In 2010, Mr Twonkey (aka Paul Vickers) made his debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, performing Twonkey’s Cottage throughout the month of August. He has performed a new “Twonkey” show at each subsequent Fringe Festival (and the Brighton Festival since 2012). Title character “Twonkey” was initially a small on-stage puppet, described as “half dragon, half witch, all accountant” and she featured heavily in the absurdist storytelling. By his fourth show, Twonkey’s Blue Cadabra, the puppet was gone, with Vickers himself referred to as Mr. Twonkey. His on-stage persona has been described as “Harpo Marx on heroin,” as he tells “tales of such ridiculousness that they make the works of Edward Lear sound like the Six O’Clock News.”

The shows have been a critical success, garnering positive reviews from, amongst others, The Scotsman and Time Out, where the show’s unique peculiarity allowed it to be described as “a steaming pile of twaddle” in a four star review.

2013’s Twonkey’s Blue Cadabra “about young Stan Laurel’s sexual yearnings, a flying Parisian tailor and a girl who regrettably booked a skiing holiday while on ecstasy,” had “a warmth that’s often missing from absurdism.” It was nominated for a 2013 TO&ST Award for Best Cabaret at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, which led to a 2014 performance at London’s Soho Theatre.

Fifth show Twonkey’s Private Restaurant opened in 2014, featuring tales of “time travel, puffer fish and dictators,” and rated as “oddly entertaining and utterly bizarre,” and “mind-boggling from start to finish”. Time Out described it as “a dog’s dinner of unexpected, absurd, even offensive content. But it’s also a classic.”

In 2015, Paul performed Twonkey’s Private Restaurant with a return to The Soho Theatre and at the Prague Fringe Festival. He debuted new show Twonkey’s Stinking Bishop, at the Brighton Fringe in May, before returning to the Edinburgh Fringe in August. The run, with shows selling out, was his most successful yet, receiving four star reviews in The Times and The Scotsman. The latter also featured Mr. Twonkey on their front page, with Kate Copstick’s review claiming “oddity by oddity, song by song, Twonkey draws them in” and “he creates wonderlands of weird.” Also described as “a genuinely laugh-aloud show, a joyous experience”, and “being in his presence for an hour is delightful”, it garnered a nomination for the 2015 Malcolm Hardee Award For Comic Originality.

In 2016, Paul’s seventh show Twonkey’s Mumbo Jumbo Hotel was performed at the Beckenham Comedy Cabaret, Brighton Fringe Festival, Wandsworth Fringe, Prague Fringe and Buxton Fringe before the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August 2016, where it played in tandem with performances of Paul’s play, Twonkeys Drive In: Jennifer’s Robot Arm. Described as “bizarre and brilliant” and “the best value, pound-for-pound, of weirdness anywhere on the Fringe”, with Vickers as “the master of bizarre asides and surreal set ups”. The show would garner critical acclaim before winning The Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality.

2017’s Twonkey’s Christmas in the Jungle was also met with acclaim, described by The Scotsman as “a crazy, wonderful show, by a crazy, wonderful performer”. Vickers also tackled previous criticisms regarding the lack of a “narrative thread… this show has one. It’s tied around his waist and, by the end of the show, it almost strangles him.”

2018’s Twonkey’s Nightrain To Liechtenstein was a huge success, playing at the Prague, Edinburgh and Buxton comedy festivals, garnering a nomination for Best Comedy Show at the latter. The Scotsman suggested Twonkey had “gone positively mainstream this year”, although not all reviewers agreed, with one noting “there’s an emotional centre to this show which Twonkey lovers will not have experienced before.” Most coverage made special mention of two new songs, ‘the glorious’ Pubs and Furs, “a heartbreaking song that deserves a life outside of this show”. Both tracks would appear on Stronger Than Marzipan, released at the start of August ‘18.

2019 brought the 10th anniversary show Twonkey’s Ten Year Twitch, playing at Leicester, Prague and Buxton comedy festivals before a month long run at the Edinburgh Fringe. With storylines jumping from stolen Neil Diamond outfits to the landlady of Leonardo DaVinci (“ahead of his time, but behind on his rent”), Vickers had created “a world even Salvador Dali would dismiss as a wretched fever-dream. Reviews of this “sparklingly original cabaret” included four stars in The Scotsman (“Climb aboard his Weird but Wonderful Waltzer and away we go”), with The Skinny noting “after ten years, it wouldn’t be the Fringe without Twonkey”.

Twonkey’s Custard Club was announced as his 2020 show. But after a brief preview and inclusion in several comedy festivals, shows from March 2020 until the end of the summer were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In 2021 he played “a decade-celebrating show at the Soho Theatre” with Twonkey’s Greatest Twitch.

Paul Vickers is the vocalist and lyricist with cult rock band Dawn of the Replicants. After the group went on indefinite hiatus in 2007, he continued to release music with various collaborators as well as branching out into comedy and writing. Described by The Guardian as “a pioneer of the indie/fringe crossover”, since 2010 he has performed an annual, award-winning cabaret show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as Mr. Twonkey. He has also released four albums with Edinburgh band The Leg. In 2013 he published his first book, Itchy Grumble, and in 2015 his first theatrical play Jennifer’s Robot Arm debuted in London. Twonkey’s Mumbo Jumbo Hotel won the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2022 What Broke David Lynch? written about the Hollywood film director having difficulty making a costume for The Elephant Man was announced as Vickers 2nd theatre vehicle with Paul playing Lynch himself.