“The rest of the year, as a stand-up particularly, is very atomised. You spend a lot of time in Travelodges and staring out the windows of Great Western Railway services at midnight. It can be lonely. So the Fringe, at its best, feels like a community.”
WHO: Ben Pope
WHAT: “Ben Pope – ‘a total delight’ (Fest) – brings a brand new stand-up hour to the Fringe. And this time, it’s surgical. Last year, Ben got circumcised. On purpose, and as recommended by medical professionals. This show is a 55min inventory of his ensuing masculine panic. Expect jokes and stories on: the male ego, pillow talk, charity shops, the sublime mystery of having a father, and also exactly one pig. See you there. Chop chop. ‘Consistently funny’ (Scotsman). ‘Always spot-on’ (Skinny). ‘Excellent’ (Joe Lycett).”
WHERE: The Box at Assembly George Square (Venue 8)
WHEN: 17:05 (60 min)
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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
No! I haven’t been to the Fringe in 6 years but before the pandemic I did 7 Edinburgh Fringes in a row! In various different guises – in plays, sketch groups and as a stand-up. I kept coming back because it really has an exciting gravity about it – there are times in the month when it feels like we’re all on a big clown campus. The rest of the year, as a stand-up particularly, is very atomised. You spend a lot of time in Travelodges and staring out the windows of Great Western Railway services at midnight. It can be lonely. So the Fringe, at its best, feels like a community.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Try to rest more! Everything will be better if you sleep! Stop looking at your phone! Sleep! Stop drinking 3-5 pints! Sleep! Don’t say yes to that job you have absolutely no interest in, out of a Protestant sense of work ethic pride! Sleep!
No, I have not absorbed that lesson yet. He said, yawning.
Tell us about your show.
The Cut is my newest (fifth? I think) hour of stand-up – a narrative hour of jokes and stories about the last year of my life in which a lot of bizarre stuff happened to me: first and foremost, I got circumcised. It’s a show about bodies, and taboos, and masculinity, and relationships, and also it’s jam-packed with gags.
I’ve been working on it for a year in clubs and pubs around the country – the Fringe will be it’s official ‘premier’ before I take it on tour around the UK in the autumn. To, in this order: Brighton, Leeds, Manchester, Glasgow, Oxford, Bath, Bristol, Edinburgh (again), Cambridge. There will also be some dates in London and Cardiff – I’m working on that!
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
For pure whirlwhind storytelling and hysteria you’ve got to see John Tothill who I try to see any chance I can. If you want more medical comedy, I’m desperate to see Rachel Kaly’s show Hospital Hour – which I missed last year. And if Katie Norris’ new show is anything like her last one, it’ll be an absolute blast.
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