Where? Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Up the Stairs (Venue 88)
When? 13:05
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Very nervous. Every year I go to Edinburgh, I’ve just gone up to get better as a comedian, but this is the first year I’ve done my own hour long show. I have purposefully never been seen by industry, reviewers etc… for years and this year is the first time that I have invited that level of scrutiny and that does worry me. It feels like I’m poking my head up from the parapet and I have no idea what to expect on the other side…
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s a joke filled stand up show about love, relationships and masculinity.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
My daily fight with myself. I have very high standards of myself which I inevitably fall short of. I’ve been running around doing as many gigs as I can a night, trying to get the material ready. There have been a lot of times this year where I’ve had to remind myself that comedy is meant to be fun and to stop beating myself up when a new routine isn’t perfect.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Every year I take it a bit more seriously… I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I still love going up there and look forward to it all year, but this year has been the first time when it’s felt like it’s coming around too quickly rather than not quick enough.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Yes! So many… a fellow stand up debut by my friend Janine – Stand Up with Janine Harouni (Please Remain Seated). She is a brilliant stand up and I’m really looking forward to seeing that show. She was also in my Comedy Central series Modern Horror Stories where I got to see every day how annoyingly talented she was. My writing partner Kat Butterfield is the funniest person I know and she’s one third of the sketch group Northern Power Blouse. Their very silly show gets audiences laughing like no one else can. Two US comics who are coming over that I’m really looking forward to seeing are Emmy Blotnick (Party Nights) and Anna Drezen (Okay Get Home Safe!!). I’ve heard Emmy’s show as an album already and it’s really funny and Anna is one of SNL’s best writers.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Me and my writing partner Kat Butterfield (of Northern Power Blouse – a sketch group also up in Edinburgh this year) are developing a lot of TV projects, so a dream situation would be to have one of those in production.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Keir: Much like I imagine a grouse feels as it enters into shooting season. I would love to tell you that I felt healthy nervous anticipation and excitement but despite this being my 15th Fringe at this stage it’s all angst, baby – pure, unadulterated angst…
Jojo: Excitement mixed with nerves and flashes of blind panic!
Jay: It can’t be that time of year again surely? It feels like I just finished last year’s show. It’s one of my favourite times of the year as I live in Edinburgh, so it feels like all your pals come up to your but for a month-long party. Although this year’s party might be somewhat tamer than the last few…
Paul: Every July, I have the same feelings of deja-vu, mixed with disbelief that another Fringe has come around so quickly. On top of that there is a mix of anticipation, fear and excitement.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Keir: I have a new play called Madame George about a psychic. I wanted to explore the nature of the things we choose to believe and how bitterly we will fight for those beliefs even when all evidence is to the contrary. Essentially, it’s about delusion which I feel is a very topical right now.
Jojo: A smart political observation of Brexit and Scotland’s place within that, beautifully disguised within the mind of a delusional psychic.
Jay: I am really lucky to have two Fringe shows with the Gilded Balloon this year. Alongside my 3rd solo show Jay Lafferty: Jammy, an uplifting show that turns the concept of luck on its head. I am also treading the boards as an actor. I was delighted to be offered the part of Jane in award-winning writer Keir McAllister’s brand-new dark comedy Madame George. The premise of the play is ‘a psychic in a slump’; a satirical examination of isolation and delusion with a subtle nod to the social and political stramash of ideas about identity in contemporary Scotland. I have had real fun getting into the character who isn’t all that she first appears to be.
Paul: I am doing two shows this year. I am acting in Madame George written by Keir McAllister, a dark comedy about our own delusions with a nod to the political stramash we currently find ourselves in. It’s on every afternoon at Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose. My solo stand-up show 60 Minutes To Save The World, which is at The Stand’s New Town Theatre is all about trying to find positive solutions to all the challenges civilisation currently faces such as Brexit, Trump, Climate Change and the current state of Scottish football.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Keir: Funding, funding, funding. If it wasn’t for the wonderful Korens (Katy & Karen) at the Gilded Balloon co-producing this with Watch This space Productions (as they did with last year’s hit The Bench) this play would simply not be on.
Jojo: I genuinely can’t think of any; I get to spend my days playing around with some of my favourite people.
Jay: As hinted at early by the curb of my partying comment – I will be 7 months pregnant by the time August rolls around – eek! This is my first baby so I have no idea what I’m letting myself in for also just to make it super fun all my venues include a lot of stairs so if you see a pregnant lassie sitting on stars don’t worry I’m just having a rest. I have had to consider my mobility, stamina and costume for hiding said bump during the play.
Paul: Finding enough hours in the day, and enough days in July, to do all the shit that needs to be done before the start of August.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Keir: My attitude to the Fringe changes every year. Because I live in Edinburgh, I see close-up how the Fringe evolves and changes. I think one of the main changes is that the expense for performers has risen dramatically. That needs to change if the Fringe is going to be sustainable and inclusive. It can’t be allowed to become the privilege of those who can afford it. Performers and venues must respond to this too – an example this year is both The Monkey Barrel and Gilded Balloon offering half hour slots for performers. I think this is great idea.
Jojo: I’ve been participating in the Fringe for over 20 years and not one has been the same, it’s always wise to go into it with an open heart and mind (I’m quoting from the play!) but I do believe that in real life.
Jay: I have become more aware of the industry side of things – the potential to make amazing connections that can bring you amazing opportunity outside of the Fringe. Last year Keir’s play was picked up by one of the biggest international publishing companies Josef Weinberger Ltd. when you have an experience like that it just reminds you that you never know who is sitting in that room watching you so every show has to be the best show you can do – ha! – nothing like adding a bit more pressure.
Paul: Every year, the older I get it seems to come around a lot faster than it did before. Is it really 2018 already?
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Keir: All the cast of my play are also doing solo shows and they are all brilliant so I’m going to recommend them – Jojo Sutherland: Riches to Rags, Vladimir McTavish: 60 Minutes to Save the World and my wife Jay Lafferty’s show Jammy.
Jojo: Well I’m going to egotistically recommend my solo show Riches to Rags, Gilded Balloon, Teviot 4.15pm.
Jay: Oh wow! I have so many friends performing someone will get mad for me missing them out. I would love to recommend Liam Withnail: Homecoming at Monkey Barrel Comedy. I have been doing my preview runs with Liam and his show is brilliant he gets better every year. Also, it’s not a show but do yourself a favour and visit one of the Bross Bagel pop ups at Gilded Balloon’s venues – they are the best bagels I have ever tasted – you won’t regret it!
Paul: Glasgow is very nice at this time of year.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Keir: Right now – I think just anywhere not having anxiety dreams about doing another Fringe… but I think we know I’m going to be right here, doing exactly this.
Jojo: Alive.
Jay: Wondering how I’m going to get through the Fringe with a 10-month old on my hip? A themed mother and baby show perhaps? I doubt it though not with my penchant for the potty mouth.
What are your feelings as you enter into
this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
We are ramping up to
Edinburgh! Pumping the hair dressing show playlist currently via Spotify. We
had a gig in Exeter and Barnes over the weekend and we are very much looking
forward to the late night shenanigans that our 10:40pm spot will bring.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh
show this year?
Pamela Jones has
come face to face with herself… in the Stylist of the Year Competition. The
audience participate as hair models. All haircuts are consensual…
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d)
while putting this show together?
The biggest
obstacle are how many versions of the show there are. We are currently sitting
on number 5! Makes for some serious brain melt remembering which universe we
are inhabiting.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe
changed at all in recent years?
I think it’s good
to go up with positive vibes and an open mind. You never know how it’s going to
Pam out. (Ugh)
Do you have any other Edinburgh show
recommendations?
Yes! Medea Electronica: Pecho Mama, Witch Hunt: A & E Comedy, Josh Glanc: Glance You For Having Me, Lucy Hopkins: Ceremony of Golden Truth, Faulty Towers: The Dining Experience.
Where? Assembly George Square – The Blue Room (Venue 8)
When? 22:20
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I’m really excited to bring Séayoncé back to the Fringe this year, contact some spirits, sing some songs have a hot festival romance. Last year I met so many amazing people I’m excited to reunite with them and meet new people this year, especially because this year there is such an amazing number of queer performers coming up! I’m also a little nervous this year, I am at Assembly in a large venue and there is more pressure and expectations as it’s my second show!
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Well it’s a comedy cabaret séance run by the legendary Ghost Whisperer Séayoncé. We will contact the dead, read some futures, spirits will take me over, practise a little voodoo, I’ll sing some songs all with a sprinkle of sordid hilarity. This year we focus on our notions of good and evil, the strength we find from our identities and what it’s like to date the Devil. I’m excited to take the Fringe audience to the darkest depths of the spirit world.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
I think the biggest obstacle is getting past the negative voices in your head when creating. Last year I went into the festival with no ideas or predictions on how well the show would do, and I was incredibly lucky and had a great Fringe and after toured the show to venues and countries I could never have even fathomed I would be in. This year is more stressful because people know about the character and there is more pressure to create a good show, and we all know sequels are the worst obviously not including Sister Act 2.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
My attitude towards the Fringe has changed but I still see it as an amazing opportunity; it has honestly propelled me forward in my career. But as a sole performer who personally funds everything themselves, it is so expensive and such a struggle to get your show together and perform up there for a month. I wish there were more schemes or that it was cheaper so that it could be more accessible for performers, I speak to so many incredible artists who can’t afford to take shows up.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
There are so many amazing queer performers going up this year with incredible shows. One who I particularly love and am constantly inspired by is Xnthony who is bringing up their show Confirmation to the Pleasance this year. Definitely worth checking out the show, as a performer they are constantly challenging and evolving the queer scene in London and I can’t wait to see the effect they have on the fringe this year.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I would love to be touring Séayoncé around the world, performing to all different types of people who are in need of drag, cabaret and alternative character comedy. I would love to carry on meeting amazing performers and collaborating and being inspired by all the hilarious creatures in the world.
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One (Venue 33)
When? 18:00
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
It is so exciting. It’s been 10 years exactly since I first went to the Edinburgh Fringe and doing my own show there is such a dream come true. I’m also terrified, in a nervous ‘oh shit I’m going to Thorpe Park and I may vomit on the big ride way.’ So, excited and scared. More scared now I have thought about it.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Little Miss Baby Angel Face is an exploration of my love for tragic situations and the relationship with my Mum. My mum and I are two sides of the same coin. My mum currently has ghosts in her house and thinks in a past life she was on the Titanic, where I wrote and performed a monologue about being sexually abused and performed it at school (TOTAL LIE & also VERY creepy)! In reality her Mum ran a ‘drama school’ from their house (from when she was small) and clearly the drama continued outside of her work! Sincerity is what the show tackles and my completely in ability to be sincere when it is most required.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
It turns out a lot of things I have assumed that are super relatable, ‘we all know that moment when’ bits are very much a me only thing. Like seriously no one else’s Mum has told them about their past lives. Weird huh!?
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
This will be my first solo show, so I have always had different Fringe experiences. What is lovely is feeling more and more a part of it as the years go on.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
So many. Heidi Regan never fails to make me laugh. Sunil Patel and Jordan Brookes are comedy gods and of course I cannot forget the sweet comedy angel Rosie Jones.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Living in a world where large foreheads and powerful calves are seen as important assets.
What are your feelings as
you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Like every year I am incredibly excited for the Fringe, but with a healthy dose of anxiety, fear and worry. But, all in all, very excited.
What is the premise of
your Edinburgh show this year?
The show this year is about whether or not the child version of me would be happy with the man I grew up into. And whether any of us know what we’re doing. Which we don’t.
What is the biggest
obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
I did an away weekend with
some friends and there was a warped wall that was particularly hard to scale.
Has your attitude towards
the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
The longer I’ve been in comedy I’ve found the Fringe more and more fun. I essentially get to spend the entire month with people I like and don’t get to see as often as I’d like.
Do you have any other
Edinburgh show recommendations?
There’s an absolute glut
of great stuff at Edinburgh this year. But I think Rosie Jones, Tarot, George
Fouracres and Rachel Fairburn will be class.
What are your feelings as you enter into this
year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Excitement and fear. I had a traumatising experience with a stalker after my last show Back 2 Basics in 2017. I had to take a break from going on stage. For that reason, at last year’s Edinburgh I just did a work in progress show. I feel like I have been building up to this Fringe for two years. The silver lining is, I feel more prepared and comfortable with this show than I have in previous years.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this
year?
Fighting back against the
cruel treatment I’ve experienced as a marginalised person. I have an invisible
disability. I’m Bipolar. The state treat us cruelly by cutting our vital
support services and making it difficult for us to claim the benefits we need
when we are unwell. Individuals and sometimes whole groups of people can be
cruel due to misunderstanding of mental health issues and the stigma around
being diagnosed.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while
putting this show together?
Getting the money I need to produce it. I applied to the Arts Council but so far have been unsuccessful, so the show is mostly self-funded. Lots of kind people supported my crowdfunder and there have been donations at preview shows. I feel mission-driven to do this, so I don’t mind working hard to get the money for my show. It’s just hard to get the balance between doing waged labour and my labour of love. I believe when there is a will, there is a way. I’ve managed to get the costs covered, without selling my gold. I’ve sacrificed little luxuries like my TV subscription and Licence, a social life and most difficult of all, pedicures! On the positive, I’ve managed to (mostly) quit smoking, I’m also drinking less alcohol and more water.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I fall more in love with the Fringe every year. I have been coming now since 2013. Last year I left early and went on holiday to Greece, which was awful! I just didn’t feel right not being at the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s my spiritual home!
Do you have any other Edinburgh show
recommendations?
Yes, and they are all by people who’ve experienced mental illness; Laura Lexx: Knee Jerk, Juliette Burton: Defined, Dave Chawner: Mental, Fern Brady: Power and Chaos, Alfie Brown: Imagination, Tony Slatteri: SlatteriWill Get You Nowhere, my indigo sister Clare McCartney in Working-Class Progress with Backenders, Mags Mchugh in Blacksheep, My director Phil Nichol: Too Much.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Here, there and
everywhere. I’m a gypsy at heart. Most of all, I’d like to be in my happy
place; expressing myself through comedy, producing socially conscious creative
projects and guiding others as a mystic.
Where? Just the Tonic at the Caves – The Fancy Room (Venue)
When? 20:50
What are your feelings as you enter into this
year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I’m really excited actually. This may change when I arrive in Edinburgh to discover my accommodation doesn’t exist, or my venue smells of dead rat but for now – it’s all gravy baby!
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this
year?
Celeb impressions like you’ve never seen them before. Nigella Lawson defrosts meals in her bathtub, Adele sings her heart out over a custard cream and Melania Trump joins the Spice Girls.
What
is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show?
I tried to use a head mic on my 4th preview in London. On the day of the performance, the particular mic-tape I needed had not arrived from Amazon. So I decided to use my initiative and be really clever (stupid) by using surgical tape instead. Sadly, despite my optimism- it did not stick the mic to my face (what a surprise, they shout) and instead allowed it to flap around like a third arm. But don’t worry, the correct tape is now in use and performing wonderfully.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at
all in recent years?
I now get excited at the thought of going straight home after a show and eating a Deliveroo’d Pizza Express in bed. Though I will still cry with FOMO if I see anyone I know heading somewhere fun whilst I stand waiting for my taxi to take me back to nana-ville.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show
recommendations?
Abandoman is a Fringe classic. His incredible hour of improvised rapping will leave you a little astonished. Austentatious for true improvisational gold and Newsrevue, obviously… sketch comedy at its absolute finest.
What are your
feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Excitement. I think that is the number 1 feeling. Bringing my 3rd solo show to world’s biggest arts festival and performing it for 26 nights to paying punters is an absolute privilege, I think remembering that will help me to enjoy it more.
What is the premise
of your Edinburgh show this year?
Not much of a premise. I’m just going to tell some funny
stories of what’s going on in my life recently. In the last year I have turned
30, got engaged, booked a wedding, been to Australia, made my TV debut and
subsequently had my first twitter troll.
What is the biggest
obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
People telling me I need a premise.
Has your attitude
towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
No, not in the slightest? Should it have? I didn’t even know
what the Edinburgh Fringe was until 2012. My attitude is always just go up and
try to make people laugh.
Do you have any other
Edinburgh show recommendations?
Josh Pugh, Mike Newall, Rosie Jones and The Delightful
Sausage. Bit of something for everyone there. All very different, all very
funny!
Where would you like
to be in a year’s time?
I think I’d like to move in to a 3 bed semi-detached with a driveway and possibly 2 ovens (obviously in Wigan).
Where? Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just The Bottle Room (Venue 288)
When? 14:10
What are your
feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I spend July in France hanging out with my kids and visiting
with my mother and my sister. While in France, I catch up on books and on wine
and on sleep so that I can be ready to have a great Fringe and have a good time
while I’m in Edinburgh. I’m bringing a new show to the Fringe this year and I’m
really excited to see how it’ll play out.
What is the premise
of your Edinburgh show this year?
In this show, I talk about being French and American, about being Iraqi and having a Dutch last name. Adding to that, I went to schools in Germany, Switzerland and South Carolina. The show is primarily about my personal journey of cultural identity. Along the way, I talk about having kids and being in a relationship, relatives, refugees, school, shoes, ketchup and seat belts.
What is the biggest
obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
The biggest obstacle was actually putting it together, writing the jokes and coming up with material. I decided to do Edinburgh 2019 after I left Edinburgh 2018, and I gave myself the goal of writing a brand new hour. I told myself I’d start working on it ASAP and because I’m great at procrastinating, I didn’t. So the last few months have been a bit stressful but it’s been exciting to see this whole thing shape up.
Has your attitude
towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Before coming to the Fringe, I was afraid of it because I
had heard horror stories about the festival, about how no one was ever going to
come see my show, about how difficult it was to stand out and about how it was
crazy to even try to do Fringe because it would be a waste of time. And then,
last year, I did the Fringe for the first time and I loved it. I had a great
time which is why I’m doing it again this year. There is a lesson here
somewhere…
Do you have any other
Edinburgh show recommendations?
I went to see a bunch of shows last year and school productions,
independent actors and producers, things I’d never heard of before. I saw some
very interesting stuff. I was stunned by the amount of energy, creativity and
fearlessness each production brought in their work. I look forward to seeing
that again this year. Check with me after the first few days and I’ll probably
have some stuff to recommend.
Where would you like
to be in a year’s time?
I think same place where I am right now, I’d like to do
Fringe again next year. It was a great motivator for me to write a bunch of new
material and put it together and try new jokes. I look forward to doing this again
next year.