Interview: James B Partridge - Primary School Bangers
Primary School Bangers is written and performed by Britain's favourite teacher, James B Partridge. After sell-out performances across the UK, James is ready to hit the road and return to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The show takes you right back to the assembly hall, where you are greeted by a lot of humour, heart, and a massive dose of musical nostalgia. Get ready for the ultimate communal sing-along to the classic tunes that soundtracked your school days!
Ticket link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/primary-school-bangers
Venue: Debating Hall at Gilded Balloon Teviot
When: 5th - 16th August
Could you tell us a bit more about who you are and what the show is all about?
I am a singer and musician that has been a music teacher for 12 years. As of this summer I am making the plunge into being a full-time performer. My class size is expanding across the UK as I tour around my show Primary School Bangers. It is an immersive, singalong meets comedy show that will throw you straight back to those days of sitting cross legged on the school assembly hall floor wishing that you were the OHP monitor.
You've mentioned transitioning your TikTok feed into a live theater show. What was the biggest challenge in making the show?
With my show, I wanted it to feel as if you were experiencing in real life the content I had been putting out on social media. One of the trickiest challenges was to condense all my ideas into a two hour touring show, which I am now condensing further into a one hour Fringe performance! I have to make some tough choices as to which songs to include and what jokes to leave out too. I often try and add in a regional twist to my tour shows so I am hoping to include a few bits of nostalgia that will hit home for the Scottish home audience!
What are you looking forward to the most about bringing the show to a live audience?
Every show I do is totally different in terms of audience reaction. Every time we create a live, on-the-spot primary school bangers choir. This is complete with actions, harmonies and sometimes some quite exhausting audience choreography…I am very excited to see how music energy and enthusiasm each audience at the Fringe will bring. Normally as a teacher I have to strongly encourage my pupils to sing up but usually I don’t need to do that with my crowds. Sometimes, I do have to tell some people to put fingers on lips…
What is your favourite school assembly song to perform, and why does it always get the biggest reaction?
I think that some of the best reactions are when you combine the singalong aspect with the actions. People love getting involved and you quite often read about audience members being told off for singing along in the theatre. At my show, it is actively encouraged. When you get tunes like “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” or “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean”, both complete with full sets of actions, that does usually bring a huge amount of energy.
What do you hope audiences will take away from the show?
At the end of each show, I give the audience one final mission. I want them to take the energy and joy that they’ve had in the theatre for the past hour (or two), and bring it with them for the rest of the festival and all the way through to the end of the year. I want them to keep singing and keep smiling, spreading the positivity. Of course, I would love it if any school staff that comes to a show gets inspired enough to get singing going in their schools. Or perhaps if someone has come along that has felt too self-conscious about singing in the past, I would love it if they are boosted enough to carry on singing!
If you had to describe the show in only three words, what would it be?
Joyous school nostalgia
