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Review: Jason Byrne – You Can Come In But Don’t Start Anything

October 6, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Jason Byrne is the kind of comedian you can’t ignore. And that’s not solely because he’s stood up on the stage at Cardiff’s TramShed with a microphone. From the second Byrne bounds on to stage, he has his devoted audience like a ball of putty in his hand. There’s Nana who came last year who has baked him a box of Welsh cakes, and her entire family who the comic remembers immediately.

Quite fittingly then, Byrne’s new show, You Can Come In But Don’t Start Anything, is about family, childhood, and the values you acquire as a result of the way in which you are raised. Growing up as an 80s kid himself, Jason has his fair few ridiculous anecdotes to share, and he uses these as a comparison to his view of the way children are raised in 2018. He talks of being slapped by his mum, and jokes about being unassisted whilst choking on the toys hidden in boxes of cereal (both of which didn’t seem too far from my own childhood, despite having been born in the late 90s). The comparisons are quite distorted to fit the view that today’s children are being mollycoddled, but he gets away with it as he is such a charming and energetic performer. His faux-exasperation leads to hysteria, which leads to the biggest laughs.

Jason Byrne: You Can Come In But Don’t Start Anything

But this comic is not trying to take the moral high ground here. In fact, in many of the anecdotes he shares he’s keen to paint himself as a ‘stupid man’ who’s occasionally moronic actions (such as taking nine magnesium tablets in one sitting) get no respect from his no-nonsense wife. Byrne is down to earth and not afraid to make a fool of himself, in fact, he seems to really enjoy it. And this drives home the clear fact that his amiability is his strongest quality.

He’s comfortable honing in on specific people in the room, having very natural discussions with audience members and remembering specific details about them to call back on later in the show. As ever with Jason Byrne, as he brings his whole audience together by chatting to different corners of the room, it becomes evident that each live show is a one-off, unique spectacle.

Jason Byrne is so likeable because he encourages his audience, however old or young, to be naughty and mischievous just like him. It’s clear that he could play even bigger rooms than this one, with this confident charm and apparent ease in front of an audience. Jason is currently his show, You Can Come In But Don’t Start Anything, across the UK and Ireland, and you can see the full list of dates here.

Posted in: Comedians, Live Comedy Tagged: Cardiff TramShed, Jason Byrne, You Can Come In But Don't Start Anything

Interview: Ivo Graham at Soho Theatre

September 25, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment
Ivo Graham is bringing his new show Motion Sickness to the Soho Theatre from the 1st to 13th of October. In anticipation for this fortnight of fun, MoodyComedy has been picking Ivo’s brains about the emotional core of this new show, and the difficulties he has experienced whilst performing it.

How was your show Motion Sickness received at the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Ivo Graham: Motion Sickness

30% returning customers revelling in spending another hour with a comedian they always enjoy.

20% returning customers broadly appreciating the well-told stories but perhaps lamenting the lack of interactive quiz/Weakest Link video from 2017.

10% new people thinking “god, this guy can turn a phrase”.

10% new people thinking “god, this guy’s a bit pretentious”.

10% family and friends wondering how long they have to keep coming to this shit.

10% too drunk / hot / in need of a wee to concentrate on what was happening.

10% empty seats.

What issues does your latest show concern? Which aspects (if any) have been challenging?

The latest show is about commitment and, more specifically, parenthood (the best answer on the board in the Family Fortunes category “commitments”: the worst on Pointless). It was challenging to write because it forced me to decide which of my own insecurities on the subject I felt comfortable sharing with an audience of mostly (see above) strangers. It was challenging to perform because by Edinburgh I’d learnt I was going to be a parent, rendering the central question of “am I ready to take this next step” frustratingly/hilariously inappropriate.

Admin-wise, I then had to decide whether to sit on this news or change the show: I decided the former, only for a couple of rather ambiguously-worded reviews leading to family members getting in touch to ask why I was doing comedy about news they hadn’t even been told about yet. Even now, a few weeks on, we’ve eschewed the obligatory Facebook ultrasound post, preferring to tell friends as and when we see them, so I’ve now got to make a whole lot more decisions as to how I present the information at the Soho. People might even find out having stumbled across this e-interview! A Moody Exclusive!

None of this is to suggest, by the way, that my life updates are of any Great Import beyond my various nearest and dearest, or that the difficulties described above hold a candle to any of the infinitely greater challenges being faced by people around the world. Fundamentally, my girlfriend and I (out of wedlock ahoy!) have had some great news, and being able to do stand-up about this sort of thing is always a Great LarkTM. But I can only respond to the questions as they’re asked (/copy-pasted) to me, and there’s no denying that this year’s issues and their representation have been more of a challenge than previous years’. So there you go.

How has your comedy changed over the past two years?

It’s got more commitment-based (see above). To quote a friend, “instead of talking about how you don’t get off with girls (2009 to 2016), you’re now talking about how you can’t get off with girls (2016 til death/divorce).

How would you describe Ivo Graham The Comedian in three words?

Surpassing expectations.

Why should people come to your Soho Theatre run?

Because the show is charming, relatable, articulate, and my god I’ve suddenly got rather a lot riding on this.

BOOK TICKETS FOR IVO GRAHAM: ‘MOTION SICKNESS’ AT THE SOHO THEATRE

Posted in: Comedians, Interviews Tagged: Ivo Graham, Motion Sickness, Soho Theatre

Is Comedy a Londoner’s Game?

September 18, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

Anyone who knows me knows that I love comedy. I’ve been to countless stand-up shows in Birmingham over the years and a fair few in Cardiff too since starting my degree. But one thing I have never done is see any form of live comedy at a venue in our country’s capital: London. No tour shows, no club nights, no previews in the back of a pub. Zilch. I could give you a whole bunch of reasons, from money considerations to the fact it’s just easier to wait for the comedians to come to me than to scout them out in London. I’ve always intended, one day, to go and experience London’s comedy scene first-hand. But why do I have this intention? What is it that makes the London comedy scene so unlike Birmingham, or Cardiff, and why do I feel like I need to go and experience it?

Suppose it’s a Friday night. You want to see some live comedy in central London, but where to go and who to see? A quick internet search provides a whole host of interesting events. On the night I’m looking at, Stewart Lee is performing his Content Provider show at the Leicester Square Theatre, and Geordie comedian Lauren Pattison is performing Lady Muck at the Soho Theatre (a show which saw her nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2017). Both shows have completely sold out. There are also comedy club nights happening all over this part of the city, from the Comedy Store in Soho, to the 99 Club in Covent Garden. Some comics’ names are even appearing two or three times, as they perform a set at one club, then move straight on to the next (and sometimes the next). There are also shows that start as late as 10-11pm; closer to the finishing time of most comedy gigs across the country than the start.

Lauren Pattison © Andy Hollingworth

There’s clearly a lot of comedy to cram in over the weekend, and certainly high demand for it too. London has a population of almost 9 million people, whereas Birmingham (my home city) comes in lower at around 1.1 million. Cardiff, at the other end of the scale, is home to just under 500,000. So we might assume that the demand for comedy is much lower in Cardiff than in London, but is this all there is to it? Are these comedians flocking in their hundreds just to perform to bigger, more frequent audiences? It may be true that other cities in the UK just don’t have the same demand for stand-up comedy, but I’m curious to find out if this is the main attraction for stand-up comics, or whether there are other factors that make this city such an appealing place to work.

Now, I’ve made it pretty clear that my knowledge of London’s comedy scene is limited. However, I have interviewed countless comedians about their theatre runs, new material nights and club nights in the city. And, after all, writing an article about stand-up comedians working in London, without speaking to any stand-up comedians who have worked in London, is about as useful as writing a dissertation on the social behaviours of ants but spending the whole time only speaking to toddlers about their verdicts on such ant behaviours. I need to ask some comedians first-hand about why they feel drawn to London’s comedy scene, because surely it can’t just be the size of the crowds.

Lauren Pattison moved to London in September 2016. She confided in me at the time: ‘I’m worried moving to London was the wrong thing to do; I’m worried that I’m never going to be in a position financially to leave my day job and just be a comedian.’ (See: ‘Seven Questions With Lauren Pattison’). But since this conversation, Lauren has skyrocketed into the public consciousness. She regularly performs as tour support for the quick-witted Katherine Ryan, and is currently touring her acclaimed show Lady Muck across Australia and New Zealand. It hasn’t been an easy ride, with financial worries understandably playing a big part in the comedian’s struggles to properly settle in London, but her success appears to be increasing by the day. I’m intrigued to know how Lauren is managing to make her move to London financially and creatively viable, so I started by asking her why she moved to London in the first place.

‘I moved to London because I felt a bit stuck in Newcastle,’ Lauren tells me, ‘I was doing alright for myself up North but felt like I didn’t really play anywhere down South – partly because I wasn’t known and partly because the expense of travelling and staying down there for a gig was so high that it would cost a week’s wage for me to go and do an unpaid gig. I had nothing to lose by moving to London (aside from my hopes and dreams).’ It seems that moving somewhere more central, like London, is a way of opening up other parts of the country for Britain’s commuting comics. ‘A lot of places seem to be a bit easier to get to from down here! Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham are all relatively easy to get to via train and being based down here means it’s much easier and cheaper to get to gigs down South.’

Stephen Bailey © Comedy Central

Stephen Bailey (a stand-up comedian from Manchester who also regularly supports Katherine Ryan on tour, it seems she has good taste) lives and works in London too: ‘I was living in London anyway because of my day job. Then, when I was in a position to leave the office, I kind of just stayed. For me, just breaking into TV, I feel like I need to be here for the meetings, the auditions, the showcases – as it would cost an arm and a leg for me to go back and forth to Manchester as a non-driver.’

Both Stephen and Lauren agree that London is a great place to develop yourself as a comic and potentially get noticed by important industry people. ‘The good thing,’ Stephen tells me, ‘is that you can perform several times, every night of the week, which can arguably help you get better. On the flip side, it’s so oversaturated… you could just be playing to other comics if you don’t know where to look.’ Lauren’s comments back this up: ‘Comics can literally do something every night of the week without having to leave London. It helps you hone your act and you can notch up a lot of gigs in a short space of time, but I think what made me the comic I am is by not just gigging in one place but gigging in different rooms, in different cities with different audiences.’ But just because there might be more opportunities in our capital for hopeful stand-ups, you can’t just move there and expect a career handed to you on a plate. The sheer number of comedians working in London goes to show how much effort needs to be put in to make sure you stand out from the crowd. Not only do you need a clear, original and genuine comic voice, but you need to be savvy about where and when you perform, otherwise you can find yourself out of pocket and performing to smaller crowds than you’d like.

Lauren confirms my suspicions: ‘People tell you, “you can gig every night of the week!”. You soon find out that you can, but none of those gigs are paid and you’re on with twenty other comics and there’s no progression and you’re lucky to have an audience. For me it was about not just saying yes to everything (which is what I usually do) but sussing out which gigs were worth my time and effort. Focusing my energy on the gigs I knew would get me places or swing a tenner my way so I could cover my tube fare soon made me much happier.’

Money is, and I expect always will be, a massive obstacle for comedians working in London. Starting out in comedy is an expensive game anyway, with many continuing to work different jobs in the day and gigging during the evening. The financial aspect was an issue for Lauren (she continued to work as a waitress when she first moved to London), and I suspect she is just one of countless creatives who struggle to make living and working in London financially possible for themselves. ‘I was burning the candle at both ends, working a day job and going straight to a gig after. Yet at the end of the month I was still broke. All my wages were being pumped into affording travel to gigs and trying to cobble together rent.’

And it doesn’t help that some comedy clubs seem to be in no rush to pay comedians for their work. Lauren fills me in: ‘I’ve had nightmares before where I’ve had to chase promoters for months for £50 and you’ve got bills to pay and food to buy and travel to cover to get to another gig. If any other job didn’t pay on time you’d be straight to HR but there isn’t really an HR department in comedy and it’s not unusual to wait nearly two months to be paid.’ Stephen tells a similar story: ‘Good acts that are working the circuit have to quit because they can’t get their payments off promoters. You have to be good at budgeting as most places just pay you as and when they feel like it. I am owed money from December, I’m always chasing payments. The longest I ever had to wait was a year. Jongleurs didn’t pay for ages, kept booking in more gigs then went bust so most comics lost dollar for work done. Not cool.’

Jongleurs announced on the 17th of October 2017 that they were closing down. In a statement, the company said: ‘Every possible effort has been made to keep the company viable, including cash injections of over £200,000 from the director and shareholders since late 2014. Unfortunately there are now no more funds available to inject into the company.’ The closure left many comedians unpaid; some had even racked up a whole year’s worth of gigs that they hadn’t been paid for.

So maybe working in London as a stand-up comic isn’t a plausible reality for many comedians working today. But while working in London can help get you noticed by industry professionals and punters, and will thus inevitably help you to establish yourself as a comedian, it surely isn’t the be all and end all. There are other big cities with a large variety of people making up their comedy audiences. I asked Lauren what she thinks about this prospect, and she felt a similar way: ‘I don’t think London is necessarily the best place to be working as a stand-up comedian for everyone. I think it’s not necessary to move – for example, if I lived Manchester or Birmingham and could drive, I wouldn’t move. Everything would be more accessible via car and living costs would be lower.’ If you want to access areas aside from London, then any city that is relatively central could be a good place to set up camp, opening up cities in the North and the South, whilst avoiding the living costs of the capital.

© Birmingham Glee Club

You may have noticed whilst reading this article that Birmingham is where my heart lies. It’s where I’m from, where I spend the majority of my time, and my favourite city to go and see live comedy in. One quick search of comedy events next Friday night flags up lots of results. Though admittedly not as many as my search of London venues, I still find that Patrick Monahan is performing his show Rewind Selector 90s at Birmingham Glee Club, there’s a Machynlleth Comedy Festival Showcase at the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), and Dane Baptiste is performing G.O.D. (Gold. Oil. Drugs.) not too far outside of Birmingham at the Leamington Spa Royal Spa Centre, plus more. 

If you want to take advantage of the vast range of opportunities that working as a stand-up in London can bring, are prepared for the potential financial struggles and willing to put the work in, then I’m sure that London can be a wonderful, vibrant place to live and work. One final thing that Lauren says sticks with me, and proves to me once and for all why she has found such great success in recent years: ‘I am beyond pleased I gritted my teeth, kept my head down and ploughed on. Yeah, it can feel harder for sure if you’re less privileged, but rather than sulk about it I’ve always tried to find a way to still make it happen – even if it takes a bit longer and I have to eat noodles for weeks.’ This sums everything up for me: you can make your way in comedy, wherever you’re working, if you have passion and grit (and perhaps a day job on the side). Yes, being based in London can help you to reach more audiences in a shorter time frame, but if you’re not financially able to live in the capital, that’s not the end of your chances of making it big time. London is a place where comedians can gig as much as they like and develop their material and comic voice, but, at the end of the day, there are audiences in every town and city if you’re prepared to root them out. Comedians, the world is your oyster.

This article was originally published in Issue #167 of Quench Magazine, in March 2018.

Posted in: Comedians Tagged: British Comedy, Comedy, Katherine Ryan, Lauren Pattison, London, Stand Up, Stephen Bailey

August Comedian of the Month #50, Kiri Pritchard-McLean

September 7, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment
Each Comedian of the Month on MoodyComedy is a comic who has never previously featured on the website. Reasons for selection can include various current projects the comedian is involved with, or perhaps recent appearances on television programmes or podcasts. There is no strict criteria however, as Comedian of the Month simply stands as a collection of recommendations, highlighting interesting and original aspects of certain comedians and their work.

There has been a lot of noise around Kiri Pritchard-McLean over the last couple of years. She’s part of the award-winning comedy sketch group Gein’s Family Giftshop, though never appearing on stage with the group, as well as being a very successful stand-up comic in her own right (having received an abundance of 5 star reviews for her show Victim, Complex at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe).

Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Pritchard-McLean’s comedy is down-to-earth in a way that really invites listeners into her world. It’s as if your guilty conscious, where all your darkest fears and thoughts hide, could talk, but there’s something celebratory in it. McLean’s comedy is honest and confessional, but it’s as though she’s never questioned being so open, it just comes naturally. She is what she is, and this authenticity is a valuable asset. Managing to take difficult personal topics and make them devilishly funny, whilst still maintaining their emotional significance and impact, proves McLean to be a strong voice on the comedy circuit. She is exuberant and compelling, and will no doubt blossom all the more in the coming months and years.

McLean is also the brains behind Amusical, alongside Dave Cribb. The show consists of stand-up comedians going head to head performing their favourite songs from film and television, with the audience deciding the winner. The format has recently been picked up by Comedy Central, with McLean and Jayde Adams acting as hosts.

For more information, follow Kiri Pritchard-McLean on Twitter, or visit her website.

COMEDIAN OF THE MONTH

Posted in: Comedian Of The Month, Comedians Tagged: Comedian Of The Month, Kiri Pritchard-McLean

Seven Questions With… Chris Chopping

September 6, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© Michelle Huggleston

Stand-up comic and regular MC Chris Chopping has recently been performing his second hour of comedy, Chris Chopping’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the Edinburgh Festival. Having previously been a semi-finalist of So You Think You’re Funny, this engaging performer is producing comedy that is smart and unpredictable – definitely worth keeping an eye on him.
I asked Chris these seven questions to find out more…

1) How did your career in comedy begin?

When I was growing up stand up comedy didn’t seem like a thing real people could do. There were no comedy clubs near me so comedians were these people who existed exclusively on home video and had a new tour show out for Christmas every year. It was years later I got a job at a comedy club in Cardiff and realised you didn’t have to start out with a full hour. Having not really set the world of retail or call centres alight I thought I might as well have a crack at the dream job.

2) What’s something you used to hate that you now love?

Recently my parents took me out for dinner and my mum tried to persuade me to eat courgette. I’m 31. I’m too old for these conversations. I think if I had refused I wouldn’t have been allowed pudding. So I tried it, it was deep fried and delicious. Love would be a strong word. I used to hate courgette, now I regard it with a healthy scepticism. 

3) What is the most difficult aspect of writing and performing stand-up, for you?

I’t took me a long time to start writing more and replacing my material frequently enough. When I started other comedians would talk about getting bored of their material. I worked in a call centre reciting the same script over and over all day for two years. In comedy I was performing a script I’d written myself at most once a day and being rewarded with laughter and approval instead of people swearing and hanging up. I never got bored but sometimes boredom is a good motivator.

4) Do you have a good memory?

No I have a terrible memory. I don’t even remember where I live. If you were staying at my house and I met you at the station we’d be walking for about 45 minutes before you asked, “how much further now?” And I realised I’d been following you the whole time. Is that what you asked? I don’t remember.

5) Which year of your life has been the best so far?

When I was eight, that was pretty good. I lived next door to my best friend and for my birthday I got Ring Raiders. Airplanes that you wore attached to your fingers via a plastic ring and a translucent plastic pole. It was a simpler time. They came with a VHS cassette with a cartoon of their adventures. That’s got to be hard to beat, year wise.

6) What one person would you be most afraid to meet?

I’d be terrified to meet my younger self. He’d be delighted I was doing stand up comedy but I feel like he’d find my life wanting in other crucial areas. I don’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes when he finds out I ate courgette for example.

7) Where would you like to be in six months time?

I’d like to be the new face of the £50 note with the film of my show Chris Chopping’s Lonely Hearts Club Band being made part of the national curriculum having rocketed me to national treasure status. Realistically, best case scenario I’ll be in Gloucester services buying some sort of gourmet pie.

For more information, visit Chris Chopping’s website and follow him on Twitter

SEVEN QUESTIONS WITH…

Posted in: Comedians, Seven Questions With... Tagged: Chris Chopping, Chris Chopping’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Edinburgh Review: Kai Samra – Brothers (WIP)

August 18, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© Kai Samra

This year, Kai Samra brings his work in progress show, Brothers, to The Mash House. Relatively new to the stand up circuit, this Brummie comedian appears remarkably comfortable in front of his audience. His delivery is calm and self-assured, but certainly not an act.

Samra talks about his family with no qualms about letting his listeners in, and this makes for a deeply personal hour of comedy. There are no sob stories here, just honest anecdotes and clever observations. He’s a very likeable performer and his relaxed and confident nature allows his audience to settle into the show effortlessly.

Brothers is a show about family, along with all its frustrations and affections. And Samra makes 45 minutes feel like ten. The laughs come easily and frequently, making it starkly clear that this comic could warm up even the coldest of audiences. It’s not hard to imagine this comic cracking into the mainstream some time soon.

This show is not a skeleton of a piece, and neither is it an amalgamation of too many half-formed ideas. This show already feels polished. So, when Kai Samra returns to Edinburgh next August, prepare for a fantastic, brilliantly formed hour of proficient stand up.

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Previews, Reviews Tagged: Brothers, Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh Reviews, Kai Samra

Edinburgh Review: Abandoman (Rob Broderick) – Pirate Radio

August 15, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© Rob Broderick

Irish improv hip hop artist Rob Broderick returns to Edinburgh with his solo show, Pirate Radio. Unlike previous Abandoman shows, Pirate Radio is a big-scale production. He’s ditched the powerpoint and electric keyboard for strobe lighting and ground-shuddering bass.

Rather than lots of small instances of audience participation (note Abandoman’s previous set-piece, ‘What’s In Your Pocket?’ where audience members hold up the most obscure item on their possession and Broderick improvises a rap about it), volunteer participants in this new show are a far bigger part of the proceedings. If you have something funny or strange to offer up, prepare to have a musical piece devised entirely in your honour.

Single audience members are brought up to stand in front of a packed Udderbelly, and yet there is never any hint of anxiety. Rob puts his participants at ease by spelling out what he requires of them and never failing to make it silly.

Being a much bigger, much more refined performance, it feels at times as though Abandoman has lost its personal touch. But where this show lacks in intimacy, Broderick makes up for in showmanship. From a heart-wrenching song about leaving a sleeping bag on a train, to a musical re-enactment of a childhood three-legged race, Broderick’s skill for snappy improvisation is as present as ever.

If you want your comedy upscaled, exciting and as loud as a music gig, Abandoman is no doubt the show for you.

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Reviews Tagged: Abandoman, Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh Reviews, Pirate Radio, Rob Broderick

Edinburgh Review: Simon Evans – Genius 2.0

August 15, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© Simon Evans

Bringing a reworking of last year’s show Genius to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Simon Evans proclaims that he has no issue with ‘digging the same furrow’. Genius 2.0 asks what the future of our society is. Are we regressing in terms of intelligence and creativity?

This is a show of comparison through the ages, from drinking laws to the Guinness Book of World Records. It’s about how our lives have become more restricted as the years have passed. Though academic in his tone, this doesn’t feel like a lecture. Evans is surprisingly able to keep his large audience on the same page as him, despite his flowery language and analytic, black-and-white approach to assessing the problems he raises.

Evans’ point is glisteningly clear, but it’s hard to fully invest in the idea that our society is less intelligent (or less intelligence-orientated) than it was forty years ago. Yes, there is certainly more of a focus on mind-numbing reality television and a vacuous idea of what constitutes beauty (often consisting of botox injections and lip fillers), but aspects of our society are arguably thriving as strongly as ever, in areas including but not limited to science, philosophy and literature.

I’d feel a little uncomfortable, as a twenty-year-old university student, to be sat in this comic’s audience if I didn’t know he had teenage children himself. It is these anecdotes about his kids’ experiences, inspirations and education that allow us to ascertain that Evans isn’t simply having a go at the youth of today.

As the show goes on, Evans allows himself to exist at the same level as his audience, sharing his irksome experiences with ageing, from thinning hair to forgetfulness. But the set piece of the show is one that rings in the ear long after Evans has left the stage. The downfall of our society, as Evans see it, is the fact it is shrouded in apathy. Our country is lead by someone who studied at Oxford, yet graduated in a 2:2 in Geography. Someone who bends over backwards, surely almost to the point of snapping, at a slight gust of wind.

Simon Evans’ outlook on the state of society today is strangely motivating rather than depressing. The powers that be may be failing us, but we each have the opportunity to flourish however we want to, despite this unsettling prognosis.

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Live Comedy, Reviews Tagged: Edinburgh Festival, Edinburgh Reviews, Genius 2.0, Simon Evans

Helen Duff: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

August 14, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© Matthew Highton

Who? Helen Duff
What? How Deep Is Your Duff?
Where? Heroes @ The Hive (venue 313)
When? 21:00

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

Yes totally prepared – if you take cutting myself off from too much social media scrolling and stocking up mejool dates as a sign of second to none self care!

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s all about falling in love for the first time, performing for the kids in the Rohingya refugee camps and realising I can orgasm. Not necessarily in that order.

What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?

I tried my very best to include the YouTube sensory sensation SLIME in the show and despite several previews where I ended up covered in the stuff, couldn’t bear to wash my clothes in coke every night of the Edinburgh run.

Who would most enjoy your show?

People who enjoy a well woven story about the ways a woman can become better connected with herself and her community, with several duff puns and dances thrown in for the fun.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes! I saw Pat Cahill’s show on the top of Bob’s Blundabus and it was fantastic! He’s doing 110% with John Kearns in that slot now instead which is bound to be brilliant. Lucy Hopkins is making something very special happen in the SpiegelYurt at midnight every day. And I’m also in Adam Larter’s Boogie Knight’s at 2pm everyday at the Hive. It’s a medieval disco with all the best boogie tunes of the 70s/80s. All the Heroes shows are a certified hoot.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The variety of the landscape – I’m living in Stockbridge this year and the river running down to Leith is so peaceful it feels like you could be in the middle of nowhere.  

What are your plans for after the festival?

I’m making a wedding cake for 100 people for my boyfriend’s best friend’s wedding. Puts the pressure of Edinburgh in perspective!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR HELEN DUFF: ‘HOW DEEP IS YOUR DUFF?’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Interviews Tagged: Edinburgh Festival, Helen Duff, How Deep Is Your Duff?, The Edinburgh Interviews, The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

Dave Chawner: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

August 14, 2018 by Becca Moody Leave a Comment

© CR2 Studios

Who? Dave Chawner
What? Mental
Where? The Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (venue 170)
When? 19:20

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you? 

You can never be fully prepared for The Fringe. It’s a bit like taking a cat to the vets – you can do as much prep as possible, but in the end you’ll end up tearing your hair out, running round in circles and screaming while all the while telling yourself ‘it’s for the best’. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

This year’s show is all about mental health (rather than mental illness). The show uses comedy to normalise the conversation around mental health and make the topic fun. Because, let’s face it, whenever the topic of mental health comes up, it’s normally about mental illness. And, of course 1 in 4 of us has mental illness, but 4 in 4 of us has mental health, so why do we focus on illness rather than wellbeing?

What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?

Myself! I find it hard to focus. Writing the show takes a lot of concentration and that’s something that I have very little of. I get distracted by the easiest of… oh look, there’s a squirrel!

Who would most enjoy your show?

Anyone that has an interest in mental health. That includes (but not limited to) mental health professionals, students, people with lived experience of mental illness, friends, family and relatives of those people as well.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations? 

John Robertson’s – Sweaty, Sexy, Party, Party

Russell Hicks – Love Song For The Visciously Ambitious

Adam Kay – This Is Going To Hurt

Robyn Perkins – 10, 000 Decisions

Daniel Kitson – Good For Glue

Richard Wright – Virgin

Aidan Taco Jones – 52 Weeks

Sarah Iles – Ghosted

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city? 

Let’s face it, Edinburgh is proper beautiful. Like, I mean, real lovely. It never fails to surprise me, when wandering through the streets, if you look up, how amazing it is. It’s no wonder J K Rowling based Harry Potter on this place. And that’s my favourite thing, that at least 10,000 cafes, coffee shops and restaurants claim to be ‘the birthplace of Harry Potter’

What are your plans for after the festival?

I’m going to be touring my new book (which has just been released). I’ve got some filming I’m doing for ‘Stylist’ Magazine and am going back to the radio show I present. It’s The Breakfast Show on Panda Radio – it’s amazing fun and boringly I’m really excited to be back and into the swing of it again.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR DAVE CHAWNER: ‘MENTAL’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Posted in: Comedians, Edinburgh, Interviews Tagged: Dave Chawner, Edinburgh Festival, Mental, The Edinburgh Interviews, The Edinburgh Interviews 2018
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