What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Paralysed with shakes but also aching to just get up there and start.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s set in a focus group where I play the facilitators and the participants. There are too many wigs to be honest. It’s too much. It’s very wig reliant.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
My own chaotic brain just wanting to put everything I’ve ever thought about into one hour. And also time, because I started quite late.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I’ve never been this scared of it before now. But it’s important not to take it too seriously.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
My improv friends Flora Anderson, Theo McCabe, Nick Everritt and really looking forward to Johnny White Really-Really and Lola & Jo’s shows too.
Where? Assembly George Square Studios – Five (Venue 17)
When? 17:30
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Fright. Uncertainty. Looming bankruptcy.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
I once wrote a film review about a Bollywood movie titled Disco Dancer, that almost had me arrested and only when I could prove I was a Disco Dancer, was I freed. Which is also I suppose a study of The Indian democracy. So the show has Democracy and Disco Dancing.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Almost having to go to jail to get a good story.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Yes. I think of it now more as writing a play. With me acting in the play.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Yes. Loyiso Gola, Nish Kumar, David O Doherty, others.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Very excited for the opportunity to get so much stage time in such a short amount of time, and in one place! My show also starts 11pm though so I’m sure I’ll be forced to deal with some drunken revelers.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
The premise of my Edinburgh show is me hosting a rotating mixed bill of some of the best comedians at the Fringe (who happen to be free at 11pm).
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Although I have been gigging a fair bit since November I haven’t done much MC’ing before so trying to reconcile my act with the role of compere has been a challenge to get my head around but I think I am slowly getting there and it has definitely been really good for me as a comedian.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I studied up at Edinburgh and so have been attending the Fringe as audience member for many years, but coming back as a performer has given me a whole new perspective on things and I am very excited to do a full month of shows and gigs. It feels a bit like going back to University in more ways than one.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Too many to name but all of the comedians performing in Francis Boulle & Friends have fantastic shows on at the Fringe so I highly recommend going to see all of them. You won’t regret it!
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
In one years time I would love to have my first 45 mins ready to perform at The Edinburgh Fringe 2020 – and hopefully people will be laughing.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Trepidation. This show started as a fun, mad (expensive), experiment and it has rapidly got out of hand and evolved into something pretty ambitious. If you can call dying ten mop heads black ambition, we are.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Premise shmemise. Which loosely translates as it doesn’t really have one because we don’t know what the show will be before we start. The audience picks the tarot cards and reads our fortune – we don’t know what cards they will pick, or in what order. You can never see the same show twice. Oh god what have we done.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Having five members that live in two different places isn’t easy. It’s been like trying to organise a hen do but instead of doing a cocktail making class and then getting a stripper we’ve been buying blood capsules and trying to cut down on the amount of nudity in the show
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I think I speak for everyone when I say: depends if we have a good run or not. At the moment we think if you work hard you’ll have a good run but if this show plays to empty rooms then we’ll adopt the standard party line that the Fringe is broken and probably loosely blame the Tories for it.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Lots, and helpfully none of them clash with us: Will Duggan, Rachel Fairburn, Jessica Fostekew, Sophie Duker, Maisie Adam, George Foreacres, Rosie Jones and out of grinding sense of obligation; Goose.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Panicking that we haven’t written enough for our show just like every other year, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I love it. Love watching shows. Love doing shows. It’s the best. It feels like being a student going back to school after the long holidays and seeing all your friends again. But it’s also exam time and everyone is worried and excited about how their reviews will go. But I liked school by the time I was a teenager. Perhaps that’s why I became a teacher.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s a defense of teaching philosophy in schools and democracy in the wider world.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Balancing the silly with the serious is tricky over an hour. Too much silly and people get disinterested, but not enough silly and people don’t have enough fun. One review said, ‘the show is actually quite moving, especially considering it had so many penises in it’ so I think I’ve reached nailed it and reached a kind of golden mean with it.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
In my first year I camped in a tent on the outskirts of Edinburgh. My tent blew away (depositing my pants and flyers about the campsite). I upgraded to a camper van the next year which broke down a lot. In recent times I’ve treated myself to a bed in an actual house. It’s very expensive so please donate generously. I guess that reflects an attitude of being a bit kinder to myself while I am up there.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Chelsea Birkby is excellent. Great punchlines but always with something more interesting going on underneath the jokes. I’m directing Matt Hobs who is doing a wonderful show about science and OCD. Both are highly recommended.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Back at Fringe. I love it. If you’re reading this, you’ve probably been and are a keen comedy watcher and fan. If not, then really do go its so, so much fun. Wish I’d discovered it sooner.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I’m going to be in Edinburgh for the whole month, so I’m aware that this means being away from the family for longer than I’d like. I’ll miss them terribly, but they’ll come and visit, which will give me something to look forward to.
As for the show, Who’s the Daddy Pig? marks my debut solo hour, and I couldn’t prouder of it. I’ve worked really hard to create a show that is a good balance of solid comedy and thought-provoking narrative, which I’m confident the audience will enjoy and find interesting. I also think it’s the kind of show that the industry will enjoy, if I can just convince them to come and visit the Free Fringe. I’m not saying those who have said it’s going to win the Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Award are definitely right, but I think it would nice to know it was at least in with a shot by the right people coming to see it.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Before I started stand up comedy I was an actor and one of my bigger roles was playing Daddy Pig in the stage production of Peppa Pig. Fast forward a few years and I’m a dad for real, with no clue as to what to do. Thankfully I was able to look back at my time before being a Daddy, and who better to learn from than the expert himself? My show, Who’s the Daddy Pig? is a grown up comedy about raising boys with awareness of their unearned privilege in a world that needs more equality, gender awareness & feminism … oh & Peppa Pig!
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
I think the thing I found hardest was making my hour show different from my regular club set. It’s all very well doing joke-heavy sets at amazing clubs like The Comedy Store, The Stand, Top Secret and the like, but I think your Edinburgh show should have something deeper to say about you and your life. I knew the show I wanted to write, and the things I wanted to say about fatherhood, gender issues when raising boys in a post #MeToo world and male mental health as someone who didn’t take to parenting so naturally. The challenge was finding ways to make these topics as funny as the rest of the material. I’ll let you judge for yourselves, but I’m pretty happy with where the show’s at.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I love the Fringe. I’ve been coming for the past eight years, but last year was my first time there for the whole month. As I said, it’s hard being away from the family, but that just makes me want to work even harder whilst I’m here. My show last year was a work in progress of the show I’m doing this year (FringeReview called it a ‘hidden gem of the Fringe’) and between that and the Jewish compilation show I co-run with my good friend, Aaron Levene, I had the best time.
The main change I’ve noticed is how expensive its is to go to Edinburgh. Travel and accommodation costs are preventing many people from attending the Fringe, either to perform or even to come for a short visit, meaning audiences are being priced out of the world’s biggest arts festival. Something’s got to change or there won’t be any Fringe Festival for people to come to. A huge number of artists will leave Edinburgh out of pocket, and in some cases, in debt to their producers and agents. When you take into account all the costs incurred, in some venues it’s literally impossible for the acts to walk away in profit; even if they sell out their entire run. Someone’s making money in Edinburgh, but it’s rarely the acts.
I guess what I’m saying is, come see my show! It’s free to come in, and then you can pay what you think it’s worth on the way out.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Yes, loads…and I’ll tell you on the way out of my show, or my compilation show, Jew-O-Rama (5:15pm at Whistle Binkies on Niddry street – Free Entry)!
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I’m quite slow with DIY, so I imagine it will have taken me about a year to build the trophy cabinet for the Edinburgh Fringe Best Newcomer Award I’m going to be taking home shortly. Whether I’ll have used that procrastination time wisely to write another show remains to be seen, but other than that I’d like to have toured my show, and also still be doing what I’m doing; gigging around the world on the live comedy circuit, continuing to write for television and other comedians and perhaps have increased my profile just enough that people don’t still call me Simon.
Where? Assembly George Square Studios – Four (Venue 17)
When? 17:10
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I am going to be found out.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
In January 2019, a B list French celebrity made the global headlines when he said that a woman once she turns 50 is unlovable and invisible. I turned 50 a few weeks later and mostly just wanted to know if by August anyone would be able to see me. So I decided to put on a show.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Money, kids, time, self-belief, public transport – not always in that order.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I used to work on the other side of the fence – as a person with alleged influence in the world of telly – so it’s gone from everyone wanting me at their shows/parties to more of a ‘Cally who?’ approach.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Where to begin? Flo & Joan, Jenny Bede, Maisie Adam, Luisa Omielan, Sara Barron, Yuriko Kotani for starters.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
In my lover’s arms on a Thai beach. Only kidding. My lovers can’t afford to take me to Nando’s let alone a Thai beach, so I’ll go with doing this again, but with an even better show.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
There’s some trepidation, but so there should be! Who the flip do I think we are just changing lanes on our musical (not that kind of ‘musical) past at this stage of the game? At some level being older makes certain moments land with a thud (most recently when I had an out-of-body experience during a particularly empty preview show watching myself flail around pretending to be a dying robot) and others land a little lighter (namely what other people think as I’m looking less for validation from people). Of course I still want people to come and see it and love it more than their children.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
What begins as a self-help seminar led by frontman Felix Scoot and drummer Lee Delamere, spins out of control and crashes through the wall of ‘lies’ each of them have erected to predicate a life of grasping after something as unnatural and ethereal as the validation of mass-approval, aka ‘fame’. There are songs. There is dancing (both classically trained in tap, ballet and hip hop) so it would be a waste not to show off these hidden talents. We split our britches writing this. That was a lot of fun. Now it’s time to get to work.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Covering our likely losses and justifying the investment. We’re still honing it to ensure that we’re saying everything we want to. We’re basing the show on our experiences whilst not letting the truth stand in our way. As we dug into the writing we found we’ve a lot of complex feelings around the subject matter and we wish the show to serve as the most fun cautionary tale we can muster.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I ran tech for two shows a day back in 2003. That was the last time I was there, so I don’t really have an attitude to the Fringe owing to my inexperience of it. I look forward to answering this next year. Al and I went as punters last year and the scale of it blew me away. Like the Glasto of comedy festivals. It’s overwhelming. I marvelled at the sheer number of creative people out there.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Looking forward to seeing what Spencer Jones and Phil Nichol call fourth from their sick-puppy minds.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
In a position where it doesn’t make sense NOT to bring a show to Edinburgh. Get your head round that. Took me a while and I wrote it only a moment ago. Let’s see what happens this time around…
Where? Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market – Bottom (Venue 98)
When? 17:15
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I am actually excited this time. A stark contrast from my first show, I wanted to run screaming from it.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
My life in the UK after my move from LA for love fell apart. But also about the choices I have versus the choices my parents had, and about control and flatmates.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Is this enough? Is it funny? Do people care? All the same thoughts I have with every set.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Yes, I am more mentally prepared for it than I was my first hour. It’s a beast of a festival and very trying financially, mentally, and physically and I always complain about it, but really it has helped me grow as a comedian more than anything else I’ve done.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Helen Bauer: Little Miss Baby Angel Face, Nick Elleray: Big Nick Energy, Esther Manito: Crusade, Daniel Audritt: Better Man.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
A mixed bag of feelings! You never really know what to expect and it’s always a risk taking a show up to the Fringe. Both artistically and financially!
I’m currently having loads of fun performing the show and so I’m pretty excited to debut it to Edinburgh audiences. I’m hoping they’ll get as much enjoyment from it as I do.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s a character comedy show about a washed up 80’s power ballad singer called Yasmine Day who attempts to put on a concert extravaganza! It borders on cabaret and it’s a really silly late night show.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
This is the first solo show I’ve done and so working alone is always scary. I think when you’re writing with other people you have a sounding board and people to share ideas with. So working on your own sometimes feels harder!
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I think it’s learning to not expect much, or think you’re going to get huge amounts out of it career wise. I think it’s healthier knowing that you’re going to spend the month getting really good at something. I think the fringe definitely helps you to become a better performer and so really making the most of doing that is the best thing you can get out of it.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
There are loads of really great shows this year and a lot of fantastic debut solo shows. Sadie Clark is doing her play Algorithms at the Pleasance,
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I’m having loads of fun with this show and would love to keep doing more things with the character I’ve created. Hopefully she’ll pop up at the fringe next year.