The Spontaneity Shop: Performance and training Improvisation company
Home > About > Q And A > Gary Turner
- How long have you worked with The Spontaneity Shop?
- Seven years (in body)
- Why do you love improvising?
- I can only describe it as being extra alive. Extreme pleasure and extreme panic whilst having a laugh at the same time.
- What's your favourite improv memory?
- Too many to mention... Turning Edinburg into a theme park? Kung Foo flower arranging? Never really knowing why the audience are laughing. Every time I've stepped onto the stage and not had any idea what I'm gonna do.
- You're also an actor. What are some of your favourite acting jobs?
- I've had a very varied carreer to date. I've loved the Shakespeare and the Greek Tragedy, the TV and the Film, the Farce and gritty as well as the Rock Musicals and the Panto. To be honest I love it all!
- You played Carlos the dishy chef in Emmerdale. How has that changed your life?
- Before I did Emmerdale I was trading old blenders for impro workshops. After Emmerdale I could buy my flat.
- Do you ever get people wanting autographs on the street?
- Yes, usually when I look like shit and am so hungover I can't remember my name... is that every day?
- You also sing and play the guitar. Tell us about that.
- I sometimes open my mouth and vibrate my vocal cords with my breath at the same time as hitting the strings... Seriously though, I love music. I've been playing the guitar for nearly 30 years and have been in and out of bands since I was at school. I love to write songs and over time I've set up a studio where I'm always recording or writing something or other. It does however, have to rock.
- You're a panto favourite. What's your favourite panto role?
- The Villain! I'm about to play Hook for the third time and it's great. When you are the bad guy the audience LOVE to hate you, they shout and boo you more and you can get away with being nasty...infact, the nastier the better.
- How many degrees of separation are you from Kevin Bacon?
- Depends where he is at any one give time. Other than that, the best I can do is two... Flatliners with Julia Roberts, who was in Mary Riley with Michael Sheen who was in my year at RADA
- Is there anything else we should know about you?
- I drink too much coffee.
- Would you rather win an Oscar or wield a light sabre?
- This is more complicated than it sounds. The Light Sabre wins hands down for Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi but in all honesty the Oscar wins against the other three cartoon prequels...So. As the likelyhood of being in any of the first three ranges, in reality, from nil to zero and the prospect of being surrounded by CGI is in this instance, frankly wrong, I suppose I would have to go for the Oscar. However it seems foolish to drop the jedi artifact in favour of a random accolade even when surrounded by needless CGI. So the only solution I can see is this. If I can wield a Light Sabre in any of the first three films, fine, otherwise I will have to resort to wielding my Oscar like a light sabre during my acceptance speech (with sound effects)thus proving to George the lack of need for CGI and maybe convincing him to re make the prequels and casting me as a Light Sabre wielding Jedi. This would indeed be the better solution for the majority. a) Somebody else gets to win my best actor Oscar b)I get to wield a Light Sabre in its intended surroundings c) Millions of fans are made ecstatic by getting a film filled with wonderful story and imagination rather than plain old CGI.
