From blank pages to Spewnicorns: Olaf Falafel on comedy and collaborative storytelling

One-liner specialist and former Dave’s Joke of the Fringe winner Olaf Falafel returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August with his 15th and 16th shows. The comedian, illustrator, and children’s author is performing a kids’ production titled Olaf Falafel’s Stupidest Super Stupid Show – This Time It’s Stupider, alongside an adult show called Olaf Falafel Presents: I Used to Work in a Helium Balloon Factory Until They Let Me Go. Operating entirely within the Free Festival, he brings his unique blend of prop comedy and rapid-fire wordplay to The Pear Tree and The Counting House.

For players of roleplaying games and collaborative storytellers alike, Falafel’s approach to live illustration and audience management offers valuable lessons. Because both performances are Free Fringe events, they are entirely non-ticketed. Audiences queue before doors open rather than reserving seats and are asked to donate what they can at the end. Proving the format works, our sister site Edinburgh Reviews recently awarded the adult show a flawless 5/5 star rating. We caught up with the comedian to discuss joke construction, overcoming creative blocks, and the power of drawing live on stage.

Your adult show at the Pear Tree Main Room is described as a ‘thickly-sliced slab of stupid’, while your kids’ show is proudly ‘The Stupidest Super Stupid Show’. In tabletop RPG design and creative writing, there’s a fine art to making something feel wonderfully silly rather than just chaotic. What is your secret formula for structuring ‘stupidity’ so that it feels clever and satisfying to an audience?

Haha! If only there was a secret formula and I definitely sometimes step over that silly/chaotic line. I think experience, the fact I’ve been attempting to make audiences laugh at the Fringe for over a decade, helps a lot.

Your kids’ show features a live draw-along – this year including drawing a ‘Spewnicorn’! For GMing (Games Mastering) or collaborative storytelling, engaging an audience visually on the fly is a superpower. What’s your best advice for creatives who want to use simple, real-time drawing to break the ice and get a room collaborating?

Keep it simple and if you have people drawing along with you, make sure you reassure them that they are extremely unlikely to get it perfect first time.

Your work seamlessly blends illustration, physical prop comedy (like sausage-based nonsense), and wordplay. When you are sitting down to design a new joke, concept, or book page, do you usually start with a visual sketch, a verbal pun, or a physical object? How do these different creative mediums feed into each other?

It always differs – this year’s show features a few extended bits that started off as very quick wordplays and then there are some sections that came from little animations I was working on. I like to experiment with different mediums for getting across the joke whether that be videos, songs, sketches or standup.

In your YouTube Art Club, you help demystify famous artists and teach drawing tips. Many tabletop game designers and writers suffer from severe creative block. What is your go-to exercise when you are staring at a blank page and need to shock your brain into generating ideas?

Have a shower – there’s something about the ions (positively charged?) that unlocks something in my mind.

You write and illustrate books for children (like Trixie Pickle Art Avenger) but also perform stand-up for adults. When designing world-building or characters, how do you adjust your creative lens between ‘kid-friendly absurdity’ and ‘adult-targeted stupidity’?”

I don’t really, I collect ideas and then see which audience they’ll suit best – my favourite things are the universal ideas.

You are famous for your visual, punchy, one-liner style and previously won Dave’s Best Joke of the Fringe. In speculative fiction and gaming, humour is often used to break tension. In your experience, what are the anatomy and timing of a perfect visual gag that works instantly across any medium?

Again, if there was a strict formula for jokes, my life would be much easier. It’s all a matter or experimentation with timing, intonation, choice of words, pause etc. till you stumble upon something that lands more often than not.

Performing at Free Festival venues like The Pear Tree and The Counting House gives you a very direct, raw connection to your audience. How does the lack of ‘corporate’ venue pressure at the Free Fringe affect your creative freedom on stage? Does it make you more willing to take massive, weird risks with your material?

It definitely means I can try things without as much pressure. I like the lo-fi nature of the free festival – it suits my show and my comedy style.

If a Geek Native reader wants to introduce more joyful, unpretentious art into their daily life, which classic historical artist would you recommend they look up for inspiration, and why?

Come to my show and I will answer this very question!

Thanks, Olaf!

Falafel’s ability to blend illustration with sharp comedic timing makes him a reliable highlight of the August festival calendar. Whether he is keeping children entertained with live drawings or serving up award-winning puns to adults, his dedication to the craft offers excellent inspiration for anyone running their own RPG campaigns.

Quick Links

• For full venue details and performance times, visit the Fringe listing for Olaf Falafel Presents: I Used to Work in a Helium Balloon Factory Until They Let Me Go.