Members of family favourites Funbox have shared their top six show memories ahead of their final performances.
Funbox will take to the stage at Perth Theatre on August 13 and Lochgelly Centre on August 21-22 with ‘Jungle Party’ as part of their farewell tour.
The performers, all previously members of The Singing Kettle, have been entertaining youngsters since the group made its debut in 2014.
But now, after seven years, Anya Scott-Rodgers, Kevin Macleod and Bonzo are calling it a day and saying a fond farewell to young fans with their final shows.
Before they hang up their keys for good, Anya and Kevin took time out from the tour to reveal their favourite top three shows and share their special Funbox memories.
Anya’s top three
Pirates and Princesses
“Our Pirates and Princesses show which was our very first tour in 2015.
“It started and finished in Fife, beginning in April at the Adam Smith and finishing in October at the Carnegie Halls.
“This was when we started meeting audiences after the shows.
“It was heartening to see so many young and old faces that we’d met during our time with the Singing Kettle coming to support Funbox and joining us for the crazy ride.
“We’ve seen so many kids grow over the years with us at shows it almost feels like we’re distant relatives.”
Santa’s Funtastic Factory
“Our Christmas shows will always be a favourite.
“I will always remember having to perform strapped in a moon boot during 2017’s Santa’s Funtastic Factory after I tripped over my pug and badly sprained my ankle. But, as they say, the show must go on!”
Cactus Jack
“One of my favourite moments happened in 2019 with The Wild West Show.
“Cactus Jack, the show’s baddie played by our stage manager Gwyn, was to give chase in the audience with our final key as we pursued him.
“Usually the kids would just scream and shout and tell us where Cactus Jack was.
“But this time we turned around to find about a dozen wee cowboys and cowgirls literally holding Cactus Jack to ransom!
“They’d dog piled him at the front of the auditorium and were holding him hostage for us to ‘get him’.
“Fortunately, between tears of laughter we managed to convince them to let him go and we’d deal with him ourselves!”
Kevin’s top three
Cha Cha Cha
“We had done The Singing Kettle for a long time and we did wonder if it would work, ie. would people follow us, would they continue coming to our shows, so hearing people do the rhyme for the first time was amazing.
“When we were putting the company together we tried out our ‘you and me turn the key’ rhyme and put it out on social media.
“Suddenly we started getting back videos of kids trying it out and sending their versions of it back.
“But then a weird thing stuck. We were recording it in the studio and we got the studio technician to film it.
“Right at the end of the rhyme, I said ‘Cha Cha Cha’ (which was me ad-libbing on the spot) and Anya and Gary turned their heads to look at me as if to say ‘what are you doing?’
“But it made it into the video and all the kids who started sending back their clips, all had ‘Cha Cha Cha’ at the end!
“So the ‘Cha Cha Cha’ stayed and it is still there at the end of each rhyme until this day.”
Christmas show in Perth
“Originally we performed at Perth Concert Hall on Christmas Eve and I have special memories of playing there at that time, the atmosphere was fantastic. It is a fantastic venue to play.
“Christmas is one of my favourite times of year anyway but doing a kids’ show and just having them up on stage and asking them what they are getting for Christmas or what they got for Christmas, was always lovely. It was funny when you would see the parent sitting in the audience with a look on their face which said ‘they had better remember that bicycle they got’!
Five fat sausages
“It was always nice getting kids up to help on stage. There was one show where we had youngsters dressing up as giant sausages (five fat sausages frying in a pan) and these costumes were hilarious with the kids trying to walk in them.
“If they lost their balance or fell in them, they couldn’t get up!
“They had to fall down as part of the show. We would be singing ‘one went bang and one went pop’ and on that cue, they would fall down and at the end they would get up for a last chorus.
It was about making memories for them. A kid getting up on stage will remember that all their life. It is a huge privilege to be part of that.”
Kevin Macleod, Funbox
“There would always be one little one who could not correct themselves on their feet so I would have to try and haul them up because they kept falling over!
“This was the beauty of the show when we would have the kids up on stage, you never knew what was going to happen.
“But it was about making memories for them. A kid getting up on stage will remember that all their life. It is a huge privilege to be part of that.”
Going out on a high
Anya said they have enjoyed working together over the years and that she and Kevin are still in contact with former member Gary Coupland, who retired from the group in January 2021.
She said it wasn’t an easy decision to say goodbye to Funbox.
She said: “Over the years we have gone from colleagues to friends, and even with Gary departing the company last year we’re all still very much in touch.
“It was no easy decision to call it a day.
“However, the pandemic has had a devastating effect on the events industry which makes for a very precarious and stressful working life as business owners.
“If we could travel the country, sing songs, tell some dodgy jokes and go home again without having to worry about what lies ahead we’d never give it up!”
She added: “The ongoing uncertainty has made the job harder and harder and we wanted to be able to go out on a high without the quality of our shows and performances being affected.”
To buy tickets for the final Perth and Fife shows visit here
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