Leo Kearse: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018
© 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.