© Duncan Elliot
Adam Rowe is a stand up who has already reached the final of English Comedian of the Year 2016, despite still being in his early twenties. Rowe is bringing his debut hour, Bittersweet Little Lies to this year’s Edinburgh Festival; a show that considers the implications of the lies we tell our loved ones from childhood to adulthood. As well as this, Adam will be compering Gag Reflex Presents and taking part in the AAA Stand Up each day.
I asked Adam these seven questions to find out more…
1) Did you watch comedy much as a child?
Yes; my Mum introduced me to comedy when I was very young – too young to understand a lot of the jokes! But I was hooked straight away and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since.
2) Are you still in contact with your school friends?
A lot of them, yeah. I still play football with a lot of them every Monday night – that’s our way of keeping in touch. Not a single one of us has grown up even a little bit, and some of those idiots have children and mortgages now.
3) Who makes your nervous?
The best way I can answer this is with the situation that makes me most nervous. If I’ve been dating a girl for a while and then she asks to come to a show, I get nervous before THAT show. Any comic can have a bad gig on any night and that would just be the absolute worst time for it.
4) Are you naturally outspoken?
Unfortunately, yeah. I really can’t help myself and it has pissed a fair few people off in the past. If I think someone is being out of order or doing something wrong, I’ll pull them up on it – even when that person might book some gigs and could send work my way – it’s definitely cost me work in the past; but I’d rather that be the case than pretend I’m okay with someone acting out of line just for a few extra bits of work.
5) Is it difficult to decide which shows to see at the Edinburgh Festival?
There’s certainly an abundance of shows and it’s impossible to see all of the good ones, especially when you’re gigging four times a day yourself. I tend to see the shows I know I won’t get the chance to see again; any of the big name acts will go on tour after the festival so I’ll catch them on tour if I really want to see them and focus on seeing the lesser known guys at the Fringe.
6) What trait do you wish you had?
I wish I was less competitive. If I’m involved in anything that has a winner and a loser, it turns me into this horrible, selfish and arrogant person that I don’t like being and I really can’t help it.
7) Is your life how you imagined it would be growing up?
Not in any way, shape or form. I had my mind set on doing a maths degree and becoming an accountant or an actuary. I’m so glad I woke up before it was too late and found something I love doing instead; I’d have hated number crunching office work. I genuinely don’t know how anyone does it their whole lives.
ADAM ROWE BRINGS HIS SHOW ‘BITTERSWEET LITTLE LIES’ TO THE EDINBURGH FESTIVAL