Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows

Old Maggie Thatcher has taken the Edinburgh Festival by storm in the last few years, and is bringing her new audience-participation show Margaret Thatcher Queen of Game Shows to the Assembly George Square Gardens this summer. As well as this, she is hosting a club night, Margaret Thatcher Queen of Club Nights, which will be at Assembly Checkpoint throughout August.

1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

That’s easy. Chips, curry sauce and a battered sausage from Central Fish and Chip shop at 4.30am on a Friday night. It’s the perfect way to end an evening. Oh, and the shows too of course.

2) What was  your first Edinburgh show about?

My first show was called Margaret Thatcher Queen of Soho and it was all about how I went from being Prime Minister of the UK to a global cabaret superstar. Although I had done a one nighter a few years earlier when I was Prime Minister… It was called the sermon on the mound.

3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?

I have a very broad and diverse audience, dear. Though I must admit the Tories don’t always like it.

4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?

One of my backing dancers came in late one night, put some chips and fish fingers under the grill and then went to sleep at the kitchen table. One fire alarm, a number of fireman and a trip to the hospital later and everything was fine, but there were a dicey few minutes when some late night fish fingers could have been the end for Maggie!

5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?

I had a wonderful time at Latitude Festival in 2014. We weren’t expecting anyone to come, we lost all our sound cues because the director left his laptop out in the rain, everything went wrong technically, and we had to cut half the ending because we were overrunning so badly, but the crowd didn’t care at all. It was the largest audience we’d played to at that point and they were lovely. We expected things to go so badly for us, but they went incredibly well – much like Jeremy Corbyn in this year’s election!

6) What shows will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?

‘Prom Kween’ by Rebecca Humphries, it’s a wonderful new musical about a non-binary prom queen and features a cameo from Ru Paul (not the real one, alas). Also, it’s produced by my wonderful producer Aine Flanagan. I also want to catch ‘A Super Happy Story (About Feeling Super Sad),’ a lovely little musical play about depression by my collaborator Jon Brittain.

7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?

Money! Lots and lots of money. But after the venue split, agents fees, accommodation, travel, living costs and the entry fees for the various brochures… I guess I’ll have to settle for creative satisfaction.

8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?

I’ll never have a last show, dear! I’ll go on and on and on and on! Watch out for Margaret Thatcher Queen of the Universe coming in 2018!

BOOK TICKETS FOR MARGARET THATCHER QUEEN OF GAMES SHOWS AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017