Rocking the ‘Boat Hole’

During our interview, Josh McIlvain is busy preventing his 11-month-old son from eating a stuffed animal and, later, destroying a half-dozen vintage records. While it might be surprising that he’s debuting a new show at Philly Fringe, McIlvain says his new-dad lifestyle hasn’t slowed down his writing one bit: “When he’s awake, it’s all about him. But he’s been an amazing sleeper.”

At 40, McIlvain is back in his hometown after over a decade off-and-on in New York.

“We rent a place with a backyard and like 13 windows,” he says of his new Chestnut Hill digs. “Which is $400 less than a hole on 105th street.”

Though McIlvain has plenty of full-length work, his 10-minute comedies were in demand in NYC. “Boat Hole” promises to be a blend of greatest hits and recent works, with pieces ranging from everyday awkwardness — a series of one-minute elevator scenes — to the completely absurd.

“I occasionally like writing plays with inanimate objects that are also extremely vulgar.

There’s something very funny I find about cursing cranes and cursing boats,” says McIlvain of the title piece. “That play sort of captures the evening: It’s a bit absurd, a bit vulgar, but maybe not. It’s like, ‘Boat Hole’ sounds vulgar, but is it really?”