Edinburgh Festival

Carl Donnelly: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Avalon

Who? Carl Donnelly
What? Strictly Carl Donnelly!
Where? Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, Ballroom (venue 170)
When? 18:45

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

I’m always prepared. This is my tenth year of doing solo shows so I’m a hardened veteran these days. I’m like Tom Berenger in the film ‘Platoon’. I have a thousand yard stare that suggests I’ve seen a lot of comedians die over the years. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s quite a simple show to be honest. It’s about how I’ve changed in my decade of coming to the Fringe. When I first came up I was a mid-twenties working class South London lad who was more interested in getting drunk than anything else. Now I’m a 36 year old vegan who goes to a farmers market every Sunday and spends almost £5 on a loaf of sourdough bread. I think the show is me trying to work out what I’ve become. 

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

The only real obstacle was that I wrote a version at the start of the year and did some previews. Then I went to Australia, got married and did the Melbourne Comedy Festival where I was performing my show from last year’s Fringe. When I came back to start back to work on the new show, I didn’t like it. I then decided to re-write the show which meant I’ve only really had a couple of months to get it together but I’m much happier with it.

Who would most enjoy your show?

People who like really good stand up comedy.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

An Australian friend of mine Daniel Connell is coming over for his first ever fringe. He’s very funny and I recommend you check him out.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

I love the layout of Edinburgh. If you stand on North Bridge you are ten minutes away from so much. If you walk one direction you’re in the heart of New Town but if you’d gone the other way you’d be nearing Arthur’s Seat. It’s a perfect city for exploring.

What are your plans for after the festival?

I always go somewhere very quiet for a week to decompress. Last year me and my wife went and stayed in a hut in South Portugal with no electricity or phone signal. It was exactly what I needed after a month surrounded by so many people. We’re still planning this year’s trip. I’ve got my eye on a cottage in the west of Ireland.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR CARL DONNELLY: ‘STRICTLY CARL DONNELLY!’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Sleeping Trees: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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Who? James Dunnell-Smith
What? Sleeping Trees: World Tour
Where? Assembly George Square Studios (venue 17)
When? 21:40

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

We hope so! This is our ninth consecutive Fringe so we like to think that we know what to expect these days. That being said we seem to learn something new every year like; ‘I wish we’d known we were going to exclusively eat food from a deep fat fryer all month’ or ‘I wish we’d prepared for incessant bagpipe playing outside our flat’.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s called Sleeping Trees: World Tour and it is a sketch show with a story. The premise is the three of us have taken the last 12 months off to go travelling around the world, and the show is what happened to us on our travels. It’s probably our most surreal show to date as we’ve tried to combine action, music and physical comedy into one big beautiful mess.

© Mark Dawson

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

It’s the first show we’ve made that isn’t a straight ‘comic play’, it’s a story within a sketch show so the process has been completely different for us this year and that’s been a real challenge. It’s our ninth show but we’ve definitely been suffering from second album syndrome!

Who would most enjoy your show?

We’ve always had quite a broad appeal, and this show is no different. We appeal to fans of surreal left-field humour as well as more traditional comedy fans who prefer stand-up or slapstick; there is something for everyone in this show. But if we had to choose which demographic would MOST enjoy it, it would probably be the 20-40 age group, largely due to the number of slightly outdated references.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

We do indeed! We’re looking forward to seeing new shows from The Pin, Jordan Brookes, The Delightful Sausage and John Robertson.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The macaroni cheese pies. I mean come on. Macaroni cheese, encased in pastry. What’s not to love?

What are your plans for after the festival?

We have a little time off to recover after Edinburgh this year, then we’re back on tour with this show before we crack on with our brand new Christmas sketch show, The Sleeping Trees Nativity!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR SLEEPING TREES: ‘WORLD TOUR’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Owen Roberts: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Ben Carpenter

Who? Owen Roberts
What? I Let A Six Year Old Write My Show
Where? Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance This (venue 33)
When? 16:45

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

In a word… no. I don’t think anyone is ever truly prepared for Edinburgh, you never know how the show is going to be received. On top of that this is my first Fringe as a solo artist so who knows what that’s going to be like.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year? 

The show is called ‘I Let A Six Year Old Write My Show’ Because that’s what I’ve done. She writes the material and I have to somehow perform the rambling gibberish she’s written. 

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

My Co-writer, she can’t sit still, she can’t concentrate for more than 30 seconds, and she insists we change the name of the show to ‘The Clumsy Police’. To say it has been challenging would be an understatement, it’s been chaos.

Who would most enjoy your show?

Anyone who has to put up with kids and their bullshit. 

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yup, I’m doing a sketch show 16-19 Aug ‘Best of Beasts’ and also my sketch Buddy Ciaran Dowd is also doing his first solo show ‘Don Rodolfo’. Both promise to be a lot of fun.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

It’s bloody beautiful, and there’s lots of cheap whiskey. 

What are your plans for after the festival?

Go on holiday, preferably somewhere where they do cocktails served in a coconut.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR OWEN ROBERTS: ‘I LET A SIX YEAR OLD WRITE MY SHOW’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Sisters: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© James Deacon

Who? Sisters
What? Sisters: On Demand
Where? Pleasance Courtyard, Pleasance That (venue 33)
When? 20:15

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

Yes. We’re living with stand up comedian, Ben Pope, and two university students who are welcome in advance for the torrential punchlines that are going to shake that flat to its very foundations. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Sisters: On Demand is our follow up show to last year’s surprise runaway success: White Noise. It’s the product launch of our own sketch On Demand service, in which we attempt to hand over control of the show to the audience. If all goes to plan then it should run in a different order each day. 

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

We’re pretty big tech users and this year we’ve tried to push that even further than our first show. Trying to create our own functioning On Demand system has proved a mammoth task but we think we’re getting there. There’s a VR bit this year. 

Who would most enjoy your show?

Everyone who can’t get tickets to Mr. Swallow which is on at the same time.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Some of our favourite sketch acts are returning to the Fringe this year like Sheeps, The Pin, Beard and Lazy Susan as well as new double-act Moon, so sketch fans will be spoiled for choice this year. Other than sketch, Ben Pope’s debut stand-up show is a must. 

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

Probably that everything is within walking distance but we still get ubers most days. Very humorous and ironic! 

What are your plans for after the festival?

We only got to perform our first show outside of London a couple of times, so we’d love to take this new show as far afield as possible. Maybe like, Reading?

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR SISTERS: ‘ON DEMAND’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

David McIver: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Sam Nicoresti

Who? David McIver
What? David McIver Is A Nice Little Man
Where? Opium, Upstairs (venue 96)
When? 14:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

I think so! I am trying to spend the preceding weeks exercising regularly, and eating lots of fruit and vegetables, that way I am starting at a position of strength, in order to counteract my body’s inevitable decay. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Every day the audience throw me a surprise birthday party, and, through the medium of silly character comedy, I play a few of the different guests that arrive. I’ve realised in the making of the show that all of the guests are flawed male authority figures, so I think it’s about a shy little man trying to find his place in a world dominated by confident masculinity. But it’s fun!

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

I did a run of shows at the Prague Fringe, and I was staying in this AirBnB that turned out to be a kind of hippy commune. While the idea of this was lovely, my room was being used as a yoga studio most of the time and there weren’t any curtains on the windows, so I was getting back at 3am and waking up with the sunlight every day. I’m all for thriftiness when it comes to decoration, but a man needs his 8 hours. I still gave them a 5 star review out of politeness though, which is an important lesson for all reviewers. 

Who would most enjoy your show?

My target demographic tends to be nerdy millennial losers, like me. The show this year is about masculinity and shyness, so I’m really aiming for that ‘hates the patriarchy, has social anxiety and enjoys stupid absurdist comedy’ Venn diagram intersection. 

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Crizards are great, they do low-energy deadpan sketch comedy. I also love Loose Brie, who do big, fun and silly sketch comedy. Two good double acts who are unlike anyone else. 

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

I love being able to travel the entirety of the city on foot. Every time I get back to London after Edinburgh, I remember how depressing it is to spend large portions of time shooting through an underground tunnel without any natural sunlight. 

What are your plans for after the festival?

I feel like I’ve been working so hard on my show that I haven’t read any books, or seen any movies or TV shows, for about six months. What are all the good TV shows now? I don’t even know. I’ve got nothing to talk about anymore. When I get back I’m going to spend a few months trying to consume some popular culture, so I’ve got a few good conversation starters on dates.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ‘DAVID MCIVER IS A NICE LITTLE MAN’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Charlie Partridge: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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Who? Charlie Partridge
What? I Can Make You Feel Good. By Comparison
Where? Just the Tonic at The Caves (venue 88)
When? 16:50

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

Whatever lows it could have, it cannot possibly be more humiliating than handing out cereal bars for a living dressed in a skin coloured, lycra superhero onesie in a Derby shopping centre. And I have done that.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I’m not convinced that ‘being yourself’ is really the deep down spiritual fix it’s supposed to be. I’d rather be someone else, so I play a talented, absurdist, German beatboxer who lays down some fun tunes for dancing.

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

Finding the time to learn to beatbox between all my promo shifts. It takes a lot of hours of practise to even become mediocre.

© Ollie Harrop

Who would most enjoy your show?

People who enjoy crude stereotypes of Germans – so anyone who loved ‘Ello ‘Ello. I’ve also threaded through a whole story about falling in love. So that gets a bit sentimental, and is saved by more poorly researched caricatures and a orgy story.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Sugar Baby – a one man show about a Cardiff drug dealer. Theatre.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The very big windows in flats. So much light.

What are your plans for after the festival?

I also build immersive events and treasure hunts for a living. I will be designing and building an escape room for the launch of a new Playstation game.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR CHARLIE PARTRIDGE: ‘I CAN MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD. BY COMPARISON’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Leo Kearse: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Will Thompson

Who? Leo Kearse
What? Right Wing Comedian
Where? Laughing Horse @ Espionage (venue 185)
When? 19:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you? 

Yeah totally! I was born ready. I reckon if I wasn’t doing Edinburgh I’d probably be a special forces marine getting sent into the jungle to find out why they keep finding bodies skinned and hanging from trees. I’m like a crocodile. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I used to consider myself a lefty liberal, but I feel that the left has disappeared up its own arse, taking on the worst aspects of the right (discriminating against people based on their demographics; censoring speech; making crimes out of misspeaking). I believe everyone should be treated as an individual and identity politics are reductive and divisive. 

I take a scalpel to male feminists, Labour antisemites, fat activists, environmentalists, white male privilege and #MeToo. I present a robust defence of Donald Trump, celebrate consumerism, break down prejudice against the white working class and show the inherent immorality and impracticality of socialism. If you want to escape the liberal bubble of the Edinburgh Fringe and see a raw, hilariously antagonistic show from a man who can’t help speaking his mind, this is the show for you. 

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

I kept getting really fun well paid work which got in the way of me writing my show and doing previews. Gigging in Australia, Ibiza, Cyprus… Filming in Belarus, Glasgow, London. It was tough finding time to write the scintillating material I’m known for.

Who would most enjoy your show?

Last year I had people coming to my show because they knew they’d hate it. I don’t get that mentality. I had to turn away people who like comedy so that these fat blue-fringed fucks could come in and moan at me for triggering them or having too much white privilege, or whatever. Only come to my show if you like actual funny comedy like Chris Rock, not the crying and trauma-recounting that seems to pass for comedy at the Fringe these days. If you like anything that wins awards in Edinburgh it’s a safe bet that you’ll hate my show.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Hate ‘n’ Live – it’s a late night improvised show. The audience write down what they hate, then the suggestions are pulled out of a bucket and the comedians have to say why they hate it, no matter what the suggestion is. It’s a lot more fun and less hateful than it sounds – the atmosphere is electric as the audience waits to see how the comedian will walk the line.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city? 

It feels really medieval. All these gnarly cobbled alleys and bridges winding over each other. If you squint your eyes you could be an assassin in the 6th century out for revenge against an evil noblelord who skinned everyone in your village and hung them from trees. Then you get him with an arrow right in the neck and he falls over his banquet table, blood squirting over his bodyguards and maidens.

What are your plans for after the festival?

I’m flying off to Ibiza to do a really fun gig for loads of money. Then I’ve got a run of shows in Europe. Then I’ll see if I can get on the telly more and get famous. Then everyone that doubted me will be sorry.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR LEO KEARSE: ‘RIGHT WING COMEDIAN’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Pierre Novellie: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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Who? Pierre Novellie
What? See Novellie, Hear Novellie, Speak Novellie
Where? Pleasance Courtyard, Upstairs (venue 33)
When? 19.15

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

What do you know that I don’t? I think you can only tell in hindsight, really! I’ve girded my loins in the usual fashion: Berocca and an optimistic gym membership.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s satire for people without a team. I don’t have a team and I don’t think I want one.

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

Well, if you don’t have a team and you don’t try to appeal to a particular team, you will be designing a show that deliberately does not please some people, which is hard to parse as an entertainer.

Who would most enjoy your show?

Probably a third-culture kid who has watched too much Netflix.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Ed Night, Fern Brady, Glenn Moore, Sarah Keyworth, Garrett Millerick,, Catherine Bohart.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The architecture for sure – plus how it feels like a big city but retains an intimacy to it as well.

What are your plans for after the festival?

No humour for one month – just living like a robot.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR PIERRE NOVELLIE: ‘SEE NOVELLIE, HEAR NOVELLIE, SPEAK NOVELLIE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Thrones!: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© George Eckart

Who? Ashley Ward
What? Thrones! The Musical Parody
Where? Assembly George Square Theatre (venue 8)
When? 22:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

Absolutely not! I’m directing a musical (Thrones!), playing in a musical (Voldemort) and playing in an improvised musical (Baby Wants Candy). I’m prepared for working really hard but beyond that I have absolutely no idea what will be in store.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

The show I’m directing, Thrones!, is a parody of Game of Thrones. The premise is a bunch of friends and fans of the show acting out all of the seasons so far to catch up their one friend who (unbeknownst to them) has never seen an episode.

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

There’s never enough time!  It’s both an obstacle and a gift because it means you have to roll with stuff. Perfect is the enemy of good. 

Who would most enjoy your show?

Fun, cool people who like to laugh. Unfun people might also enjoy it. Would definitely be a worthy experiment. 

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Ooh so many. I’ll be greedy and list two that I’m in (Voldemort and Baby Wants Candy). Also Austentacious or anything that anyone from Austentacious is in. Anything Trygve Wakenshaw is in. Lily Bevan’s play Zoo. Oh man, so much good stuff.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

The old streets and buildings! And how green everything is. It feels like a magical place.

What are your plans for after the festival?

Heading to Berlin for a visit. I’ve never been to Germany and I’m excited to visit a new place after spending time in one of my favorite places ever.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ‘THRONES! THE MUSICAL PARODY’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Baby Wants Candy: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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Who? Albert Samuels
What? Baby Wants Candy: The Completely Improvised Full Band Musical
Where? Assembly George Square Studios (venue 17)
When? 20:00

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

No. Our show is improvised brand new every night, so the show is brand new to us too. Also, we’re a group from the States, and if Trump hasn’t blown the world up by then, I will be pleasantly surprised that the Scottish don’t try to murder us in our sleep for being American.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

We take a bunch of titles from the audience of the title of a musical that’s never been performed before. The audience votes on the title they want to see and we make it up on the spot. Some previous titles we’ve performed: “Tinder in the Animal Kingdom”, “Fake Newsies”, and “Centaur, Put That Down!”. Of all the audience we play for around the world, the Scottish give us the cleverest, and usually the most demented, titles. Fun fact- most of our band are local home-grown Scottish musicians. They’re the true talent.

© Robyn Von Swank

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

Keeping updated on just about everything in pop culture, history and musicals, since the audience can and does yell out just about anything. We performed an improvised musical a few years ago at Fringe based on the suggestion “Kanye West Side Story”, so we had to know a ton about the Bernstein/Sondheim musical, the Kanye/Taylor Swift feud and be ready to improvise a lot of raps.

Who would most enjoy your show?

People who love musicals… and people who really hate musicals. 

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Daniel Kitson. And Thrones! The Musical Parody.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

I have been to Edinburgh 12 times before for Fringe, and it never feels small. It always feel fresh and new. 

What are your plans for after the festival?

Not sure. You have an extra room?

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR BABY WANTS CANDY: ‘THE COMPLETELY IMPROVISED FULL BAND MUSICAL’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018