By
Rob Freeman
09:50 EST, 13 March 2013
|
09:58 EST, 13 March 2013
Those renowned snowboarders Marcus Brigstocke and Tim Minchin have a bit of a hitherto little-known sideline – after a day on the slopes they like nothing better than telling a few gags.
Given half a chance they’ll rope in mates such as Milton Jones to join in the fun. Although he’s a skier so I suppose he doesn’t really count.
A comedian sandwich: Rob with Marcus Brigstocke, left, and, right, Matilda man Tim Minchin
It’s been a brilliant whee e by TV and radio comic Marcus really – setting up a comedy festival in the Alps so he can indulge his love for boarding (at which he’s very accomplished) while plying his comedic trade with evening gigs.
And it all makes for a fabulous and
somewhat surreal week for boarders and skiers who find themselves
holidaying in the Tirolean resort of Mayrhofen when the comics are in
town. Après-ski takes on a new dimension when you know you can take in a
gig featuring top stand-up stars every night.
Board all day, laugh all night: Mayrhofen in March is all about comedy
‘What
more marvellous way could there be to combine business with pleasure?’
said 39-year-old Marcus. In April 2008, he and fellow comedian and
snowboarder Andrew Maxwell founded the Altitude Festival, a comedy and
music extravagan a. It was an instant hit and was held for several
seasons in the French ski resort of Meribel before moving to Mayrhofen
in Austria.
Stand-up comedy and wintersports is obviously a match made in heaven. They have a lot in common; technique, timing and style, and with either you can fall flat on your face in a moment.
And the festival’s new venue of Mayrhofen is the perfect choice – it’s one of the Alps’ great party ski resorts and the comics have the benefit of an audience already mellow and in advanced revelling mood after several hours of après-ski preparatory work since the slopes closed.
Freed from the restraints of television – and facing a crowd of skiers and boarders that is probably as unshockable as a comedy audience can be – the comics can and do allow free rein to the more extreme elements of their repertoires.
Chairman of the board: Mountain fan Marcus started the Altitude Festival in 2008. Right, Eddie I ard is on the line-up in Mayrhofen for the 2013 festival which kicks off on March 18
Even so, at the last festival Frankie Boyle managed to plumb the depths of his dark side with some vile gags that made even this audience nervous.
But for many of the other stars – and the line-up last winter, as well as Brigstocke, Minchin and Jones, also included Jimmy Carr, Kevin Bridges, Ed Byrne, Terry Alderton, Phill Jupitus and Rufus Hound as compere – the setting provided ample room for laughs about chalet girls, the great divide between skiers and boarders, posh people who frequent the slopes and the strange language and ways of the Austrians.
Brigstocke, so in tune with the wintersports crowd, went down a storm. But it was Australian comic, actor and musician Tim Minchin, who co-wrote the current West End hit Matilda, who stole the show. His musical based set – a comedic cabaret show, he calls it, with songs that just happen to be funny – had the assembled skiers and boarders on their feet and begging for more.
Mayrhofen, a traditional, attractive village lying in the beautiful iller Valley with 160km of runs including the steepest piste in Austria, the precipitous Harakiri, is a delight – the slopes are high and snowsure, and there is an extensive skiable glacier nearby at Hintertux.
To pass the time waiting for the gigs to begin each day we took the fast gondola lift from the centre of the village to the main skiing area at Penken. For beginners there are high sunny nursery slopes on the opposite side of the village at Ahorn. But on Penken we found Brigstocke, Minchin and the deadpan Milton Jones doing exactly the same as us – out on skis and boards and having the most fun ever as a warm-up for a stand-up show.
Free e whee e: Comic Milton Jones co-founded Altitude, which was first staged in France
Even without the extra entertainment, Mayrhofen has a deserved reputation for friendly and unpretentious après-ski all through the season – but the Altitude Festival provides the icing on this particular Alpine cake.
The festival this year runs from March 18 to March 22, with another line-up of top stars signed up to join Brigstocke, Maxwell and Jupitus, including Eddie I ard, John Bishop and offbeat German stand-up Michael Mittermeier.
Travel facts
Rob Freeman travelled to Mayrhofen with Inghams (020 8780 4447; www.inghams.co.uk) and stayed at the 4* Sporthotel Strass. Prices start from £679 per person for 7 nights on half board, including return flights to Innsbruck and transfers.
Six-day lift pass starts from £180, ski and boot hire from £70 and 3 days ski school from £191. Innsbruck is served daily from London Gatwick by www.easyJet.com and twice weekly from Liverpool and Bristol.
More information at www.visittirol.co.uk, www.mayrhofen.at and www. illertal.at.
Altitude Festival at www.altitudefestival.com.
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Altitude 2013: The festival that has Marcus Brigstocke laughing all the way down the mountain
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