I was really excited when I heard that Edinburgh Comedy Award Newcomer nominees Ada & Bron are headed for a run at Soho Theatre this month, because, well, they were nominated for the Edinburgh Comedy Award Newcomer gong, obviously. Plus I’ve heard so much praise for their show ‘The Origin Of Love’ and sadly I’ve yet to see it.

I also thought it might be good to speak to the duo – Ada Player and Bron Waugh – about the show, about how they came to be working in the comedy space, and about all the other great and exciting stuff they’ve been getting up to.

I put some questions to them ahead of their upcoming London dates.

CM: Can you start by explaining, for those who haven’t seen your work, what style or genre of performance to expect from ‘The Origin Of Love’?
AP+BW: We are a couple, and our show is a cursed couple character-comedy show about weirdo soulmates and bad romance.

We play seventeen different characters and they are all on big, stupid emotional journeys, trying – and failing – to find love. We’ve taken tiny nuggets of our relationship, timesed them by ten and made them into these cartoonish love stories.

It’s all underscored with live music by pianist and third wheel Ed Lyness. 

CM: Does the show tell a story? What themes does it explore? 
AP+BW: It’s all about the silly ways people love each other. Falling in love, falling out of love, unrequited love, twisted love, tainted love.

We tell the story of lots of different couples and their – mostly – doomed romances. It’s like ‘Love Actually’ but if it was written by The League Of Gentlemen… maybe? 

CM: Where did the ideas come from for this show? What creative process did you go through in putting it together? 
AP+BW: We made the show right after writing a pilot for Channel 4, called ‘PEAKED’ – which was nominated for a BAFTA this year!

The tone of that story was very deadpan and low-key. So we wanted to swing the other way and make something truly unhinged. It’s weird, dumb and with MASSIVE, larger than life performances.

Rather than finding material through gigging, we devised the show in our flat, just trying to make each other laugh. I think because of that, it has this really weird specificity.

It’s a mad bubble of what we both find funny. So it was a surprise and delight when other people found it funny, too! 

CM: Can you tell us about the music that accompanies the show? 
AP+BW: It’s all performed and composed by Ed Lyness – who’s a member of the band Oslo Twins. He plays piano throughout the show and makes everything feel epic.

The music spans from Robo-Scifi soundscape to 1970s TV sitcom jazz. And there are songs too! The show consists of all of these different universes, from medieval Russian peasants to modern day rock n rollers. Ed’s piano is such a quick shortcut to world building. We were so lucky to have him because he can really do anything.

And, it’s been such a fun process figuring out how to create comedy with sound and music. Sometimes Ed just plays a BOM on the keys and for some reason it’s hilarious! 

CM: You had a highly successful run at edfringe. What were the highlights? Will you go back again? 
AP+BW: We had such a lovely time! A highlight was being nominated for the Best Newcomer Award. Also, the way that audiences connected with the show went above and beyond our wildest dreams. WE WILL BE BACK! 

CM: When did you start performing together and why? How did this begin? 
AP+BW: We met each other studying theatre at Bristol University. Within about a day we were writing a sketch about Jesus being ginger – it was bad.

At first we started writing bits and bobs for the student sketch society Revunions.  And then during COVID we moved in together and made comedy short films. 

CM: Can you tell us about how you got into performing?
AP: I’ve always wanted to perform. I remember playing Scrooge in the school play and smiling the whole way through because I was so so so happy to be playing Scrooge. 

BW: I got into making comedy shorts when I was about twelve. My friend and I would run around the village in wigs and lipstick, with a camcorder, playing silly characters and filming them.

My mum once helped us break into the local church so we could make a film about a perverted priest. I hid under the pews when the church warden came in and my mum pretended to pray!

We actually began our comedy-career by making short films. At uni, we made one called ‘Jonny & Tommy’ which won the Funny Women Award. That was how we got in the door with Channel 4 and were allowed to make our pilot ‘PEAKED’. 

CM: What have been the highlights of your working lives thus far?
AP+BW: It’s just such a lucky and exciting thing to be doing every day. It’s so ridiculous that we get to write and laugh together and call that ‘work’. Every day is a delight!

CM: What aims and ambitions do you have for the future – as a duo, or individually? 
BW: Feature film by 30.

AP: More ACTING! And we both love sitcoms. Please somebody let us write a sitcom!  

CM: What’s coming up next for you after this? 
AP+BW: At the moment we are hiding in a hole, trying to write things for TV and film. We’ll be making more short films after Christmas time.

Ada is appearing in BBC Radio 4’s ‘Time Of The Week’ and Netflix’s ‘Jingle Bell Heist’, and has a teeny part in Edgar Wright’s ‘The Running Man’, soon. 

We’ve just made a film based on Ada’s monologue from the show, you can see it here. It’s being screened at Aesthetica Film Festival in November. And in January, we’re bringing ‘The Origin Of Love’ to Soho Theatre for a second time. Wahoo!

Ada & Bron are performing ‘The Origin Of Love’ at Soho Theatre from 13-18 Oct. See the venue website here for more information and to book tickets.

LINKS: sohotheatre.com

Photo: Michael Julings