Swipe Right With Cam Faull

Remember when dating used to be about putting personal ads in the newspaper or going to some dating service’s office to make a video of you awkwardly describing yourself to the camera? Though the means and technology have certainly changed since those days, the extremes people go to to find a partner have not, with dating websites like eHarmony and apps like Tinder. So enter Swipe Right, an upcoming sketch comedy show about finding love and what love means to different people to play at The Butterfly Club. Actor Cam Faull plays many different characters in this show, and has told Milk Bar Mag all about it.

How long have you been an actor for? What got you interested in being an actor?
I guess I’ve always been an actor since I was  kid, doing impressions and making people laugh. I started doing it professionally at 12, making it 23 years of me being an actor.

How did you get involved with Swipe Right?
I graduated with actors in VCA in 2010. We splintered up  and did a show called Pick Ups, and mixed and matched around. We got back together again, and we improvised ideas we had. We co-created it together, filmed it and decided to do it on stage.

How was it to perform in a sketch comedy play as opposed to one with a linear narrative?
I like it because it’s many different flavours and a variety of characters to throw at each other. You got to swtich gears entertaining at the drop of a hat, and change your costume and become someone else. It’s a challenge to become someone else, and the audience likes it.

Tell me about the various characters you play in the show. Was it challenging to play all these different characters?
The main character I play that has a story arc that reappears is Nice Guy Tim. He is just a guy who is giving the Tinder scene a go and it’s not going well for him. He has his foot in mouth all the time, does stupid things, and it doesn’t work in his favour. Another guy is on disability pension in a Centrelink waiting room, I doubt he knows Tinder exists, he lives in another world, an extrovert with potty mouth. He enjoys substances here and there. There’s also a campy straight guy in the speed dating scene. Then there’s Liam, a horrible person with a game plan to get laid, he’s got it to a fine art. He presents himself as a nice guy to a girl in a date, and reveals his plan to the audience. He’s the kind of guy you love to hate.

What are your thoughts on online dating and dating apps like Tinder? Have you ever used any of them?
I’ll shamelessly I had a cheeky swipe here and there. I don’t feel like it’s a great thing. It depends on the type of person you are. If you establish some sort of genuine connection on online dating, that’s awesome. It’s still blind dating, there’s so much more awkwardness and weirdness, you may never find a comfortable place. Maybe like Liam, there’s definitely predators out there for who use it to their advantage in insidious ways. I prefer to do things socially, with activities like acting, martial arts, exercising, girls with similar interests in the real world. You start building a persona in your head of the other person, and it’s not likely that they’re not like that.

Swipe Right
The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne
Wednesday July 15 – Sunday July 19
thebutterflyclub.com/show/swipe-right