Ohh Baby! WIP 13th April

Beginning in early 2024, we’ve been developing our first scripted children's show, ‘Ohh Baby! An Imaginary Friend Adventure’ in collaboration with our improv comedy group, Kerfuffle.

Ohh Baby! was written by our fellow performer (and copywriter by day) Lily Smith, who was inspired by stories of kids’ experiences during lockdown. It tells the tale of imaginary friend Barnsley, who was sent out into the Real World before they could find an imagination to live inside.

Out in the Real World, Lily is far too busy to think about imaginary friends. Will she ever learn to use her imagination? Will Barnsley ever find a friend? And who the heck is Spanglejoy Cosypants?

Ohh Baby! isn’t just a fun phrase to say out loud. It’s a giggle-tastic, gently surreal extravaganza about the quest for true friendship, and the power of imagination.

We were excited to perform our first WIP show in April 2024 to a full house of kids and parents at Hoopla Theatre in London Bridge – you can see our happy faces in the show photos below. Afterwards we collected some delightful feedback from our audience like this:

“It reminded me of my imaginary friend who’s an orange velociraptor”, Tessa, (age 6)

And this: 

“My son is still talking about Barnsley’s pickles – the legend continues!” Iona, mum of Ned (age 8)

Now we’re polishing up our puppets and developing the show further, ready for new and improved performances of Ohh Baby! later this year. If you’d like to know more, please sign up to our mailing list - or drop us an email specifically as we love to hear from you! 

Behind The Scenes

All our props and puppets are homemade, and wherever possible we used second hand or recycled materials. We were keen to give everything a simple, handmade feel to keep our costs and scene changes to a minimum – and to emphasise the power of imagination.

Ohh, Baby! wouldn’t be possible without our talented cast and crew – thanks to them all for building the Fantastic Friend Factory with us. 

• Viki Jackson as Janine and Peter Peppercorn

• Charlie Jackson as Spanglejoy Cosypants, Mister Whiskers and Thatcher

• Tim Dawkins as Keith the Accountant, Professor Scientist and the Anti-Thatcher Announcer

• Darren Jordan as Barnsley

• Angela Pollard as Cathy Chicken and Mama Puppet

• Lily Smith as Lily

• Blair Granville as Chef Lunigiana and Saturn

• Will Dixon on live underscoring

• Phoebe Kozinets on tech