Maria Shehata

Maria Shehata: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Phil Provencio
Who? Maria Shehata
What? Hero
Where? Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market – Bottom (Venue 98)
When? 17:15

What are your feelings as you enter into this year’s Edinburgh Fringe season?

I am actually excited this time. A stark contrast from my first show, I wanted to run screaming from it.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My life in the UK after my move from LA for love fell apart. But also about the choices I have versus the choices my parents had, and about control and flatmates.

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

Is this enough? Is it funny? Do people care? All the same thoughts I have with every set.

Has your attitude towards the Fringe changed at all in recent years?

Yes, I am more mentally prepared for it than I was my first hour. It’s a beast of a festival and very trying financially, mentally, and physically and I always complain about it, but really it has helped me grow as a comedian more than anything else I’ve done.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Helen Bauer: Little Miss Baby Angel Face, Nick Elleray: Big Nick Energy, Esther Manito: Crusade, Daniel Audritt: Better Man.

Where would you like to be in a year’s time?

Shooting my sitcom!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR MARIA SHEHATA: ‘HERO’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Maria Shehata

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1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?

When I was a kid we used to take summer vacations with 8 different families and it was the one time of year I got to be around all my close friends and family in one place. That’s a little what the festival feels like to me. 

2) What is your first Edinburgh show about?  

It’s called Wisdomless about my whimsical move to the UK from LA for love, and the realities that followed.

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

I think everyone enjoys me as long as they’re less than three drinks in.

4) What would be your worst Edinburgh accommodation nightmare?

I think my worst nightmare accommodation would be, and I’ve only heard, living with other comedians while some are doing well and others are struggling. I imagine it would be like being in the middle of a break up while your roommate is falling head over heels in love. It takes a special kind of person to not let that bother you.

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

Watching an Irish band play at a smokey bar in some secret-y location of a high rise in Ramallah. I was in Palestine because the US Consulate had invited me to perform and they were escorting me everywhere. I felt like it was all slightly dangerous until I saw these Irish people just there chilling.

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

Sara Pascoe’s Ladsladslads.

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

I have been living in the UK for a year, and feel like it’s a necessary evil when doing comedy here. Not that it’s evil… It is a little evil.

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

Considering this show is about what is happening to me right now, I imagine all shows after will be the same, so my last show I will be Skyping in from where I’m about to die, and as soon as a joke does well I’ll say “thank you goodnight!” And die.

BOOK TICKETS FOR MARIA SHEHATA: WISDOMLESS, AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2017