Edinburgh

Jon Gracey: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Katherine Rodden
Who? Jon Gracey
What? Werewolf: Live
Where? Underbelly, Bristo Square – Jersey (Venue 302)
When? 21:05

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

Much better than last year! Turns out doing a high energy audience interaction show (last year’s version of Werewolf: Live) and taking your first play (Courtroom Play: A Courtroom Play) is A LOT. This year we’re being much more sensible (just the one show) so I’m feeling far more prepared. It’s like I’ve done a bunch of training already, though metaphorically. I have not been training physically.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s Werewolf: Live, Becca, but not as we know it. Last year the game was all audience players, and was fun but fairly throwaway. Also last year we did a one-off charity show with comedians playing Werewolf, and they. were. incredible. So the show is now a panel show where the audience watch as very good and funny comedians brutally lie to each other and question everything they ever thought they knew. It’s super fun!

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

The whole journey of taking an existing game and making it into a show has been one of slowly sanding down over many, many years. When we started doing it in 2015 in Australia, it was a full-on, 3-hour immersive theatre experience with food and multiple roles and it was a nightmare. Loads of fun, but completely unsustainable. Our development of it has involved carefully removing elements and checking the house of cards doesn’t tumble down, and then pushing out another Jenga block and seeing what happens. If I may mix my gaming metaphors. So the biggest thing has been keeping the solid core of ‘people trying to figure out who’s lying’ while removing as much of the fluff as possible. We’re pretty happy with where we’ve got it!

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

I actually took a big break, not doing the Fringe from 2014-2017, so when we first came back last year after a long absence, things were really different. The whole tone of it felt more… corporate, perhaps? But our goals have changed, we now have really clear reasons to go and clear goals we want to achieve, so it’s less of a wild party, running around getting drunk and seeing shows, and more of a month-long professional engagement. Which may sound a little dry but in reality it means taking care of yourself, really thinking about what you want and making the most of it. It’s also insanely expensive! We can’t afford to tit about; it’s got to be worth it.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I’ve heard amazing things about Lois by Lucy Farrett, who is a regular on Werewolf: Live, and we’ve met and cemented friendships with so many great comedians doing this show. Ahir Shah is always a delight, Stevie Martin (another of our regulars) is excellent, Nish Kumar is brilliant, Nick Helm will always be a barnstorming presence. I’ll definitely be at all their shows, and excitingly we’ll get to meet a bunch of people there and find out what cool stuff they’re doing!

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

Our big goal is to get Werewolf: Live on TV. We’re getting there, but in a year’s time? On that box. Or Netflix. Or however TV works these days.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR JON GRACEY: ‘WEREWOLF: LIVE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Kevin James Doyle: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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Who? Kevin James Doyle
What? Loud Blond Bald Kid
Where? Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 – Marquee (Venue 151)
When? 13:45

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I am excited to be coming back; my first Fringe was 2017 and I was going in completely blind. I think I will be much more prepared this time around and also have a better understanding of what I am trying to accomplish. And I am excited to see other shows, some of the shows I saw in 2017 have still stuck with me so I am just excited to explore what is there and be inspired by it.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It is an hour of stand-up and storytelling about adolescence and growing up. I found a journal from a theater camp I attended when I was 15 years old and it is so painfully earnest. I started to read some excerpts from it onstage and people found it hilarious, especially as I was cringing at how embarrassing it was. Through that I found so much more material about first kisses, bullying kids, getting bullied, pubes, trying to be cool and all the things that we all went through and are glad is behind us.

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

I just filmed my previous show The 30 Year Old Virgin for a comedy special and the best feeling in the world is doing material that works and you are in the zone with. Just a month later I had my first full performance of Loud Blond Bald Kid and it was a great reminder of how much new material doesn’t get better without time and constant reworking. I always was surprised how many tender and emotional aspects of the show I have had to push into, because some of the pain from that time in life can be easy to dismiss and it’s been interesting trying to make those painful stories truthful and funny.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

I appreciate it more than I did before. After doing it once I knew I wanted to do it again and that I had to know what I was going to bring and know that it needed to be good and by the end of Fringe it could be great. We just don’t have anything like this in the US and it forces you to drill down into what you want to say and why that is beyond just ‘I want to be funny’. I appreciate how it challenged you to separate yourself and be in competition with 3000 other shows because it forces me to ask ‘why should they come to your show?’ and then hopefully have a good answer for myself.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Dan Soder and Emmy Blotnick are both amazing New York comedians that people should not miss.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

I would like to have The 30 Year Old Virgin out in the world for people to find and to have filmed Loud Blond Bald Kid as a comedy special and be getting ready to be writing a third hour of stand-up and storytelling about whatever is most important to me at that time. I think I have an hour in me about God and religion, I grew up in a conservative Christian home. And hopefully have more material out there for people to find me and sell more tickets to my shows.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR KEVIN JAMES DOYLE: ‘LOUD BLOND BALD KID’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Eleanor Conway: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Jamie Rowan
Who? Eleanor Conway
What? You May Recognise Me From Tinder
Where? Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters – Maggie’s Chamber (Venue 272)
When? 19:00

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

Very upbeat, my show is kick ass, I cannot wait.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I’ve been single since 2007 and realised that I’m terrible at intimacy, but I’m amazing at sex. So I thought I’d start charging for it.

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

Being a perfectionist. I’m a nightmare getting everything right. I’m a bit intense at the best of times but Edinburgh season really does bring it out of me.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

Not really, I think the days of it breaking an act is over, but it’s a place to get better, bump into old friends, work on a show and create new relationships. That’s the least I expect, anything else on top of that is a bonus.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Go see Garrett Millerick who is a legend and had a great year last year… And my bestie, Daisy Earl who is doing her debut show.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

The same place, this is the best bit.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ELEANOR CONWAY: ‘YOU MAY RECOGNISE ME FROM TINDER’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Tamsyn Kelly: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Rebecca Need-Menear
Who? Tamsyn Kelly
What? Petroc
Where? Just The Tonic at The Caves – Just Up the Road (Venue 88)
When? 20:00

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I’m super excited! This year I’m telling my story, which is something that I’ve always wanted to do, but I’ve never had the confidence or felt ready. So I’m excited that I’m at a point in my life where I’m ready to talk. Of course with that comes huge trepidation, you feel very vulnerable putting your life out there for everyone to see. Hopefully the excitement and trepidation will balance each other out.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My show this year is about how I got to where I am right now. I grew up on a council estate in Cornwall, people from my situation just don’t end up becoming comedians. It made me look back at all the obstacles that I had to overcome to get here. We had no money, my Mum’s in a wheelchair, and my Dad was a violent guy. It might sound shocking, but where I’m from that was normal. What shocks me is how I’ve even got here!

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

I mean jokes about coming from a difficult background are never easy, but there’s a bit of a surprise at the end of the show! I don’t want to give it away, but it does involve a dance. I’ve been learning that bit since March, and every time I do it I feel like I’m getting worse.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

Yes, the more you go, the more it feels like home. It’s easy to get swallowed up in reviews, ticket sales, other people’s shows (I could go on), but this year I’ll just be concentrating on enjoying every show as much as possible. And trying not to fall on my arse at the end.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I feel duty bound to plug my director/boyfriend’s show: Andy Field’s Funeral. Not only is he dying for his art, he’s also got some great funnies in there.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

Thorpe Park. I love it there.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR TAMSYN KELLY: ‘PETROC’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Stephen Buchanan: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Stephen Ullathorne
Who? Stephen Buchanan
What? Baby Dove
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – The Cellar (Venue 33)
When? 20:30

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I’m really looking forward to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. I’m doing my debut hour this year, so it feels like there’s a bit more pressure to do well compared to previous years, but overall I’m just really excited to be going back.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My show is basically about my experiences as a 27 year old man, living with my mum and Vietnamese refugee.

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

The biggest obstacle I’ve faced is just trying to piece together the hour of material and structuring it the best way possible. As it’s my debut hour it’s a completely new experience for me, but one I’ve really enjoyed learning how to do.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

My attitude towards the Fringe hasn’t changed that much in recent years. I still love the experience as much as I did the first time I went. But I guess each year you learn more and become more savvy. The first year I went I had no idea what was going on or how it all worked. Gradually, I realised how important it is for things like building a fanbase, getting recognised by industry folk and generally just helping you improve as a comedian.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

There are loads of amazing shows that I’m really looking forward to seeing this year. A few being – Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Dreamboat; Marc Jennings: Getting Going and Rosco McClelland: Magic Belly.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

In a year’s time I’d like to be retired, on a private island, due to the success of my debut Fringe hour. But if that doesn’t happen I guess I’d like to be working towards doing my second hour.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR: STEPHEN BUCHANAN ‘BABY DOVE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Siblings: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Pinata
Who? Siblings
What? Siblinginging
Where? Underbelly George Square – The Wee Coo (Venue 300)
When? 18:40

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

Disturbingly fine and worryingly excited. Of course, come July the panic will set, Maddy will be crying and binge-eating naked in the corner of a dark room whilst Marina will be profusely hoovering. This is our third year in a row as Siblings so we think we know what to expect but every year is so different, come day one we will be lost all over again like confused ferrets on crack.

What we are happy about is that we think we might be past the stage of playing human whiteboards now (a sketch in our first show where Maddy ran around in a bed sheet with a hole in the top and a silver swim hat to play an ‘interactive whiteboard’… The audience thought she was just having a break down). Maddy wants to bring it back, but we have now written characters who are humans. We love them so can’t wait to get back into our Wee Coo and show them to Edinburgh.

So long as we don’t gain a dad bod from the mac n cheese van outside the venue and destroy our liver with cider, it should be a good year.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Our shows have always been a strange mixture of sketch, character comedy, complete absurdism, trained clowning, classically trained acting and a whole closet full of violently synchronised dance. We both can’t dance, none the less it’s in there against all odds. We don’t have a name for what kind of comedy we have just created…. yet… Our show is an hour of real sisters playing characters from all walks of life, full of insanity and debauchery. It is a lot of fun and we want to suck the audience into our strange minds for an hour and leave wanting to party hard, whether it’s to aggressively dance away their trauma, or carry the full frontal energy we gave them straight to the Underbelly bars.

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

It is very difficult to let go of a show that you know so well. Making a new show is incredibly exciting but also scary. You have to push further to start from scratch and really believe there are more characters and more sketches to be written. We also had a bit of a different year this year where Maddy was working in a big PR company and Marina was in an Ibsen in the theatre being professional, so we had to write late at night and early in the mornings and all weekends to make it work as best we could refusing to not do a trilogy of Siblings shows in Edinburgh!

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

The Fringe changes every year, as do the shows, comedians and especially the way comedy changes itself! It’s very unpredictable which makes it exciting as you have no idea what or who is going to be the talk of the town each year. That’s our favourite part. For us, our main Fringe mantra is to try not to take it too seriously. There is so much that goes into a Fringe show, not just writing it but paying for it, organising it, admin is falling out of every orifice. It is easy to let it overcome you completely, you eat, sleep, breathe, sweat and wee out your Fringe show but once we are there we try to go with each day as it comes and have as much fun as possible. We have gone through our fair share of meltdowns in the years but we have always come out chubby and brave. Also, when in doubt, go to the mac n cheese van.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

SO many. This year is bursting with too many brilliant shows the list would go on and on. To name a few, we love Jayde Adams, Jordan Brookes, Christopher Bliss, Lucy Pearman, Roisin & Chiara, Double Denim, Rosie Jones, Zoe Coombs Marr, Yuriko Kotani. We cannot BELIEVE Celeste Barber is doing a Fringe show and we screamed and fainted when we saw the name Eric Andre in the brochure…

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

O2 Arena.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR SIBLINGS: ‘SIBLINGINGING’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Schalk Bezuidenhout: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Ross Garret
Who? Schalk Bezuidenhout
What? South African White Boy
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker Three (Venue 33)
When? 21:30

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I’m beyond excited! I’ve always loved visiting the festival and I am looking forward to being there this year for the entire month, performing every night! I have done runs of the show now all over the place and it’s a show I am very proud of. I am excited to share this material with people. We also don’t have Urban Outfitters in South Africa and Topshop here recently closed down, so there’s also that.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

No one knows me in Edinburgh, so the premise of the show is to introduce myself to audiences, to tell them a little bit more about where I come from and to poke fun at us and them. And as in every comedy show the premise is to make people laugh. And I am pretty certain the show does that.

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

I think the biggest challenge so far has been putting together an hour that can talk about me and South Africa, but that is still relevant and relatable to someone who is not from South Africa. It’s easy to make someone laugh in your own country. You can fall back on ‘inside jokes’ in a way. The hard part comes in when you need to make people laugh that are not from where you come from or maybe even have no idea that where you come from even exists. You, reading this right now, maybe even thought that South Africa refers to the Southern part of Africa. Surprise! It’s a country!

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

I have only been there once. This will be my second year. My impression of the Fringe is that it is a great festival, which offers amazing opportunities for all levels of comedians from all over the world. But when I wake up after a long night of partying with the other comedians my attitude towards the festival is slightly different to when it is when I don’t have a massive headache.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I stumbled across Josh Glanc and Eli Matthewson. Those are the best kind of shows. The ones where you just think the poster looks interesting or someone recommends it to you and you walk in not knowing what to expect. The guy who was flyering Josh Glanc’s show just said to us: “At some point he licks a dead fish.” And I thought: I have to see this show. Who doesn’t want to see someone licking a dead fish?!

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

Well, in a year’s time I hope to be answering these same questions again regarding my second international one man show at the Edinburgh Fringe. I’d also, by then, like to be able to grow a full beard.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR: SCHALK BEZUIDENHOUT:‘SOUTH AFRICAN WHITE BOY’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Police Cops: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Guy Sanders
Who? Police Cops
What? Badass Be Thy Name
Where? Assembly George Square Studios – One (Venue 17)
When? 21:20

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

It’s always a weird feeling. I’m 50% ‘can’t wait’ and 50% ‘can definitely wait’. It’s always an amazing feeling finally presenting something that goes down really well, but then the thing has to be ready in time so there’s this looming countdown going on simultaneously. It’s like if you were really excited about doing a tax return.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

A kitchen sink drama set in Manchester 1999 morphs into a badass vampire slaying epic (cliche I know).

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

It’s our first show not set in the ‘police cops universe’. Our first show was a 70’s inspired buddy cop action movie on stage, and the next show Police Cops in Space is an 80s inspired sci fi , which is the sequel. So this is the first show we’ll have done completely independent of those stories which is a challenge but also creatively very freeing which has been great. The biggest obstacle was probably making that initial decision of what our new big idea was going to be.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

We used to not really fully comprehend how great an opportunity Edinburgh Fringe can be to exhibit your work and really get it out there. We started off doing it for a bit of a laugh, now we know what a great platform it can be, which is why we do as many shows as we can.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Nasi and Burt at Summerhall with The End. Antler at Summerhall with Civilisation.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

In a rehearsal room with natural light that isn’t also underground.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR POLICE COPS: ‘BADASS BE THY NAME’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Jamie Loftus: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Callie Biggerstaff
Who? Jamie Loftus
What? Boss, Whom is Girl
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand(Venue 33)
When? 22:45

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

Fear and inferiority and excitement. That’s very negative, probably, and I will work on that.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My show, Boss, Whom is Girl, is about corporate feminist CEO named Shell Gasoline-Sandwich who is using in-home Alexa-like devices to spy on her customers. Like a lot of people in her position, she’s constantly appealing to her audience’s sincere views to sell them something that is absolutely trying to kill them, or at least sell video footage of them naked to Halliburton and Gatorade. It’s also a comedy.

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

Research! This was the first show I’ve done that required a lot of external knowledge — for Boss, Whom Is Girl, it was a lot of reading and some interviews about surveillance technology, how it’s weaponized and watching how successful female CEOs have leveraged pretty reductive identity politics to service their business versus people. I have worked in research and journalism almost as much as I have in comedy, so finding a reason to combine the two was a lot of fun for me and I think ended up serving the show’s specificity. I’ve never had a show with a bibliography before, and if that sounds boring it’s because it is but please come see it anyways.

Another thing I went back and forth with is whether finding empathy for this cartoon villain of a character was worthwhile, and ended up deciding it was. There is a quality I find very interesting in corporate feminists to be either doubly evil or more sympathetic and it changes all the time.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

This is my first time going, I am a dumb baby and don’t know anything.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I’m really excited for The Living Room with Amritha Dhaliwal and Gemma Soldati, it’s one of my favorite shows I’ve ever seen anyone who doesn’t go is a fool. I’m also psyched to see Courtney Pauroso’s Gutterplum, Mary Houlihan’s Me & Jack, Catherine Cohen’s The Twist? She’s Gorgeous!, Langston Kerman’s The Loose Canon and Anna Drezen’s Okay Get Home Safe!

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

I truly could care less which means I should be back on Wellbutrin.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR JAMIE LOFTUS: ‘BOSS, WHOM IS GIRL’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Heidi Regan: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Steve Ullathorne
Who? Heidi Regan
What? Heidi Kills Time
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Beside (Venue 33)
When? 16:45

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I’m more relaxed than last year, but now I’m getting panicked that the relaxation is a horrific mistake and I will be filled with regret and an unfinished show. So I’m nervous about how relaxed I am, which is why I can’t have nice things.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Someone pointed out to me that a disproportionate amount of my jokes were about time travel so I decided to really lean in to that. I love sci fi and fantasy and very silly jokes and it happens to mix well with my growing terror of the future. Basically it’s my brain obsessing over decisions and making the wrong choice and an apocalyptic future and using time travel to process that. Sounds fun, right?!

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

Lots of attempted interference from TEC, the Time Enforcement Commission first documented in the Jean-Claude Van Damme documentary Time Cops. They don’t want me to reveal too much about the extent of time travel going on. Bloody politics!

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

I used to go every year as a punter and thought all the comedians looked like they were having constant fun. Now I’m doing shows I realise it’s mostly terror and stress but I guess that’s because it is a job. Hopefully that will change as I get more confident or give up on any career?

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes loads that I will tweet in the week leading up to it. I can’t handle the pressure of picking just a few for here and accidentally missing some. Why would you think I was ready for that kind of responsibility? Why?

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

In a meeting in the White House being quizzed/interrogated on how my show got so many things right about time travel!?!?!?! Then I imply that I know even more but I can’t explain, they just have to trust me and make some key policy changes. But then I go mad with power and eventually I’m stopped by a future me! Hopefully I can fit all this around doing Edinburgh again next year as I’d like to do a very silly and low key show.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR HEIDI REGAN: ‘HEIDI KILLS TIME’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019