EdFringe Talk: Murder, She Didn’t Write

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2024 by

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“Fast forward a few years and it’s just so exciting for us to be celebrating this 10th-fringe milestone and to be playing in our biggest venue yet.”

WHO: Peter Baker

WHAT: “Celebrating their 10th year at the Fringe! A classic murder mystery is created on the spot from audience suggestions in this ingenious and hilarious show from Fringe favourites, Degrees of Error. Lady Violet exploded on fireworks night? Madam Gold slain on the catwalk during fashion week? You decide, but will you guess whodunnit? ‘Outstanding performances delivered by a seriously talented cast!’ ***** (ThreeWeeks). ‘Absolutely fantastic… incredibly clever… laugh-out-loud funny… a truly entertaining and hilarious take on the murder mystery and absolutely not one to miss’ ***** (VoiceMag.uk). ‘Hilarious… the show is a riot’ (Daily Mail).”

WHERE: Assembly George Square – Gordon Aikman Theatre (Venue 8) 

WHEN: 15:50 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my 8th time to the fringe, my 7th with Degrees Of Error, and the 10th year of Murder, She Didn’t Write at the fringe! When I first joined the show, we were performing in a small venue, living in a small flat, had a small budget but we were dreaming big. We didn’t just put the work in making the show the best it could be, but also grafted hard to get the punters in! (Flyering rotas and pure enthusiasm are my top tips if anyone wants them.) Fast forward a few years and it’s just so exciting for us to be celebrating this 10th-fringe milestone and to be playing in our biggest venue yet.

We keep coming back because the fringe is such an inspiring environment to be a part of. Nowhere else has the same breadth and range of shows as Edinburgh Fringe, and for nearly a whole month you get to meet amazing artists, discover new viewpoints, be challenged by provocative work and have a right old laugh! I just love the fact you can see proven productions alongside new exciting experiments, and see work from all over the world.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

I think the biggest thing I learned last year was the importance of self-care. Treating myself to a walk, cooking a good meal, making time to hang out with the gang. This year, our company manager, Rachael Procter-Lane has created a brilliant company guide and checklist for having a fab fringe, a Fringe-survival guide if you will. Dedicated nights for a flat social, providing communal kitchen items for the flat, tips on things we might want to bring with us to make our room feel homely and so on. Being thoughtful about your fringe experience is a great lesson, and we’re lucky Rachael’s done a lot of that thinking for us!

Tell us about your show.

As our title suggests, Murder, She Didn’t Write is improvised, so every night’s a different story, with different jokes, characters, murders etc… The format was created by the company, who all met at the Bristol University Improv Society and realised that performing and creating work was the course for them. That’s how the name of company came about: “Degrees of Error” because they’d all made the wrong choice on the UCAS form! Some of the members of Degrees Of Error also ended up founding the Bristol Improv Theatre – the UK’s first theatre dedicated to improvised theatre.

For the last few years, we self-produced, steered by our uber-capable castmate and director extraordinaire, Lizzy Skrzypiec putting in our own savings to get us up here. This year, however, we’ve got the wonderful Laura Elmes from Wildpark Entertainment, who’ve had tremendous success with the hilarious Ursula musical, Unfortunate by Fat Rascal and Algorithms among many others.
Post-Edinburgh we’re excited to tour the show around the UK and beyond, including our dream gig at the Agatha Christie festival in Paignton. Or if you fancy seeing us on a ship, book yourself onto the Cunard Queen Anne in January! You can see our future dates on degreesoferror.com/tour.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

Well, after seeing our show, you’ll have a taste for the comedic, the dramatic, the intriguing, the farcical, the high-brow wit, and the downright murderous mayhem.

So breaking those down:

For comedic, check out Defence Mechanism by Hannah Platt at The Pleasance.

You can never have too much comedy and I can never have too much Sooz Kempner , bringing her new show Class Of 2000 to Underbelly.

For a good dose of drama, Surrender playing at Summerhall is gripping, intriguing and brilliantly acted.

For high-brow wit, satire and great songs, see Will Of The People by Will Sebag-Montefiore at Underbelly.

And for more murderous improve, then definitely catch The Adventure Of The Improvised Sherlock Holmes performing at Just The Tonic.

Less murderous, but just as improvised and equally as brilliant are Austentatious who are up the first two weeks Underbelly.

Also up for the first two weeks are Up The Antics with their show Antics Joke Show at TheSpaceUK– we love them and their show, and that’s not just because one of our cast is in it!

Oh, and I’m also chomping at the bit to see Horses by Elf Lyons at The Pleasance.

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