Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight
Encyclopedia
Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight was a low-budget comedy
horror
stage show written by Matthew Holness
and Richard Ayoade
, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe
. The show, which spoofed Stephen King
, was performed at the 2000 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was nominated for the Perrier Award.
The show was built around Holness's spoof
horror writer character Garth Marenghi
, with additional parts played by Ayoade (as Marenghi's publisher Dean Learner
) and Lowe. The show led to Holness and Ayoade being signed by Avalon Entertainment Limited.
The sequel to Fright Knight, Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
, won the Perrier Award in 2001
.
described it as "a very slick and very funny spoof". Chortle.com described it as "a splendidly over-the-top spoof gorefest, getting plenty of laughs from hammy overacting, ridiculous plots and laboriously melodramatic lines".
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
stage show written by Matthew Holness
Matthew Holness
Matthew Holness is an English comedian and actor from Whitstable in Kent. He attended Chaucer Technology School in Canterbury and read English at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where he was vice-president of the Cambridge Footlights...
and Richard Ayoade
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade is a British comedian, actor, writer and director best known for his role as Maurice Moss in The IT Crowd.Ayoade was born an only child to a Norwegian mother, Dagny , and a Nigerian father, Layide Ade Laditi Ayoade. Ayoade studied at St...
, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe
Alice Lowe is an English actress and writer mainly in comedy, from the English Midlands.Lowe attended a comprehensive school and graduated from Cambridge University. She began her career co-devising and performing in surreal experimental theatre shows such as City Haunts, Snowbound and Progress In...
. The show, which spoofed Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
, was performed at the 2000 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was nominated for the Perrier Award.
The show was built around Holness's spoof
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
horror writer character Garth Marenghi
Garth Marenghi
Garth Marenghi is a fictional horror author and actor, created by English comedians Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and played by Holness. To date, the character has appeared in two stage shows, the Perrier Award-nominated Garth Marenghi's Fright Knight and Perrier Award-winning Garth...
, with additional parts played by Ayoade (as Marenghi's publisher Dean Learner
Dean Learner
Dean Learner is a fictional character created and performed by British comedian Richard Ayoade in stage shows and television shows. Learner is a famous publisher, mostly of pornography, but also of the books of the fictional horror writer, Garth Marenghi .Ayoade first played Learner in the...
) and Lowe. The show led to Holness and Ayoade being signed by Avalon Entertainment Limited.
The sequel to Fright Knight, Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead
Garth Marenghi's Netherhead was a low-budget comedy horror stage show written by Matthew Holness and Richard Ayoade, and starring Holness, Ayoade and Alice Lowe...
, won the Perrier Award in 2001
2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
The 2001 Edinburgh Festival Fringe was the 54th Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The Fringe ran from 5–27 August 2001 and presented 1462 shows over 176 venues.-Scotsman Fringe First Awards:Week One:*Gagarin Way*Runt*Like Thunder*Bedbound...
.
Critical reception
Lyn Gardner of The GuardianThe Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
described it as "a very slick and very funny spoof". Chortle.com described it as "a splendidly over-the-top spoof gorefest, getting plenty of laughs from hammy overacting, ridiculous plots and laboriously melodramatic lines".