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Andrew Pepper
Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zédel
TNC CABARET INTERVIEW | 2026
Andrew Pepper
Crazy Coqs at Brasserie Zédel
8, Sept 2026, 20:45
House of Pepper
Andrew Pepper
Alex Maynard | Piano
Andy Campbell Smith | Drums
Image © Rhiannon Noble | Julien Benhamou
Aug, 30, 2026
Reviewer Louise Penn said of Andrew Pepper’s House of Pepper at Crazy Coqs, “He’s fun, sparkly, and ridiculously talented.” Andrew’s background in musical theatre allows him to bring a sense of wonder and magic to his cabaret. Having performed at multiple festivals and venues across Europe, including performing as Ruth in Titanique at the iconic Théâtre du Lido in Paris, Andrew returns to Crazy Coqs at Zédel for another night of his signature repertoire.
Hello, hello, hello Andrew, so lovely to get to talk with you. But firstly, how’s your summer been?
Moist!
Also, hello! Thanks for this! Lovely to chat.
How does it feel to be kicking off your autumn season at Crazy Coqs?
Exciting. I’ve been away from the Coqs for 6 months; the longest I’ve had away from there for ages. So, I’m chomping at the bit to get back.
The reaction you’ve been getting from your audiences has been incredible. Has it surprised you that audiences have connected so well to your shows?
Yes and no. No because if you work your butt off making something you have to believe that it’s going to land well and resonate with people, otherwise you’d go crazy. But then at the same time, yes, it’s always a surprise.
My cabaret work is born out of hours as a child spent watching (and performing along to) videos of Barbra Streisand, Liza Minnelli and Bette Midler in concert. When I was a kid, as far as I knew, I was the only person in this country who liked those shows and that kind of entertainment. Just me in the living room. So, the fact that I’m now doing my own “sort of” version of those shows (they’re very different, but the seeds are visible) and that people like them, is incredible. I wish I’d known this when I was a kid.
Favourite comment you’ve gotten from audiences for your shows?
Someone once described the show as being “a whiplash of artistry.” I want that on t-shirts. Someone also described me as being the love child of Marcel Marceau, Edith Piaf, Bette Midler and Prince. Well… thrilled!
If you could describe your cabaret alter ego in a sentence, what would you say?
Confident, frisky, sexy, stupid, fearless, deluded, open, loving, playful and silly.
When you created your cabaret show, was it always your intention to have such bold, beautiful colours?
Yes. Absolutely. I didn’t know what the aesthetic would be (it’s still evolving), but I was always certain of the colour palette. I was also adamant that I would never wear black. Maybe I’ll change my mind one day: rules are made for breaking. But colour is so important to me. I have a very emotional response to it. If I see a show and the lighting is really drab, I can feel my mood drop. I want my shows to be heightened, larger than life worlds where the “volume” is dialled up right across the board. A friend said they’re like boxes of Quality Street with lots of different-coloured sweet wrappings. I love that analogy.
Also, I’m sick to death of the colour palettes traditionally on offer for men. Take pretty much any clothes shop on the high street… on the ground floor it’s ladies’ fashion and it’s often like Hawaii in there: a riot of colour. Then you go downstairs for the mens’ department and it’s like you’ve descended into Hades: a sea of beige, grey and back. Who decided that men can’t wear colour? I reject that!
Do you recall what your first show was like back in 2015?
I do. I actually thought just this week that I should go back and watch the video, but I didn’t. I probably never will. I don’t really like looking backwards.
I remember we sold out and had to turn a few people away. And I remember the show being FUN! My work was much more schtick-heavy back then and I remember most of the silliness working beautifully. Also, there was one gorgeous bit of nonsense which happened quite by accident during Jackie (by Jacques Brel). It was a bit of “clowning” I came up with in the moment which the audience loved, so I committed to the bit and milked it for all its worth. All these years later, if I sing Jackie, I can feel the urge to try and recreate that moment. But it’s a slippery slope. You shouldn’t try to capture lighting. That’s the beautiful thing about live performance, especially cabaret: no two shows are the same; and the audience really helps shape the experience.
What makes bringing a cabaret show to Crazy Coqs so unique?
The room. If there’s a better cabaret room on the planet I’ve yet to find it; and I’ve been around. For me, any good performance space (especially for cabaret) has to be both epic and intimate. You want the space to be epic so it can contain these huge expressions of huge emotion. But you also want the intimacy so the audience and performers can connect with each other. The Crazy Coqs is a small room; it only seats 80 people. But somehow it feels huge. The ceiling is very high and the back row is actually quite a distance from the stage, so as a performer I never feel like I have to hold back. I can be huge and the room will take it. But I can also whisper and everyone is there with me.
Before going out on stage, do you have any superstitions or traditions?
My musicians and I always take a selfie before we go on. And then another one immediately after we come off.
The other thing that springs to mind is that I tend to do this physical gesture just before I enter where I sort of scrape the “dust” off my torso and throw it away. It’s a way of leaving everything behind, any stress or anxiety. And then I exhale. I always exhale JUST before I enter.
What’s your secret to keeping your shows fresh and engaging?
There’s no secret. You just have to keep doing the work. We’ve always got new songs or stories in the shows. But there are also lots of elements that we’ve been doing for years. And yet, they’re different every time. Sometimes drastically, sometimes very subtly. But we’re always tinkering. I work with my pianist (Alex Maynard) and my vocal coach (Nettie Battam) nearly every week (regardless of whether we have a show coming up) and we’re endlessly honing and finessing. We used to do Adele’s When We Were Young and it always seemed to be an audience favourite, yet I was never happy with it. I just never felt I’d got to the core of what the song is about, so we kept scratching away at it. We finally retired it nearly two years ago, but it’ll be back in September. But I didn’t tell you that. Shhhh. Spoilers!
Where did your passion for performing come from?
The womb, I think. It’s always been there. Never gone away. Doubt it ever well. I certainly hope not.
Tough one, I know, but if you could invite ANY other artist to share the stage with you at your Crazy Coqs residency, who would you ask, and why? I would go for Bette Midler, or Jacques Brel…and maybe Vanessa Paradis because why not!
Oooh, good one. Tough one! Well, definitely Bette and Brel. Good choices! Two of my absolute idols. And it’s about time Bette returned to a small cabaret room. Can you imagine? She could sell out Coqs for a year. I don’t really know Vanessa Paradis, so I need to go and do my homework after this. I think l’d have to say Chita Rivera. She’s everything to me. She was joy, personified. Absolutely lit from within. And funny and smart and sexy. God, she could do everything and was so at home in cabaret rooms.
Bonus mention: Jess LeProtto. He’s a Broadway dancer I follow on Instagram who gives me life. Again, he performs with such JOY! I have to leap to my feet and start dancing when I see his videos. Also, he is so singular! Maybe he should come and do a turn?
Do you have a favourite song you love to perform?
Nooooo, that would be like choosing a favourite child. But that’s not a very interesting answer, is it? I genuinely love all the songs we do. That’s why I choose them. They all speak to me in different and specific ways. But for the purposes of this question… okay, I’ll choose Oh, Sean by Todd Almond. I’ve been singing it for years now and it always works; I always have a ball doing it. From a sensory point of view, it’s maybe not my favourite as it’s tough, like a full vocal workout. But the actor in me LOVES taking the ride as it’s like a 3 act play. It’s nearly 7 minutes long. It’s epic.
Are there any songs you avoid singing?
Well, I can’t answer that question, can I? Haha. What I will say is that people assume there’s a lot of musical theatre repertoire in my shows, but there really isn’t. Musical theatre songs are often very hard to take out of their original context, so I tend to avoid them.
(I stole this question from Stephen Colbert) If you could listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be? For me, Magic by Bruce Springsteen.
Oh, I don’t know that song. I’ll go listen to it in a bit.
Well, thanks, Stephen. This question is torturous. Especially to an indecisive Libra. To be honest, the idea of one song for the rest of my life also sounds torturous, but I shall play the game…
I’m Still Here by Stephen Sondheim. Elaine Stritch’s version from Sondheim’s 80th birthday concert because… obviously. It’s my favourite show tune even though I don’t have favourites. I just love the way it builds and builds; it’s so sustained and controlled, like Sondheim’s edging the audience. And then the final moments of release are so worth the wait.
But then again… maybe Diana Ross’ The Boss. The 12” remix because that’s 7 minutes long. It is a solid bop! It can get me out of bed or any funk almost in an instant.
But then again, maybe something by Frank Sinatra because most of his recordings are in my key, so they’re always fun to sing along with. Also, he was the GOAT! Maybe I’ve Got You Under My Skin. That’s got range, emotionally and vocally. That would be a good daily workout.
There, take that, Colbert!
What was the experience performing at the Théâtre du Lido in Paris?
Oh, oh, ohhhhh. Heaven.
Did you have any nerves making your debut in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum?
Oh yes! There are always nerves. But that part was such a good fit for me, so I felt very at home.
You also appeared recently as Ruth in the iconic Titanique; what was that like?
I did! Back at the Lido! I get asked this a lot and I haven’t yet worked out how to answer it. Well, not succinctly. The short answer is: thrilling. I adore that show. It’s so stupid and so beautifully crafted. And our cast was brilliant. It was such a special time. One that I’m hugely proud of. However, comedy is always tough, but then doing it in a different language to the majority of your audience is a whole other level (we performed it in English with French subtitles). The short answer is that I climbed the iceberg and often reached the top.
But to return to the Lido question: it’s my favourite venue in the world (staffed by some of the very best people). To have performed there twice and in such iconic roles…! I’m very lucky and I’d return in a heart beat.
It’s an incredible space to play in. Talk about epic and intimate! It’s being programmed as a musical theatre venue now, but what’s so unique about it is that they’ve retained the cabaret layout (from its previous life), so it feels very cosy, whilst also simultaneously a bit like a Greek amphitheatre (with over 1000 spectators).
It also had a multi-million euro refurbishment just before we opened Forum, so it looks STUNNING! Je l’aime!
"It’s a beautiful world where two seemingly contradictory things exist side by side..."
What does cabaret mean to you?
I think about this often. There are so many definitions for cabaret. And they’re all valid. But for me, as a singer…
It’s a beautiful world where two seemingly contradictory things exist side by side, sometimes in harmony, sometimes in conflict: the heightened and the intimate. It’s similar to what I was just saying in the last question.
If you express a thought or an emotion through song you’ve already heightened it. And in my shows, things are especially heightened because of the choice of material and they way we present it. But then we’re presenting this heightened thing in a very intimate way. There’s something very potent and exciting about that collision of extremes.
Also, in cabaret you’re not restricted by linear narrative, so you can really take an audience anywhere!
And finally, what would you like your audiences to take away from your cabaret?
Their trash. Pick up after yourselves, people!
I’d obviously like people to leave in a better mood than when they arrived; and having really FELT something. Ideally, lots of things. I like to zig-zag people all over the place like they’re in a dodgem car or on a roller coaster.
I worry that we all live on autopilot most of the time. So much of the modern world is designed to desensitize and to cut us off from one another; and to shrink our attention spans to the bare minimum. To put your phone down and take your headphones off for an hour or two; to allow your attention to breath; it’s so important, I feel. And to do that in a room with other people; to come and FEEL something…to connect with other humans and their stories; to have an emotional experience in a room, collectively with strangers…it should be prescribed on the NHS. We used to sit around the fire as communities and tell stories. We’ve lost that and we need it back.