Bourgeois & Maurice
Bourgeois & Maurice talk about their origins, influences, and what it is to be ‘normal’.
“They’re kind of our characters, but they are also almost like us turned inside out,” says George Heyworth, one half of award-winning cabaret duo Bourgeois & Maurice.
George and Liv Morris originally met in university at Royal Holloway, part of the University of London. It wasn’t until they both decided to move to London together that they truly got to know each other. The idea of forming a cabaret act hadn’t crossed their minds in the move, but came later on a bit of a whim when George’s friend was hosting an open mic cabaret night and the duo decided to sign up – Bourgeois & Maurice were born. “Bourgeois became very verbose and Maurice became very like insular and quiet because that’s actually how we were in the very first show,” explains George.
While still at university, George had a job at Hampton Court Palace in a food stall selling foie gras. While this may seem like a bit of an irrelevant point, it is actually a huge contributing factor to the cabaret duo that we know today as B&M. “We used to joke about it – George is selling foie gras to the bourgeois. So then another friend of ours started calling him Georgeois Bourgeois selling foie gras,” explains Liv on the origins of the name Bourgeois & Maurice. “And my surname is Morris, and so people used to sometimes say Maurice.”
Bourgeois & Maurice have evolved from characters created on a whim to one of the most richly entertaining cabaret acts on the scene. “Bourgeois & Maurice were brother and sister….They killed their parents by accident trying to install satellite TV in their house in the late 80’s, and then they raised themselves through TV and the Internet and newspapers which is why they have no kind of moral compass or real hold on reality. Bourgeois & Maurice essentially are like the physical embodiment of the media,” George elaborates.
In their latest show Middle of the Road, B&M join forces with another cabaret mainstay, David Hoyle, in what can only be described as their most ‘normal’ show to date. The collaboration between Hoyle and Bourgeois & Maurice explores what it is to be normal through the use of powerpoint presentations, a panel discussion, a keynote speech and of course covers of some of the most mundane pop music ever produced.
“It’s not just passing a judgement that everybody else is really boring and look how interesting we are, because that’s too simplistic and not true. It’s actually – what does it mean…. who are we to say this anyway – kind of thing,” describes Liv.
“Part of the kind of contradiction of us as well is that we are quite middle of the road in some ways. George & Liv love being a bit middle of the road. Bourgeois & Maurice are kind of aliens from outer space that have no concept of anything,” says George.
No strangers to holding up a mirror to society, the influence for their latest show comes primarily from society’s view on what it is to be normal. A concept that everyone can relate to, that is summed up perfectly with, “everybody at some point likes to just fucking chill out with a glass of rosé and listen to an Enya album.”
Middle of the Road is at Soho Theatre June 3-13th, 2015.
