The Edinburgh Festival

Edinburgh Review: Alex Farrow – Philosophy A-Level

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© Johnny Yates

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Alex Farrow interweaves philosophical concepts and reasoning techniques into his material in such a way that makes philosophy accessible to his audience, rather than isolating those who don’t have a background in the subject. In doing this, Farrow shines a light on how philosophy exists in all aspects of our daily lives. For example, he shows how socratic reasoning has become a common method of communication by using it in recurring jokes through his set.

Farrow then goes onto recount his time spent as an A-Level philosophy teacher, and it is very interesting to be enlightened to the teacher’s perspective, rather than the student’s. The comic shows great sensitivity when discussing race and religion, and in doing so he is able to take the show to places where other comics might not dare. This is because he is regaling his own interactions with young people and coming at it from the objective of helping them think independently, rather than mocking them for what they believe to be true.

The stand-up is intersected with a few rather cheesy, but very well-received, trivia quizzes, a favourite being ‘Who said this? Kelly Clarkson or Nietzsche?’. In a similar vein are the song puns he sprinkles throughout the hour, particularly referencing Kelis’ Milkshake. A little out-dated, perhaps, but they lighten the quite heavily message-orientated show.

Overall, Alex Farrow successfully argues the case for the importance of philosophy in our education system, and he does so in a smart, yet empathetic way. Catch the show at Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire at 12.15pm throughout August.

Edinburgh Review: Tony Law – Identifies

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‘Tony Law Identifies what?’ I hear you ask. Well, according to Law, his show’s namesake could be referring to absolutely anything. Just pick something from the hour of madness; anything.

You can really notice a difference in Law’s onstage persona compared to previous years. From the top, he gives off the same frenetic energy that fans know and love. But Law’s own self-discipline and the structure of the material in general feels far more controlled now. This newfound stability doesn’t take anything away from the comedy itself, however, with Tony covering a characteristically broad array of topics, including time travel, performing for the Russian aristocracy with a violent chimp, and the new addition to his family: a rabbit named Woodstock.

And despite what he tells us, Law can do observational comedy, even if the things he observes are not entirely based in reality. He also utilises his aptitude for accents, dipping in and out of various dialects with such fluidity that we barely notice the transition until it’s already happened.

While last year’s show, A Lost Show, explored Law’s relationship with alcohol and the changes he’s discovered since quitting drinking, Tony’s road to sobriety doesn’t get much of a mention in this latest hour. In fact, Identifies feels as though Law has moved beyond this, and in doing so he invites his audience to really get to know other parts of him.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising, then, that it’s the material about his home life that is most pleasing, as audiences rarely get this glimpse into the everyday Tony, who is a husband, father and pet owner. The way his eyes light up when he talks about his beloved German Shepherd, Wolfy, could stir even the coldest of hearts.

Identifies is a highly energised hour of whimsical observation from a true absurdist comedy powerhouse. Catch the show at Monkey Barrel 3 at 12.15pm throughout August.

Marlon Davis: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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Who? Marlon Davis
What? Emotional Black Male
Where? Underbelly, Bristo Square – Dexter (Venue 33)
When? 18:50

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

Two words! Excitement and dread. This is the time when there’s a lot of sleepless nights, imagining this thing I thought was funny, turns out to be wrong… but I guess that’s the gamble.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Taking a difficult subject and trying to make it funny. In 2016 I was in a coma after trying to get home from a gig. I talk about what happened and also the world I came to back to.

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

Writing it. Following my accident my cognitive skills aren’t as it was. My brain takes a lot longer to organise or communicate my ideas more clearly. But I’m not a quitter, I’ve dug deeper and I’m hopeful that I’ve done myself justice.

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

Nope – I’ll still take each day as it comes and try to enjoy it more this year.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Too many to mention, there’s so many wonderful acts taking shows up to the Fringe this year. I like stumbling and discovering brilliant new or exciting acts I’ve never heard of before. That’s what Edinburgh is all about.

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

In 2020.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR MARLON DAVIS: ‘EMOTIONAL BLACK MALE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Kelly Convey: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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Who? Kelly Convey
What? Telephone Voice
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Bunker One (Venue 33)
When? 19:15

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

I can’t bloody wait to get my show out there and have my Greatest Showman moment of “This is me!” Sure, I’m nervous about reviews and getting audiences in (please come!) but that’s natural and just shows I care.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My show is my coming out moment (I’m straight btw) – my time to have a proper platform to tell everyone who I am and how I came to be here. My show starts with my errant teenage years as one of the original chavs from Chatham, to my twenties as (unbelievably) a high-flying TV Exec to the life-changing decision to become a comedian in my thirties. POW!

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

Doing it justice and really getting my message across – I want this show to be a celebration of my working class roots – they are the reason I have to pinch myself so often. This isn’t a story of struggle, it’s a story of pride.

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

I see the Fringe as an opportunity, a business one, a spring board. I came to the Fringe for the first time 3 years ago, I’d been going about 5 months and was in the final of SYTYF. Being in the final put me in front of agents at a really early stage in my career. The following year I came up to do spots to get a feel for it. Last year, I did my first full month doing 40 minutes, which put hairs on my chest. Now, this year, I’m back, I’ve waxed my chest and ready for the “Big Debut”!

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Rosie Jones, she’s my bae and a knock-out comic (her show is at the same time as mine – that’s how much I love her!). Helen Bauer is also debuting and her whirlwind style is definitely a must-see!

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

Well, I know I’ll be writing another bloody show! By this time next year, I would like to have built my fanbase more and for people to be buying tickets, not because I’m a newcomer they don’t know, but because they remember me and can’t wait to see me again.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR KELLY CONVEY: ‘TELEPHONE VOICE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Tom Ward: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Steve Ullathorne

Who? Tom Ward
What? Popcorn Lung
Where? Just The Tonic @ The Mash House (venue 33)
When? 19:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

I go through waves. In February I was ecstatic, chomping at the bit, texting triumphantly to people. Same in May. Now June is here, the curtains and drawn and I’m watching documentaries about serial killers and cults that went bad, and haven’t spoken to anyone for 32 hours.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

Perspective, and how it changes constantly. The result is that nothing feels real, it’s just stories we have for that particular thing at any given moment that’ll do for now. I am constantly discovering that everything I thought I knew is wrong. Lately it’s meant drawing the curtains to get a rest from that!

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

Deciding how honest to be. It’s always tempting to skim off the top layer of truth in the interest of keeping things nice and jolly. But I’ve got a bit tired of that.

Who would most enjoy your show?

Erm, people who feel unsettled I guess, or that life is not what it seems, or perhaps that things aren’t don’t feel quite right… or that there’s more to life than what middle England seems to strive for, however miserable it makes them (marriage, panel shows, car, kids that play the system). It’s all bollocks. Death is coming. Why waste it?

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Roisin and Chiara, they’re bonkers sketch act with a nice slab of mania and sexiness in equal measure. Fin Taylor, guaranteed to be explosive.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

It’s gothic but with a strangely light touch. Every way you turn it feels cinematic, precise, weather driven, oh and the skies are just insane. The way the clouds drift across the moon. I can’t believe how pretty it is.

What are your plans for after the festival?

Rest for a week, get some sun somewhere, await the dreaded anti-climax of it all!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR TOM WARD: ‘POPCORN LUNG’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Luke Rollason: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Steve Ullathorne

Who? Luke Rollason
What? Luke Rollason’s Planet Earth
Where? Monkey Barrel Comedy Club (venue 515)
When? 14:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

It’s my debut year performing a solo show, which I don’t know how you can ever be prepared for. Stamina-wise, last year was good training. Somehow I survived doing two shows a day (1pm and 12.30am: a wise combination) for the month – and I was lucky enough to perform this show last year in the same venue (The Monkey Barrel) for a few days. Then again, I still haven’t got a backup for my ancient overhead projector. This absolutely essential prop is currently held together by gaffer tape and at this stage is pretty much a ticking time bomb. This makes me about as unprepared as possible. 

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

The premise of my Edinburgh show is that I am an intern in the bowels of a BBC which has had its budget slashed, tasked with creating the third series of David Attenborough’s Planet Earth, by himself, using office supplies. Oh, and all animals are extinct. This probably isn’t even the most far-fetched premise in Edinburgh. The backstory is mostly irrelevant – when latecomers miss all the exposition they don’t have much trouble catching up when I start birthing thousands of seahorses into their face.

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

Absurdly, one of the harder things about creating Planet Earth is that nature is far more bizarre than any physical comedy show. The appeal of nature documentaries is in finding out things which you would never otherwise believe – but if you stick that in a comedy show, your audience will just think you’ve invented something and not even well. Natural selection, it turns out, is one of those comedians whose anecdotes you don’t believe a word of. Lizards with detachable genitalia? Pull the other one! Etc. Finding the line between creating something that is recognisable (example: male seahorses give birth) and something that is surprising (example: that man is birthing seahorses into my face) has been the key to the show. 

Who would most enjoy your show?

David Attenborough. But assuming that he is too busy saving the world, my show’s ideal audience is anyone who is mildly familiar with the concept of a nature-documentary. If this is too much to ask I’ll settle for anyone who is familiar with the concept of nature, to the extent that they are aware that a spider is not a man covered in sellotape. 

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations? 

I certainly do! The show I’m most excited about seeing this year is Kit Sullivan’s debut hour ‘Lad’ at Heroes @ Dragonfly. Watching him is like spending time with your best mate, but your best mate has gone a bit weird and eerie whilst you’ve been away and now he sticks dolls’ heads on sticks. In a funny way. He’s also one of the nicest people I know. Other recommendations: Wigwam Wonder Jam (I came up with the name, so the show must be good) which is a early late night clown party in a tent, Loose Brie Solve Everything, David McIver Is A Nice Little Man and Moon.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

It’s hard to say when I’ve only ever been there during the Fringe, except for last year when I spent the last days of July wandering around empty attractions waiting to be filled by the incoming tide… But there’s lots going for Edinburgh as I know it. It’s filled with little pockets of brilliance that mean sometimes you feel you are in a giant village instead of a capital city. The charity shops and the people that volunteer there are a joy. I made friends with someone working in Age UK last year because I was doing a clown cabaret where I was trying new material every night. She would keep hold of bizarre rubbish for me that no one else would buy. One day I bought a scooter and a knight’s helmet, which I wore as I scooted home through the park. I didn’t do anything else with either for the entire Fringe, and I donated them back at the end of the month. 

What are your plans for after the festival?

Somewhat idiotically, I decided what I’d most want to do after 26 consecutive performances of my show is drag the whole thing across Scotland to perform it again. So at the end of August I’m going to be performing at the 2018 Carlisle Fringe Festival, or at least my reanimated carcass will be. In between I’ll have a few days lying in stupor as the Heroes Blundabus is dismantled around me. I’ll claim to be helping but I’ll probably only manage to fold a few deckchairs, if last year is anything to go by. More long term, my plans are to perform at the Sea Life Centre in London, grow old and eventually die.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ‘LUKE ROLLASON’S PLANET EARTH’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018

Maisie Adam: The Edinburgh Interviews 2018

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© Steve Ullathorne

Who? Maisie Adam
What? Vague
Where? Gilded Balloon Teviot, Wee Room (venue 14)
When? 16:30

Are you prepared for what this year’s Edinburgh Fringe has in store for you?

I can only hope so! With this being my first Edinburgh Fringe I’m not entirely sure what to expect, but I’ve been seeking advice from fellow comics on some do’s and don’ts and also what to expect. The main thing people are telling me is to just enjoy it, and to not get caught up in comparing yourself to other comedians and their shows, which is pretty sound advice. I think performing an hour-long show every day for a month will be challenging but I’m ready for it!

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

So it’s about my experiences of growing up and navigating my teen years whilst being diagnosed with Epilepsy. I know that doesn’t sound hilarious, but I think I’ve managed to make it a comedy show and not a Ted Talk by sharing my experiences with a comedic perspective. It’s not something I’ve often spoke about, and for many years not even my parents were aware of the extent of it, so it’s been fun and interesting to finally tell the whole story – or at least, the story so far – through stand-up comedy. To be totally honest I think that’s the only format through which I actually feel comfortable talking about it.

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

This is going to sound really pretentious, and if I read this answer I would definitely roll my eyes, but it was being honest with myself. There were a lot of points in the story where I wanted to skip over the details and get straight to the jokes, but if I did that the jokes didn’t work. When I realised this show only works if you’re 100% honest about the experiences, it became a lot easier to write. I also think it shows when a comedian is talking about something as though it’s their personal experience and it’s really not, and I think the audience respects someone who shares something personal or at least authentic. 

Who would most enjoy your show?

There’s a few references to things from the late naughties so I think anyone of a similar age to me, who experiences their teens in those years will be able to relate to a lot of it. Also anyone who can remember that feeling of wanting to do everything and anything just because your friends were also doing it, whilst also discovering your own independence, opinions and thoughts. Your late teens are such an interesting time, and I was trying to do as much as possible but sometimes my Epilepsy got in the way or hindered those experiences; you don’t have to be epileptic to relate to that, you just need to remember your teens.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I just came back from the Cat Laughs festival in Kilkenny where I saw Catherine Bohart do a preview of her show “Immaculate” which was ace, so I would definitely recommend that as I can imagine by Edinburgh it’ll be a stellar show. I’ve also seen Will Penswick’s preview of his show “Dank Verse” – he’s a character comedian who presents this really pretentious poet and it is laugh-out-loud funny.

What is your favourite thing about Edinburgh as a city?

Not only is it stunning, but I love how the entire city gets right on board with the Fringe; everywhere you go people are hyped about it, you see banners right across town (not just at the venues but in café’s, hotels, buses, shops) and that is so lovely to see. It feels like this amazing bubble of support for the arts. I wish everywhere was like it all year round!

What are your plans for after the festival?

Firstly, I am going to take a holiday! I know I’ll be knackered by the end of the Fringe, and will have spent the whole month chatting and socialising with people non-stop (which will be great) but I’ll be ready for a quiet break so I’ve booked an InterRail trip to Italy… just me, the sun and some pizza! Hopefully after that, I’d love to continue my show elsewhere, perhaps at comedy festivals and theatres. Who knows!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR MAISIE ADAM: ‘VAGUE’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2018