EdFringe Talk: Joan Collins Blocked Me on Twitter

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, *Written Interviews by

“I’ve also had A LOT of help!!!! Mostly mental and spiritual encouragement from friends and family, and a ton of cash from the West Cumbria community.”

WHO: Billy Walker

WHAT: “Theodore Emory Jones, one of England’s finest thespian exports (in his opinion), arrives in Hollywood with the sole burning desire of starring in the Dynasty reboot. Armed with a Burberry steamer trunk filled with enough opinions to sink the Cutty Sark, and a signed 10×8 of Patricia Routledge, only one thing stands in his way – Dame Joan Collins! This Fleabag-style one-man spectacle has more chaos and camp than all of the Carry On films combined!! Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy night!!”

WHERE: Jade Studio at Greenside @ George Street (Venue 236) 

WHEN: On Demand (55 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is indeed my first time doing a show at the Edinburgh fringe festival. I have actually applied for a grant to do a show over the last few years, but I was unsuccessful. Finally, I said “you know something. I’m just going to do this myself. “. So I have!!! I now split my time between Los Angeles, and England. Over in America, it is looked upon as a huge prestigious thing to be staging a show at the Edinburgh Festival. I think what is going to be very special for me about this experience is that I have made this happen. I created a character, and I structured a show around this character, and I have done all the fundraising, all the producing, all the admin, everything to get this show up on its feet. And for that, I’m super proud of myself. I’ve also had A LOT of help!!!! Mostly mental and spiritual encouragement from friends and family, and a ton of cash from the West Cumbria community.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2024 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

One of the biggest takeaways of the last 12 months from me is that I cannot control other people, I am only responsible for how I show up. There have been some incredibly tough situations to navigate in putting the show up., and some massive opportunities for personal and professional growth! The biggest lesson that I have absorbed lately, is that I can depend on myself! And I thrive under pressure!!! And it’s hot in a wig for an hour under lights.

Tell us about your show.

This show has been about five years in the Making. But in actual fact, I was thinking to myself the other day, it’s sort of an accumulation of my entire life’s passion. Because the whole premise of the show is about an English actor who goes to Hollywood to try and land a role in the Dynasty reboot. When I was about five or six years old, growing up on the council estate in northern England, we had this coal bunker in the garden. It was a brick structure about 5 foot high with a wooden lid. I used to reenact scenes from all of the American soaps with my favourite characters on top of the coal bunker. Dynasty cat fights were my favourites, with my poor cousin Rachael. I was always Alexis – obviously – Well Krystle and Rachael were both blonde, so it made sense that she would play the ‘blonde tramp!’

Just before the Covid pandemic I wrote, produced and starred in a short film called ‘Linda Evans is my spirit animal’. It did really well at a lot of film festivals, but I kept being told one thing over and over, that the character would work so well in a theatre piece. In front of a live audience. So, Joan Collins Blocked me on Twitter was conceived one year ago. I started working on the script last summer, and I can’t believe what I have created over the last 12 months. I am officially the producer, Director, writer and star of the show. Officially, Edinburgh is the world Premiere, but I did do three preview shows in Los Angeles just to try out some material and see how it worked in front of an audience. Because the humour is slightly different on the other side of the Atlantic I actually decided to write an American version of the script, so officially the British version of Joan Collins has not yet been seen anywhere in the world! Can you believe that dame Joan will headline a show at this years Edinburgh fringe without having to step foot in Scotland’s capital city!?

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

One of my best friends from Los Angeles, who is a fantastic stand-up comedian, is bringing her heartwarming one woman show to the Edinburgh fringe this year. After sell out performances in New York and also on the West Coast in Los Angeles. It’s called fill your pockets with sunshine by Kezia Norton.

Another show that I am really really excited to see is Jake Roche Neporrhoids. It made its debut at the festival last year and it’s coming back as it was so popular so I can’t wait to check it out. lastly, I am going to support as much theatre as I can in the three weeks that I am up in Edinburgh, I will start by seeing every show at Greenside venues, which is where my show will play every night at 10 pm at the Jade studio on George Street. Big hugs all

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