The Edinburgh Interviews 2017: Phil Ellis
Phil Ellis Has Been on Ice sees the comic re-awaken before his audience, having been cryogenically frozen since 2014. Ellis’ comedy game show Funz and Gamez is also returning to the Fringe this year, aimed at kids but enjoyed by adults too. Funz and Gamez will be at Just the Tonic at The Community Project and Phil Ellis Has Been on Ice will be at Just the Tonic at The Mash House throughout August.
1) What excites you most about the Edinburgh Festival?
Apart from my increased heart rate when I check my bank balance? Probably just getting to perform an hour of something you’ve worked hard on all year and believe in each day. Getting to see friends and colleagues that you don’t get a chance to hang out with most of the rest of the year and reloading mumbles.com every 10 seconds to see if they gave you a good review or not.
2) What was your first Edinburgh show about?
My first Edinburgh show was in 2013 and it was called “Unplanned Orphan”. It was about me being told at the age of 30 that I had been adopted. The conceit was a ruse and played 100% straight in pre-Edinburgh interviews and Q&A’s. The actual show was about an idiot who was trying to win the main award by lying and attempting to do a moving and introspective Edinburgh show. The show fell apart within the first few minutes with the wrong slide show being uploaded, lights cutting out, begging for cash, a fire alarm going off and causing us to evacuate the venue and me getting my show times confused so when I’m delivering my final moving monologue a man dressed as a bear would interrupt and start “The Bear Show”, which was the next one in my venue. I had flyers made and distributed for an hour a day for the bear show, which didn’t exist. It was a lot of fun and cost me a bloody fortune.
3) Does your comedy attract a certain type of audience?
Idiots and the sad.
4) What is the worst experience you’ve had with Edinburgh accommodation?
I’ve always been quite lucky but once my housemate threw a large piece of ham out of the kitchen window and nearly killed a cat. True story, it was Carl Hutchinson. Prior to that, he’d been told off by the neighbour downstairs for decanting unwanted noodles out of the same window into the communal garden. He thinks he lives in Dickensian London the poor sod.
5) What is your most treasured memory of your comedy career so far?
Going up in 2014 with Funz and Gamez and having a bloody whale of a time.
6) What show will you definitely be seeing at the festival this year?
Non. They can all suck my balls!
7) What do you hope to gain from the Edinburgh Festival this year?
Closure.
8) What do you imagine your last ever show will be about?
It’s probably this one. I’ve run out money and Liver.
BOOK TICKETS FOR PHIL ELLIS HAS BEEN ON ICE AND FUNZ AND GAMEZ: FLOGGING A DEAD HORZE AT THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL