assistant at Travelers
Insurance, journeyed to the Fringe to
perform in his sketch show An Evening
Without Dignity. Here he tells all.
Matt and Finn
Recommended galleries
The Tate and Tate Modern
Starting late September the Tate brings to London
two exciting exhibitions. Tate Britain is showcasing
Francis Bacon's work, and includes one of my
favourite Bacon pictures, the portrait of Pope
Innocent X -- which I find terrifying. After freaking
out with Francis, get on the Tate taxi-boat and relax
with Rothko. Tate Modern is putting on the first major exhibition of
Rothko's work for more than 20 years. The Rothko Room is a cerebral
experience. Seeing this collection of work reunited with his earlier
work will be sublime.
Client entertaining
Anthony's Restaurant, Leeds
The KLF once sang `It's grim up north' but a trip to Anthony's
would perhaps alter their expectations. Situated in the centre
of Leeds, this family-run restaurant has a reputation for creative
and innovative food. Any restaurant where the head chef has
spent the last two years refining his skills in a three-Michelin-star
restaurant is likely to be a culinary experience and Anthony's is
just that. The KLF also famously burned a million pounds -- dining
in Anthony's isn't cheap but won't cost you quite that much....
Art by an actuary
Matthew Fewster
This month's art by an actuary is a photograph by the arts page
co-editor Matt. The picture of Norman Foster's `Gherkin', framed
by the Lloyd's building, is an example of two of London's most
famous and architecturally intriguing constructions, housing
actuaries in their working day. If you have any examples of offices
you work in that are of architectural interest then let us know.
If you would like your work in this space, please e-mail arts@the-actuary.org.uk
go back to memorising mortality
If you would like your work in this space, please e-mail arts@the-actuary.org.uk

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