The Suffolk dwelling adventurer and comedian heads to Southwold for a Jubilee celebration featuring the work of Britain's greatest ever playwright... although you might not recognise it
You never quite know what Tim FitzHigham is going to do next. One day he's playing crazy golf with Patrick Swayze, the next he's helping to ban free plastic bags with Angelina Jolie. There's only one man the Queen could ever call “the maddest in my kingdom”. Luckily for arts and adventure fans, he happens to live in Suffolk.
King’s Lynn-born comedian Tim FitzHigham is a wildcard. He’s crossed The Channel in a bathtub, sailed the Thames in a paper boat and holds the British record for the longest ever washing line. This summer, as part of Matthew Townshend Productions’ Jubilee Week, he’s set his sights on rendering Southwold Arts Centre audiences incapable with the hilarity of his chaotic rendition of Shakespeare. Even he doesn’t know what to expect.
In a revival of his sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show of 2019, Tim, fellow comedian Thom Tuck and actor Alan Cox will attempt to improvise some of the Bard’s classics without steering hilariously off topic. “We do have a tendency to stray off into other things,” he says. “It’s Alan’s job to keep us on track and hopefully actually complete one of Shakespeare’s works this time. The reviewers have been unanimous that no-one does Shakespeare like me and Thom. You can take that whatever way you want – it could be a good thing, it could be a bad thing. You’ll never see another show like it. Chaotic is absolutely the word to describe it. We’ve tried Macbeth before and that was an absolute tragedy... not in the way Shakespeare intended.”
The trio are among a collection of special guests performing at the arts centre from June 1 - 3. Others include award-winning author Stewart Ross and fellow Edinburgh Fringe favourites Westdal and Hayward. “We will not stop until we leave people helpless with laughter,” Tim vows. “And we will keep going. There's something so glorious about a collective laugh, and we didn’t have enough of that during lockdown. I know everyone has missed that. Matthew (Townshend) did some great work during the lockdown, and that’s why I want to support him again – and make people laugh once more.”
The pandemic stopped Tim from attempting another bizarre world record, so he has instead turned his attention to the revival of local theatre – something Matthew also firmly believes in. Indeed, it is thanks to regional theatre that Tim left the farm and travelled the world, from Newmarket to New York. “What do the arts mean to me?” he ponders. “It means my life – and I love it. I can’t say anything other than that, thanks to the arts, I have had the most wonderful and random life. I have been incredibly lucky. – I used to work on a farm. If you would have told me when I was six that I’d be performing alongside Clint Eastwood, working with Spielberg or playing crazy golf with Patrick Swayze, I never would have believed you."
READ: Aldeburgh Festival 'bigger and even better'
And carrier bags? People might hate him for it, he says, but it's because of Tim that we have to pay for them, and he's proud of the fact. “I was asked to be the spokesman for the UN World Environment Day because of my records. Strangely enough, the only other spokesperson was Angelina Jolie. I guess we made quite the double act, although we sadly never met. I even got to spend half an hour with the Queen. There was a genuine look of joy on her face when we met, and she is very funny. We might even talk about that experience in Southwold."
It has been, he says, an incredible journey and he's loved every second of it. “When I arrived in London after crossing The Channel in a bath, and saw my Navy escort and was made a commodore, I thought, ‘I flipping love Britain’. I love this bonkers place we call home, so let’s celebrate it.”
Jubilee Celebration at Southwold Arts Centre June 1-3
Tim FitzHigham and guests June 2, 2.30pm and 7.30pm. Full programme and tickets at southwoldartscentre.co.uk
More information about Matthew Townshend Productions and Theatre on the Coast at mtproductions.co.uk/whats-on
DISCOVER MORE: with Suffolk magazine every month - here's how to SUBSCRIBE
