Sh!t-faced Showtime: What its really like to perform on stage drunk

Shit-faced Showtime, the younger partner to its Shakespearean counterpart, is a simple concept: condense a classic story into a tight 70-minute, full of laughs and solid songs, jeopardised by one of the actors boozing for hours before the curtain comes up.

It's simple, but reaps hilarious results. The audience is unaware who is the drunkard of the evening until the moment they stumble onto the stage, and begin to take the story wherever they want. Actor Hal Hillman, who spoke in the latest episode of the Spotlight podcast, describes it as "the most fun he's ever had on stage".

"When you're drunk out in town, and get really smashed and start making a fool of yourself, everyone looks at you like you're a bit of an idiot", he says, drinking at the Leicester Square Theatre bar ahead of an evening performance of A Pissedmas Carol, "put that on stage, when it's the one time in life you're really allowed to be drunk and make as much of a fool as you want, and people applaud you."

Hillman also gave some insight into just how much the actors drink before each performance, and how the caring and tightknit nature of the company make it an easy atmosphere to perform in.

"There's going to be nights where you come off stage and don't remember anything, or think it's not that funny. We always keep track of what someone did so you can tell them what it was and that the audience loved it. But the fear is a real thing, just like it is after a night out."

In the latest episode of the podcast, Hillman also spoke about mishaps on stage, what he likes to throw at his castmates when he is the drunk, as well as taking on a tongue twister at various points of inebriation.

You can listen to the podcast above, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Acast, and more.

A Pissedmas Carol is at the Leicester Square Theatre until 5th January.