EdFringe Talk: Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World AND Oops! We Lost a Nuke

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“The festival is a dream — drinking absurd theater from a fire hose.”

WHO: Fletcher Michael

WHAT: Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World “The year is 2034. A city-demolishing asteroid is heading for Brooklyn. The government refuses to alert the public of the impending catastrophe until a boutique advertising agency can come up with a positive rebrand for the calamitous asteroid.”

WHERE: Pickle Studio at Greenside @ Riddles Court (Venue 16) 

WHEN: 19:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

AND: Oops! We Lost a Nuke “…is a comedic play set in the 1950s, featuring four characters performed – sometimes simultaneously – by two actors. When an unassuming pacifist abuses his position within the US government in order to hide a nuclear warhead, it becomes clear that his affair with his secretary and his wife’s affair with her doctor are the least of their worries. As the government closes in, secrets come to light.”

WHERE: Just The Snifter Room at Just The Tonic at The Mash House (Venue 288) 

WHEN: 19:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will actually be my second year attending Edinburgh Fringe Festival as a producer. Last year Infinite Monkey Theater Co. brought our sketch comedy show, Chimp Cocktail, for a three show run, and that taste of the Fringe left me wanting more. So for this year’s fringe, we’ll be bringing two shows (Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? and Oops! We Lost a Nuke) which will run in tandem for the last two weeks of the festival. The festival is a dream — drinking absurd theater from a fire hose. Where else is space sanctioned for us weirdos to make and enjoy the strange and wonderful things we like to see on stage?

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2025 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

My biggest takeaway from the past year is that time moves quickly! You’d think that clocking this fact would make me slow down and be monastically chill about appreciating the present moment, but that doesn’t seem to be how I’m wired. Prepping for an international tour seems to require that I obsessively check and recheck all the little bureaucratic minutiae necessary for putting on a show in a foreign country. But the other lesson I’ve learned is that I am not alone in my pursuit! This extends not just to my amazing castmates, Lucy Boisvert and Collin Dennis, who are endlessly helpful to me, but also all the other folks you meet before, during, and after the Fringe. We’re all nuts for live theater, and we all know what it takes to be successful, so the community of the Fringe’s producing artists — whether here in New York City or across the pond in Scotland — becomes an essential support network.

Tell us about your show.

Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? is a darkly absurd, satirical comedy set in the year 2034. A city-demolishing asteroid is heading for Brooklyn. The government refuses to alert the public of the impending catastrophe until a boutique advertising agency can come up with a positive rebrand — in the form of an upbeat jingle — for the calamitous space rock. It is written and directed by me (Fletcher Michael) and, because I’m a psychopath, I also perform in the show alongside the very talented Lucy Boisvert and Collin Dennis.

We’re also bringing our show Oops! We Lost a Nuke, which is a a comedic play set in the 1950s, featuring four characters performed – sometimes simultaneously – by two actors!

Infinite Monkey Theater Co. has produced nearly thirty shows since its founding in 2023, ranging from our hit Off-Broadway sketch comedy show, Chimp Cocktail, to several full-length comedic plays that have appeared in festivals around New York City. The company is formed from a grab-bag of improvisers, sketch comedians, and actors who I’ve met through various classes and projects, and I’ve collaborated with Lucy and Collin on nearly every IMTCo. production. Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? made its world premiere at New York City Fringe in April 2026, and we’re hoping to ride the critical acclaim we received from that run on to critical acclaim in Scotland this August.

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

After you’ve seen the two shows we’ll be bringing to this year’s Fringe (Did You Charge Your Phone for the End of the World? and Oops! We Lost a Nuke), you MUST see SLUGS. I saw it last year and it changed how I think about live theater. In fact, it was a huge inspiration for the shows we’ll be bringing to this year’s festival. It’s wild, absurd, hilarious, moving, and unforgettable.

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