Dave Chawner: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018
© CR2 Studios
Who? Dave Chawner
What? Mental
Where? The Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (venue 170)
When? 19:20
Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?
You can never be fully prepared for The Fringe. It’s a bit like taking a cat to the vets – you can do as much prep as possible, but in the end you’ll end up tearing your hair out, running round in circles and screaming while all the while telling yourself ‘it’s for the best’.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
This year’s show is all about mental health (rather than mental illness). The show uses comedy to normalise the conversation around mental health and make the topic fun. Because, let’s face it, whenever the topic of mental health comes up, it’s normally about mental illness. And, of course 1 in 4 of us has mental illness, but 4 in 4 of us has mental health, so why do we focus on illness rather than wellbeing?
What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
Myself! I find it hard to focus. Writing the show takes a lot of concentration and that’s something that I have very little of. I get distracted by the easiest of… oh look, there’s a squirrel!
Who would most enjoy your show?
Anyone that has an interest in mental health. That includes (but not limited to) mental health professionals, students, people with lived experience of mental illness, friends, family and relatives of those people as well.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
John Robertson’s – Sweaty, Sexy, Party, Party
Russell Hicks – Love Song For The Visciously Ambitious
Adam Kay – This Is Going To Hurt
Robyn Perkins – 10, 000 Decisions
Daniel Kitson – Good For Glue
Richard Wright – Virgin
Aidan Taco Jones – 52 Weeks
Sarah Iles – Ghosted
What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?
Let’s face it, Edinburgh is proper beautiful. Like, I mean, real lovely. It never fails to surprise me, when wandering through the streets, if you look up, how amazing it is. It’s no wonder J K Rowling based Harry Potter on this place. And that’s my favourite thing, that at least 10,000 cafes, coffee shops and restaurants claim to be ‘the birthplace of Harry Potter’
What are your plans for after the festival?
I’m going to be touring my new book (which has just been released). I’ve got some filming I’m doing for ‘Stylist’ Magazine and am going back to the radio show I present. It’s The Breakfast Show on Panda Radio – it’s amazing fun and boringly I’m really excited to be back and into the swing of it again.
