Steve Bugeja: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018
© Avalon
Who? Steve Bugeja
What? Almost
Where? Just the Tonic at The Caves (venue 88)
When? 15:30
Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?
I really should be, it’s my fourth solo show. I’m actually very excited, I would have thought that by now the novelty may have worn off, but it hasn’t at all, I still bloody love it. The stress of writing a show beforehand is not so fun, but once it’s in shape the excitement to get up there will kick in. The thing that makes me most look forward to it is the thought of all the people who come back and watch me year after year, it is an incredible feeling when you speak to audience members after and they say they’ve come to every show. Hopefully this isn’t the year they decide to stop coming.
What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?
While about to fly back from Japan to the UK I received a text which flipped my entire world upside down, I then had to put my phone onto airplane mode and just sit and think about the consequences of the message. For 13 hours. The show sees my neuroticism unfold as I zoom across the world with only my spiralling thoughts as company.
What was the biggest obstacle you face(d) while putting this show together?
I’ve always done big story shows and I’ve always known what that story was very early on. My first year was all about me hanging out with a prisoner on Day Release, my second was about my tribulations in getting my first girlfriend and the most recent was about me working on an American kids camp when I was 18. But this year I just set out to write a really funny show. No big stories. Inevitably I’ve ended up stringing a narrative though it, so the biggest obstacle was working the opposite way around. Normally I have the story and then build the jokes, this time I had the jokes and have had to fit it around the story.
Who would most enjoy your show?
Genuinely anyone I think. But going by the specific content, you would particularly enjoy the show if you’re a fan of Japanese toilets, overthinking things and Grandads.
Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?
Yes, go and see Alex Edelman, Flo & Joan, Harry and Chris and Larry Dean. Also check out newcomers Heidi Regan, George Lewis and Jake Lambert, they’re all ace.
What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?
The fact that it is willing to sacrifice itself for an entire month so that a load of show offs can come and indulge their dreams. And the castle is pretty cool.
What are your plans for after the festival?
I am going on holiday with my friends where I will not think about comedy for a whole week. And then I’m taking my show on a national tour across the UK in the Autumn.
