Steve Pratt discovers how Ian Mclaughlin found a one-man show following a quite serious search for his absent father

THE project began when improvisation comic Ian Mclaughlin told Newcastle’s Live Theatre artistic director Max Roberts a story in the pub. A very personal story as it turned out – the performer’s search for his father.

The idea of making it into a piece of theatre hadn’t occurred to him. “I just basically told Max the outline of the journey I’d made and as I got further into the story I saw his eyes grow wider and wider. At the end he said, ‘That is incredible, have you ever thought of making a show?’ “My first reaction was no. Partly because it’s a very personal story and I wasn’t sure how that would come across. Also I’ve never been a big fan of one-man shows. Quite often they involve quite a lot of selfindulgence.”

But the more he thought about the story, and the theme, the more he began to think his story may well be something that would resonate with other people.

As a new writer, he enjoyed the six or seven months spent on Good Timin’. “Doing a play is a complete departure for me and it’s a different part of your brain completely. When I normally go on stage I empty my mind first. This is filling it with words. It’s a different muscle that hasn’t really been exercised many times before so it’s been a struggle,” says Mclaughlin, a member of Newcastle improv group The Suggestibles.

The search for his father was began about two years ago by his mother. His parents separated and Mclaughlin moved to the North-East with his grandparents, when he was seven.

“She managed to track him down through the electoral register. She sent me an email with the details and said it’s there if you want it,” he recalls. “I decided to write a letter and give it a go. I thought I’m getting near 50 so why not give it one more chance.

“I didn’t hear anything for about a month and I received a phone call... And that’s about all I can give away.”

What he discovered about his father’s life was “quite amazing,” he says. “We’ve had parallel lives almost.

We obviously look very similar, we have the same personalities, mannerisms, same laugh, same sense of humour. We’ve both led similar life paths as well, career-wise.

“How could we be so similar? It really got me thinking about – because I’m quite mad on science anyway – genetics and the nature and nurture argument. I did really interesting research that suggests certain parts of our personality we can hand down. So I try to balance that out during the show.”

The show has a short run at Live on Tyneside before playing a month at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival at Northern Stage’s venue, King’s Hall, and then returning to Live. Good Timing’ has a strong time travel theme, influenced by Mclaughlin being a big fan of universe-trotting Doctor Who. “I was born on the day Doctor Who was first transmitted so I’ve got an affinity for him. Without giving too much away, Doctor Who ends up playing a very important part in the story. So I use his Tardis and a little plastic figure to travel backwards and forwards in time,” he says.

The production team has also been buying lots of Doctor Who props for the set. “It’s fantastic. I’ve got a Dalek biscuit barrel, a plastic Tardis, a Tom Baker doll, a Cyberman T-shirt. Tom Baker is my favourite doctor. The best. He’s the one I remember from my childhood,” he says.

“I suppose it wasn’t so dramatic when I was doing it because I was just trying to take it all in, all the information and these new people in my life. It wasn’t until I got on the train home at the end of the experience that it all really started to hit me – the truth, the implications, all of that.

“I was quite sad for a while, that we hadn’t had that chance to be around each other growing up. Obviously there is an upbeat message at the end which I hope people relate to.

“I didn’t realise he was a missing part of me before I went through this experience. I feel much better for it.

I have a sense of the man now, I know who he is.”

His affair with improv began in London when he stumbled across a improvisation workshop. But he moved back to Newcastle a decade ago. “My partner, Beverly, broke her back and was in a wheelchair for 18 months. Doctors told her she wasn’t going to walk again. I had to stay at home and look after her. I did shifts in a pub round the corner.

“Eventually, we ran out of money completely and we thought. ‘Why don’t we just go home? Let’s leave the city and go home’. She’s from Newcastle.

“It was the best thing we ever did. Within six months work opportunities came along, Bev got better, she’s 100 per cent better now. We formed the improv group and started making films as well.”

His worries over Good Timin’ are “the obvious ones” like remembering lines.

“I turned up at the theatre yesterday and there was a big poster of me outside. I was immediately compelled to rip it down, and write in crayon, ‘Sorry we’ve cancelled the show, the actor’s run away’.

  • Good Timin’ is at Live Theatre, Newcastle, until Saturday and then again from Oct 15-25. Box Office: 0191-232-1232 and live.org.uk