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.
Where? Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre – Just The Meeting Room (Venue 27)
When? 17:50
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s
Edinburgh Fringe season?
Nervous excitement. I’m proud of where my show is at, I’m
excited to see how it will grow throughout the month, and I’m nervous to see
how it will be received.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Since I was seventeen, I’ve lived by a code: if something
scares me, I have to do it. Join me for a raucous hour of music, comedy, and
bathroom stall graffiti art to find out why.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting
this show together?
The biggest technical obstacle: I have a song in which all
the lyrics are pieces of graffiti from bathroom stalls all around the world,
and I display photos of this graffiti via projector as the song progresses. So,
I’m controlling a foot pedal that switches the photos, as I sing and play
guitar. It’s a lot like patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same
time.
The biggest emotional obstacle: my show could potentially be
categorized as a comedy show that stems from trauma, and I have to relive that
trauma every time I do the show. It’s been exhausting and a major challenge for
me but also hugely cathartic.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in
recent years?
When I first visited the Fringe two years ago, I thought, ‘This.
This is exactly where I should be. This is where I belong.’ It’s taken me
those two years to get my ducks in a row, but I can’t wait to be back.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Sean Patton’s Contradickhead is going to blow people’s minds.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I’d love to be relaxing on some beautiful beach, eating mango, and sitting pretty because this show got filmed as a special, went viral, and got adapted for a hit TV show. Hey, a girl can dream!
What? Joz Norris is Dead. Long Live Mr Fruit Salad
Where? Heroes @ The Hive – The Bunka (Venue 313)
When? 16:40
What are your
feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Ooooohhhh boy, feeling great. Very proud of my solo
show, hope people really like it. Very
much having fun with my double-act show, it’s a hot mess but I think it’s gonna
be ridiculous. Learned a bunch of good self-care Fringe things last year and
gonna be using them again to make sure I don’t get stressed or go crazy. Gonna
see all my good pals, gonna eat scampi in the City Restaurant. Yes please yes
please.
What is the premise
of your Edinburgh show this year?
A man called Mr Fruit Salad has written a one-man comedy
show and wants to perform it. This is odd, because he doesn’t exist. He knows
he doesn’t exist, and doesn’t know how to write a comedy show, so spends
most of the show just trying to get out of his head and convince himself to do
the show. It’s a sort of nonsense musing on connections and anxiety and hiding,
performed from behind a disguise.
What is the biggest
obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
The character of Mr Fruit Salad first emerged as a way of
engaging with live performance at a time when I wasn’t enjoying it because of
some personal stuff I was having to deal with. As such, when it came time to
build a show around Mr Fruit Salad, the show inevitably became about
that stuff, it became a reflection on why I’d invented him and what he meant
and where he’d sprung from, but I really didn’t want it to become a
confessional show along the lines of “Hey, here’s some bad stuff I went
through, isn’t it sad?” I knew it had to be a show that was informed by all
those things, but I gradually learned they needed to be hidden in the background,
and not shown, or it completely undermined what I was trying to do, which was
to build something silly and hopeful out of old hurt. So realising that and
sort of surgically removing the foundations the show was built on and seeing if
it could still stand up without them was the hardest bit.
Has your attitude
towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I dunno, really. I know which bits of the Fringe I like and
which bits I don’t these days. I love it as a creative playground and a place
to share your ideas. And I really like that it’s an opportunity to build new
audiences and build connections and find opportunities to work with new people
over the subsequent year, and make new exciting things. I do like that side of
it, and it’s important. But out of that side of things grows all the other
things, all the ego nonsense and the industry stuff. I find that side of things
hard, the careerism and so on. It’s all got to exist, at the end of the day, so
I just try to let it exist and stick to the bits of it I know I’m good at, and
the bits I know I like. So my attitude hasn’t changed, necessarily, but it has
solidified.
Do you have any other
Edinburgh show recommendations?
Oh boy, so many. I’ve been recommending a show every day for
the last 70 days or so on Twitter, so if you find me @JozNorris you can read a
whole bunch of recommendations there. For this Q&A, I’ll specifically flag
up Ben Target and Ed Aczel, both of whom I’m working with this year and are two
of the funniest, most wonderful people in the world, so check out their solo
shows. I’d also highly recommend Ali Brice’s show – he always makes some of the
funniest shows every year, and this year’s is much more personal and reaches
some incredible heights as a result. And Laura Lexx has become one of my
absolute favourite comedians, she is so much fun to watch and so incredibly
accomplished at what she does. I missed her show last year but am very keen to
see this year’s.
Where would you like
to be in a year’s time?
I try not to plan too much. I think it’s good to be
ambitious, because then it means you’re open to any and all of the good things
that might come your way, but not necessarily to have loads of specific
ambitions, because then it’s easy for them to not work out for reasons outside of
your control and then to look back on them as failures. I’m working on a bunch
of TV, online and radio ideas at the moment, and I’d love it if one of those
took off, and if it did I guess that would become my big project over the next
year. And if not, then in a year’s time I’ll probably be making another new
Fringe show and keeping myself busy that way. I’d like to have been on a nice
holiday by this time next year as well, and I’d like my houseplants and all the
things in my herb garden to be absolutely enormous.
What? Really, Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Real
Where? Gilded Balloon Teviot – Turret (Venue 14)
When? 21:00
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
My feelings are like a like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get but they’re pretty sweet. I’m scared, excited, nervous, sitting on the edge of my seat, enthralled, confused, terrified and so excited I want to kiss a priest.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
The premise is this: In the last 2 years I have become a video game celebrity but my bathtub is in my kitchen. I’m an online hero and a real life zero. What’s real in this weird social media ruled world and what’s fake? I’m asking myself that and at the moment I don’t have the answer. If you think that sounds too heady don’t worry, there will be jokes about my breakdancing vagina.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
The biggest obstacle about putting this show together is putting the show together. I want this show to be really, really, really, really, really, really real and that ain’t easy.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
This will be my fourth time doing the Fringe. I did three consecutive years in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Then for 2 years I experienced what summer is and now I’m back to soak up some more rain, rejection and ramen dinners. After my third year I needed a break from it all and now I’m excited to be back and run around the streets with all the other marvellous nutters who dare to perform in the festival.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
I also highly recommend my other show Lucie Pohl’s Immigrant Jam, a mixed bill stand up show with immigrant comics. I run this show monthly in NYC and am bringing it to the Gilded Balloon on three Thursdays during the fringe.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
In Rome shooting a comedy about a woman who becomes a serial killer to get acting roles. It’s the ultimate #MeToo revenge porn flick. Instead of deep throat it’s cut throat. You’re welcome.
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker Three (Venue 33)
When? 20:15
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
The feeling is positive! I’m really looking forward to showing people what I’ve been working on. I’ve created something that I think will be really fun to watch and also fun to perform, which is something I really concentrated on whilst developing the show
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
My show is an exploration of creative musical comedy and I’ve decided to do this by wearing a full-size keyboard for the entire show, which is physically challenging, but also definitely funny. The show is very silly and I think people won’t be able to see anything like it.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
I think starting the show has been the hardest challenge for me. My act is quite low-energy which is a nice contrast on a mixed bill, but is a challenge in a cold open. Luckily, I found quite a silly way of getting the audience warmed up at the top of the show, which is now one of my favorite bits of the show.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
I think it’s more of less stayed the same to me. It feels more like home every time I go up there. Edinburgh is always a place I go to challenge myself creatively, so I always go up knowing that I’ll come out a better comedian, which feels really great. I think the standard of shows has gone up, which is great as I love seeing my friends and peers produce shows that are really fun and inspiring.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
I recommend seeing my Edinburgh favorites Mat Ewins, Alison Thea-Skot, Ed Night and The Travelling Sisters, but there are also really great new acts you may not have heard of such as Janine Harouni, Sophie Duker, Olga Koch, Jack Gleadow, David McIver and Jack Tucker, they’re all great.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I’d like to be passionate about the next project, I have a few ideas floating about, but I can’t wait for a new challenge. Hopefully this show will run past Edinburgh, so I can perform it around the UK, I’d really like the opportunity to show people the show, who couldn’t make it up to Edinburgh.
Where? Just the Tonic at The Grassmarket Centre – Just The Meeting Room (Venue 27)
When? 19:10
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
A hot mixture of excitement and untimely stress. As a Stand-up Comedian, I am essentially a one–man production team. So I am trying to do the roles of Director, Performer, and Producer all by myself, so it’s pretty full-on! That being said, I am very proud of the show. It’s something I think people will really engage with, so I’m ecstatic that I get to perform it for a month!
Also in my personal life, I’ve been trying to live my best life as much as possible (which links to the themes of the show). So I feel very fit, healthy happy going into the Fringe. I feel ready!
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
Here Comes Your Man is all about paramours, romance and the events of the last year of my love-life. In my debut hour, I talk about my relationship with relationships and about failing in love. It’s a narrative show, where I talk about how weird and romantically intense I am, and how that impacts me. As well as this, I also open up to talk about the need for men to discuss their feelings more.
The show delivers raw anecdotes, emotionally-honest routines and personable tales of finding and losing his first true love. However it’s not a sad show, its celebratory and upbeat and I take my audiences through a confessional yet sentimental journey about learning to turn break-ups into a positive and non-toxic experience. It’s the most romantic show about a break-up you’ll ever hear.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
This show has been a very personal show for me to write. As mentioned, the show main narrative arch is about the rise and fall of my first true love (which actually started at the Fringe last year). So I’ve had to be very honest and open my experiences, and I’ve had to revisit every fuck-up for the last year.
‘An unexpected result of doing a show entirely about love is that it has freaked out of lot of people I have dated. So this show has heavily impacted my life beyond the stage.
So I do speak earnestly about a break-up onstage (and also start a conversation about why male comedians are exclusively talking about their break-ups onstage). This requires me to be incredibly vulnerable onstage and emotionally expose all aspects of my personality. This is a tricky obstacle. However I feel that is what makes the show relatable, to see someone go through the hidden things which we don’t talk about. I’ve had people come up to me after previews to say that the show has touched them; hopefully it inspires to be more open with their emotions and to talk frankly with people. So the obstacles give texture and substance to the show.
Also logistically, it’s really difficult to write an Edinburgh Fringe show about your real-life. I started previewing this show in November. I had the basic concept for what I wanted to talk about, but a lot of the story hadn’t quite happened in my real life just yet. So I would be talking about a story with no ending. It was a bit like that scene in Wallace & Gromit’s The Wrong Trousers, in which they’re on a moving train and Gromit is laying down train tracks as they go. This did allow me to focus on writing the jokes and developing a fierce gag-rate. The ending did eventually happened and I think the end result is quite unexpected and has turned out accidentally perfectly.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Yes, in a way. So I’m a relative newcomer compared to others. So this is my second full-run at the Fringe, so I’ve recently had the transition from comedy fan/punter to Performer. The changes are pretty obvious: I feel a lot more fatigued as a performer and I don’t see as many shows. The biggest attitude shift was, as a punter, i thought and kind of assumed that everyone who went to the Fringe would turn out to be really rich and famous afterwards (you do not). So I suppose my attitude changed into a professional mind-set, and treating it as a job. However my excitement for the festival still is the same, just that the parameters have changed.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
I have so many! It’s hard to limit it to a handful of recommendations. However I think that Laura Lexx will absolutely smash it out of the park with her new show Knee Jerk. I work a lot with Laura and she has been a massive inspiration for my show this year. She can excellently tie an emotive story with the best gag-rate you have ever seen. That’d be my hot ticket that I would recommend. (Gilded Balloon Teviot -The Turret – 5:15pm)
The show I am most looking forward to see, as a comedy nerd, is Tom Parry: Parryoke! I’m a big fan of Pappy’s; they taught me to be anarchically playful whilst entertaining an audience. Tom Parry in particular showed me in his 2015 solo show, Yellow T-Shirt, how to spread pure joy over the course of an hour. I imagine this show will not be any different! (Pleasance Courtyard – Beside – 18:00)
Bec Hill’s new show I’ll Be Bec is a really fun sci-fi /comedy concept. Bec is a comedic genius onstage and an utter delight offstage. I can’t imagine anyone not enjoying this show. (Pleasance Dome – 10Dome – 17.40)
Alice Fraser – Mythos. Alice is a Fringe show champion. Her writing is impeccable, she’s incredibly intelligent and her ideas are so innovative. Her shows can be utterly moving too. I can’t wait to see her next instalment. (Gilded Balloon Teviot – Billiard Room – 20:45)
Michael Legge: The Idiot – Michael is one of the loveliest people in the world and an utterly wonderful comedian. His last show, Jerk, was a masterpiece and always think about some of his quotes on a daily basis. I will never tire of watching Michael’s shows. This show will be a delight (if you find an angry Irish man delightful). (The Stand Comedy Club 1 – 12:00)
Finally – Sean Morley: I Will Soon Be Dead and My Bones Will Be Free To Wreak Havoc Upon Earth Once More – now, when people ask me for recommendations, I ALWAYS want to say ‘Sean Morley’. However, I know a lot of people who are going to Edinburgh for the first time and may not appreciate Morley’s ‘alternative’ vibe. But if I ever meet any comedy nerds, I always wholly recommend Sean’s show. Genuinely innovative and highly hilarious – he creates some of the best and most original comedy to date. I’m convinced he will win award very shortly for one of his shows. Go at your own peril. (Heroes @The Hiive – The Bunka – 15:20)
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
My smart-arse answer would be ‘In the Bahamas, on my private plane with my own entourage, whilst I sit with all my Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards’. However, the earnest answer would be ‘Slowly stressing out about my second Edinburgh fringe hour, but being quietly happy, as I believe it to be EVEN better than Here Comes Your Man (whilst I sit with all my Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Awards)’.
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
The closer it gets the more excited I am. Which isn’t always the case but this year I’ve taken more time to get my show how I want it and hopefully I’ll peak at the right time. It’s also my first time doing Free Fringe (PBH) so again my focus is less on admin or worrying about ticket sales and more on the creative side of making something I’m proud of and that people will want to see!
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
It’s basically just me recreating the 1991 film Hook. I’ve got a bit of the old Peter Pan Syndrome so I put myself in Robin Williams’ (my comedy hero) shoes and think ‘what would Neverland look like if I were Peter Pan?’. Who would be Rufio and the Lost Boys? What would that stupid ass crocodile say to me now I’m older? All told through my usual style of songs, sketches, stand up, storytelling and lots of [friendly!] audience interaction – including the Choose Your Own Adventure Game ‘Drunk Auntie at a Wedding’! Oh and there’s also lots of pictures of my cats Snoop Catty Cat and Bibby Smalls.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
It is a happy and silly show about looking forwards but the writing process meant looking back and using some darker parts of my life and my mind to inspire it. I always want my shows to be fun but sometimes combining that with honest discussions about dealing with stress and anxiety made the initial writing stage quite difficult. But I’m so glad I went there because I think this is the most honest thing I’ve ever written.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
It’s easy to get a bit down about the Fringe because the wealthier acts end up sucking attention away. But having watched dozens of shows down the years and spoken to a lot of other comedian friends I’m so excited to do the Free Fringe this year. The general consensus is that is where the most fun is to be had and the most originality.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Well yeah I’m also doing a live version of my football show/ podcast Jim and Dave Have Lost the Dressing Room. I also love what Lewis Doherty does and the line up in my venue, Globe Bar, is amazing. Just stick around for all of those I’d say!
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
My next show Life: The Gameshow is already at the back of my head shouting to be let out so I’ll probably be answering your questions about why everything I said in 2019 is horse shit but I’ve figured it all out so LISTEN TO ME NOW!
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
I’m excited – it’s really easy to focus on all the scary things – to obsess everyday over ticket sales and bottom lines, but actually it’s a month where I get to do the thing I love doing every day for an hour. I also get to hang out with my peers and see some great stuff. What’s not to love? Apart from the eternal hills, the rain, hours of thankless flyering, freezing to death and then boiling your eyeballs out, watching other people pile stars onto their posters and… it’s all fine. It’s really all great…
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
This year my show is about life as a step parent. Blended families are becoming the new norm now and my life has gone very quickly from gin and tonic to fish fingers and peas. It’s a learning curve. And for some step parents it can be hard to publicly admit that kids are hard work – it’s taboo to say that things aren’t 100% perfect; but for natural parents it’s fine to say your kids are draining sometimes.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Because the show is about my family, I’ve had to be really careful about what I put in it and how far I go with being rude about them! My partner doesn’t give a monkey if I slag him off in my shows but with the kids it’s a different matter. I’ve tried to be really open about what I’m writing about. I haven’t exactly given them veto rights, but I’ve been honest about the things I’m telling people about them.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
A bit, I guess. It’s just so expensive. I love it (despite all those things I said) because I love writing an hour – I love the chance to create a piece of work with a story arc – with heart and soul. But with the price of everything going up I’m not sure how many more years I will be able to do. Ticket prices are having to reflect the cost of doing the show and so it’s harder and harder to get the good folk of the fringe to part with more and more money to see a comic who hasn’t been on TV.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Loads! Sooz Kempner (who has written an AMAZING song for my show!), Myra Dubois, Grainne Maguire, Amy Howerska, Robyn Perkins are all fab comedians to see. Also, Peter Henderson’s Who Did I Think She Was? is going to be a great piece of theatre to see.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
I’d like to write a book. I feel like this show would make a great book or a fun sitcom. So I’d like to have turned it into one of those.