EdFringe Talk: Bad in Bed: From Arthritis to Insomnia

Posted in *EdFestivals 2025, *Written Interviews by

“Do as much prep work as you can BEFORE you show up in Edinburgh. As there will always be things that go wrong.”

WHO: Ian TC

WHAT: “Having a bad night’s sleep has an effect on your whole day, having not sleep well for 30+ years changes the way you see the world. Throw in pain to keep you company and that’s enough to send you over the edge. Ian TC brings you his newly updated sell-out comedy show, exploring the world you see when you haven’t slept well. Loud and explosive, but always funny. Bad in Bed is one to see. ‘Like a young Billy Connolly on Speed!’ (The Stand). ‘Fu*king great’ (Tom Stade).”

WHERE: Pleasance Online (Venue 117) 

WHEN: 12:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’ve been visiting the Edinburgh fringe (as a punter) now on and off since 1996, The First gig I ever done at the fringe was back in 2018: 5 minutes in a mixed bill of total newbies. The Edinburgh festival, in short, is one of comedy’s most important bootcamps. Every style of comedy is catered for there. You can catch the seasoned pros to the just started, the truly great, to the woefully awful. It can be silly, smart, debase and beautiful all mixed in too an over crowed mess of chaos never designed to have as much going on, but some how still works.

The jump between punter to perform can be insane amount of stress. The first time I did a full run was in 2022. The first year I was living on canal boat that we navigated from Glasgow to Edinburgh… Took 5 days! We could have walked faster.

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

We have learned from doing the fringe is that you have to set your pace and make sure you take rests. There is lots and lots going on and way too much to do it all. Do as much prep work as you can BEFORE you show up in Edinburgh. As there will always be things that go wrong. But there is lots os support too, From the Fringe, the Venues and your fellow performers. but also remember everyone will have their own “thing” going on too so don’t be discouraged if the first person you ask can’t help.. ask a few they will.

Tell us about your show.

ad in Bed: Arthritis to Insomnia is the evolution of my stand up comedy from club set stuff into a full show. It covers the two health topics that I rarely talk about outside of comedy, but have shaped my life more than any other factor. It’s not a sob story, it’s a comic look a the ways we deal with pain in our everyday lives. The best thing about the show, that I never expected, was that others with similar conditions have came to the show and identified with what I say and go away with a little better feeling that: one they are not alone and two that sometimes the jokes can help you get by.

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

Oh Wow! there are so many but to keep it brief:
If you are looking for a Full on crazy comedy show
Billy Kirkwood: Chaos
A Whimsical playful laugh
Craig Wilson: You Decide Then
A mixed bill of comedy:
Scotland’s Pick of the Fringe

But there are so many great comedians and show all at the Scottish Comedy Festival hosted in the Beehive and The Waverley bar .. you can just drop by and stay in the same place watching great acts all day.

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