The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

Harriet Dyer: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Nigel Hillier
Who? Harriet Dyer
What?  The Dinosaur Show
Where? Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose – Dram (Venue 24)
When? 20:15

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

I’m feeling great about it to be honest. Am very excited to do my very silly new show every day. I’m very dramatic and have previously been like, ‘I’m never doing the Fringe again, it’s everything I hate in the world!’ But now I’m back on the meds and all is fine. I think the key is finding a way to make it work that’s best for you.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

To be honest the premise has drastically changed about 47,000 times but at the moment it’s about what really happened to the dinosaurs. It’s all a massive conspiracy, loads of chaos, songs and of course inflatable dinosaur outfits. It’s just fun so if you’ve got imagination in your head and laughter out your mouth, this is for you!

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

I’ve majorly spiralled out of control with the amount of props I’ve purchased, it’s ridiculous. Sometimes I actually hope for someone to rob my bag just for the look on their face when they look inside… but that’d be short lived as I’d then have to buy all these ruddy props again!

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

It’s a real love/hate thing for me, mainly because it’s nothing other than a cash cow for so many people and I don’t think that’s how it should be and not what it originally was. ‘Tis so easy to get swept up in the nonsense of it all and I for one shall no more so this year will just focus on making my show the best it can be, watching lots of lovely people’s shows and overall have a splendid time with nice people.

Plus this year where I’m staying will have an en-suite toilet, I do believe this could be an absolute game changer!

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

I saw The Delightful Sausage do a preview at Mach fest and it was so so funny.

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

I’d like an en-suite toilet in my non-Fringe life too.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR HARRIET DYER: ‘THE DINOSAUR SHOW’ HERE

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Dave Green: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Edward Moore
Who? Dave Green
What? Guest Bed
Where? Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Attic (Venue 288)
When? 19:55

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

I’m very much looking forward to doing the Fringe in 2019. I’ve really enjoyed working on my show and it’s going to be something pretty different from what I’ve done before.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

My show this year is called Guest Bed and is a personal storytelling show about my journey to becoming a celebrity lookalike and the resulting chance encounter that forces me to confront my past.

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

This is my first show where I’ve really spoken about true life personal events so that has been quite a change of gear for me.

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

Every year I come to the Fringe I get a little bit better at dealing with the stresses involved in putting on a show. I try and take time out to do things that have nothing to do with the festival. Last year I was staying next to a swimming pool and I learnt how to swim.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Nick Dixon, Saskia Preston, Lucy Hopkins

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

I’d just like to be working on another show that I’m as excited about as this one.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR DAVE GREEN: ‘GUEST BED’ HERE

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Archie Henderson: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Hunter Allen
Who? Archie Henderson
What? Jazz Emu
Where? Gilded Balloon at Old Tolbooth Market – Bothy (Venue 98)
When? 18:45

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

It’s my debut show, so naturally I feel a warm glow combined with a profound sense of dread. My venue is nice, though, which is giving me hope. Also I’ve worked my tiny little ass off on my show and I’m really happy with it.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I’ve spent the last two years in my pants making musical stings on my computer that no-one would ever find. I really don’t need that whole Van Gogh ‘successful 100 years after he died’ thing in my life, so I figured I should just bring the art to the people. It’s a refined musical smorgasbord. It also contains enough jokes about birds that, when they discuss my work centuries down the line, I feel like it’ll feature under the ‘Themes & Images’ tab on my Wiki page.

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

A crippling and constant pang of inadequacy combined with totally unmerited feeling that my art is going to change lives.

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

There’s way too much comedy now. It’s tedious! How am I meant to sell my show?! There’s a parallel universe in which the whole festival is puppet circus acts, and I’m single-handedly cornering the market.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Heidi Regan is the most unsettlingly funny stand up I’ve seen for ages. I’m also looking forward to Garry Starr’s new show, which I loved last year. Janine Harouni is high on my list as a smash-it-out-the-park newcomer.

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

Have a Wikipedia page with a Themes & Images tab.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ARCHIE HENDERSON: ‘JAZZ EMU’ HERE

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Jake Lambert: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Jiksaw
Who? Jake Lambert
What? Never Mak The Same Mistak Twice
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Below (Venue 33)
When? 20:15

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

It’s exciting, I always said I was more excited for my second hour than my first as you have to start again. The first hour is a culmination of years of material, but for this one I have had to write much more presently and to theme, and I’m really looking forward to that. Oh and also the fear of just how tired and mad you go over the course of the month… there’s also that.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

It’s about learning from mistakes and using that to go forward. I’ve just moved in with my girlfriend and I’ve realised it’s all very serious, and as she’s Australian we have a lot to decide on. Basically she’s from Melbourne which got voted as the best place to live for 7 years in a row, so I feel guilty that she moved to London for me. Oh also we don’t want children which people seem incredibly shocked to hear (especially our daughter).

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

I’m trying to be more open and honest, I’ve always struggled with that; last year I tried but some people said I wasn’t open enough about that – (which sort of comes with the territory) so I’m dealing with that both off stage whilst writing it, and on stage whilst talking about it.

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

As I’ve gained more experience, written my own show, and also seen other people’s, I’ve learnt/learned? (I should really google that) the difference between a show and just a prolonged set. I am also a little disappointed by how much people seem to want to make people cry and feel more than actually laugh, that’s a real bugbear of mine, it’s become a bit cliché and cheesy. Laughter should always be the main thing you’re making your audience do as a comedian.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes, I’ve been very lucky to have been supporting Seann Walsh on his latest tour and the show is phenomenal, he has used all his experience and skills to write a brilliantly personal and honest show – actually please watch mine before his if you can because otherwise it will be quite underwhelming.

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

I’d like to be going into the Edinburgh Festival after a successful year, with a slightly higher profile in comedy so that I can play to more people and so a higher percentage of the audience are already aware of me and my style of comedy before the show. I already have an exciting and different idea for next year’s show so I’m excited for it already.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR JAKE LAMBERT: ‘NEVER MAK THE SAME MISTAK TWICE’ HERE

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Maisie Adam: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Andy Hollingworth Archive
Who? Maisie Adam
What? Hang Fire
Where? Gilded Balloon Teviot – Billiard Room (Venue 14)
When? 17:00

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

The feelings I have entering the Fringe are a lot different to the ones I have once I’m up there and have done the first couple of shows! In the run up to Edinburgh, I’m just a walking bag of nerves, but once I’m up there and got the first show out the way then I know I’m just going to enjoy it. I loved last year and that had the pressure of being a newcomer which I don’t have this year, so my aim is to just enjoy the month as much as possible – it’s the biggest and best arts festival in the world, so I’m sure that won’t be too hard.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I’m going to be really annoying here and say “I can’t reveal too much” as there’s a twist in the show which would ruin it if you already knew. But it’s about owning your mistakes, blame culture and also looks at how quick we are to jump on people and label them terrible people without letting them make mistakes. Is that a wishy-washy answer? Good, it’s meant to be!

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

Getting permission to do it. And I won’t say more than that!

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

No. I’ve only ever done one Fringe – last year’s – and I was just in awe the whole month at how incredible it was. The year before, I just came up for a few days to compete in the So You Think You’re Funny final, and I knew then that it was special!

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Comedy-wise, I’m really excited to see Rosie Jones’ second show – I loved her show last year and think she’s bloody brilliant. Amusical is always a fantastic show, so I’ll be sure to catch that as well! In terms of theatre, I’m really excited to see Madame Ovary by Rosa Hesmondalgh, a friend put me in touch with her last year and she’s incredible. She’s beaten cancer and written a one-woman play about it in the space of a year. Absolutely amazing, I can’t wait to see it.

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

Walking the runway of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show, as Harry Styles watches from the front row and realises what he could have had. I’m very realistic.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR MAISIE ADAM: ‘HANG FIRE’ HERE

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Rosie Jones: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Jiksaw
Who? Rosie Jones
What? Backward
Where? Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand (Venue 33)
When? 19:00

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

Excitement! This will be my second full hour, so I feel like I now know what I’m getting myself into. And it’s also great to work on something new; I think this year’s show will be a lot more honest than I was last year, which is fun.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

If last year’s premise was, ‘how I see the world’, this year’s premise is, ‘how the world sees me’. It’s called Backward and in the show I try to answer the question, ‘am I backwards, or are they?’ and the hilarities which come with being the world’s only Northern, gay, disabled comedian!

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

It’s been a bit tricky to write a show that works for people who saw last year’s show, and, at the same time, works for people who have never seen me before. I still have to ‘address the disabled elephant in the room’, but a lot quicker, and more succinct than I probably have done in previous years.

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

I think I take it a lot more seriously now. I used to drink every day, and function on two hours sleep – Edinburgh was my party month. But now I make sure that my priority is my show; lots of naps, water and cod liver oil!

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes! Plenty, gosh I don’t know where to start! Helen Bauer, Suzi Ruffell, Jess Fostekew, Jen Brister, Sara Barron, Flo & Joan, Chris Washington, Jordan Brookes… I could go on! All proper funny people.

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

Honestly? Right here, same place, preparing for another Edinburgh show; I love it! It gives my year routine, and it’s such a fun month. Ooo, it’s almost here!

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR ROSIE JONES: ‘BACKWARD’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Marlon Davis: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© TBC
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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© Ursula Aitchison
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

Dominic Frisby: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Steve Best
Who? Dominic Frisby
What? Libertarian Love Songs
Where? PBH’s Free Fringe @ Banshee Labyrinth – Cinema Room (Venue 156)
When? 17:00

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

I am very nervous. I have two months to go, but am trying a very different, very political show this year.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I was having ukulele lessons and I kept having these ideas for songs. I am a libertarian in my politics. We are fairly few and far between, but I could tell that my uke teacher was pretty sympathetic to this world view because he kept laughing at my song ideas and adding to them and making them way better. Gradually these uke lessons became song writing sessions. I then tried out a couple of the songs at free speech comedy night, Comedy Unleashed in London, and they went down so well, I thought, I’m onto some thing here. I thought it might be funny to juxtapose the traditions of the socialist protest song, only make it the political polar opposite – i.e. libertarian protest songs. So that’s how it started. And it gradually morphed into Libertarian Love Songs.

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

My inability to play the ukulele.

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

The Edinburgh Fringe seems to get better every year. There is so much competition and the result is that the shows get better and better. Comedy is the great winner – standards rise, which is for the benefit of everyone who likes comedy.

The biggest problem this year is the cost of accommodation, which as arisen as a result of some idiot left-wing ruling designed to protect people but in actual fact just making life more expensive and more difficult for everyone. There is an example if you needed it of yet another idiotic government intervention, and that is why I encourage you to VOTE LIBERTARIAN LOVE SONG.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Yes. My lecture on Adam Smith and the economics of the Edinburgh Festival. And a free show called The ShadowPunk revolution

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

Number One in the album charts

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR DOMINIC FRISBY: ‘LIBERTARIAN LOVE SONGS’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019

Laura Lexx: The Edinburgh Interviews 2019

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© Karla Gowlett
Who? Laura Lexx
What? Knee Jerk
Where? Gilded Balloon Teviot – Turret (Venue 14)
When? 17:15

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

Excited. I had a really good time last year and it’s given me so much energy to race back in with a really tight show full of punchy ideas and things I’m excited to share with an audience.

What is the premise of your Edinburgh show this year?

I’m looking at fear this year… my own big fears, but also how fear seems to charge people up to behave in certain ways. I’m using the techniques I assembled during my own mental health therapy to try to get to the bottom of some of the root fears that are fuelling the way people react to certain things within society.

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

Nerves about getting it wrong. I think I worry a lot about being complicit through silence on things I don’t agree with, but then I am constantly scared too about trying to be vocal in case I’m not the most informed person on the planet. Hopefully with this show I’ve found a way to speak up and be supportive of things that are important to me.

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

Yes, hugely. I’ve seen through some of the more ridiculous, energy sapping aspects of it and started to see it for what it is: a fun, colourful wonderful playground that only has to feel competitive if you succumb to that pressure. It’s hard to go in focusing forward but you really have to put your blinkers on and go in looking for the highs.

Do you have any other Edinburgh show recommendations?

Jess Fostekew’s show ‘Hench’ and Paul F Taylor’s show ‘Odd Paul’. I saw previews of both of them at Machynlleth Festival and I’m SO excited to see them again once all the fine-tuning is done – they were so good.

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

I don’t mind as long as I feel calm there.

GET YOUR TICKETS FOR LAURA LEXX: ‘KNEE JERK’ HERE

THE EDINBURGH INTERVIEWS 2019