Archie Maddocks: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019
Who? Archie Maddocks
What? Big Dick Energy
Where? Just The Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Bottle Room (Venue 288)
When? 16:50
What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?
Optimism and excitement, but also, for the first time, I don’t really care how it goes. When I say that, I don’t mean that I couldn’t give a shit, but I don’t have what I have had in previous years, which was a desperation of recognition and need for ‘this year to be THE year’. Now, I can honestly say, I’m happier with my show more than any other show I’ve done, it’s the closest to me that I’ve ever been and I’m looking forward to having fun exploring a new show in the greatest arts festival in the world.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
This year, the show is all about existence and reality. I think everyone comes to a point in their life when they begin to question the reality of their situation and life in general, they understand more, but with that extra knowledge, more things don’t make sense – that’s where I’m finding myself at the moment. Asking a lot of questions about the nature of existence, our place in the world, our arrogance as a culture… There’s a couple dick jokes in there too, I try to please the masses.
What is the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Making the darker stuff palatable (and funny without being mined for shock value) and pushing myself to explore things that I never thought about.
Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?
Yeah – I’m not taking it as seriously as I have. In reality, it’s a privilege to be able to go up and bring a show and talk about literally whatever I want. Not everybody gets to do that. There’s a lot of stuff around the Fringe that I think can cloud the mind and bring on stress – sometimes it feels like an obligatory thing for comedians to do; it’s not. It is a luxury and a privilege and I think the less seriously we all take it, the more fun we will have.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Mine – and just go on a random one. Find something that looks absolute shit and see if you’re surprised or not.
Where would you like to be in a year’s time?
Alive would be good, thriving would be great, relevant would be amazing.
GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ARCHIE MADDOCKS: ‘BIG DICK ENERGY’ HERE