EdFringe Talk: Finlay Christie: Champagne Casanova

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“This will be my third proper FULL hour of stand-up comedy, which is a completely different beast, and the most fun you can have doing stand-up.”

WHO: Finlay Christie

WHAT: “Finlay misguidedly believes that his muggers fancied him, that being a f*ckboy is cool and that Kim Jong Un would love him. Funny, self-aware and internet-brained, this is an hour about the myths constructed by incels, billionaires and even human people, that mean we don’t have to admit we’re ordinary, rejected or wrong. There’s also a strong section on air fryers. As seen on social media (1M+ followers), Live at the Apollo, Have I Got News For You and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. ‘The voice of a generation’ **** (Chortle.co.uk).”

WHERE: Monkey Barrel 4 at Monkey Barrel Comedy (Venue 515) 

WHEN: Varies (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be the eighth year I’ve performed at the Fringe, in some form. I performed twice as a child, with the Comedy Club 4 Kids. I was 10. When I went to university I then performed two years on the trot with my university comedy club (UCL Comedy Club) doing 10 minutes.

But this will be my third proper FULL hour of stand-up comedy, which is a completely different beast, and the most fun you can have doing stand-up. You get a sense of control and command of the room that dwarfs that of regular comedy club stand-up. You can completely set the tone and the expectations, and take the audience on more of a journey.

A great Fringe is one where audiences feel adventurous enough to see people they’ve never heard of. That’s the magic of Edinburgh. I just hope it stays accessible enough that the next generation of comedians can still afford to be discovered there.

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

My show is actually about how little I’ve learned from the past year. It’s basically about not learning anything from your actions.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote my show, with help from comedian friends who have seen bits and pieces of it. The direction of it has been helped greatly by comedians like Sam Eley and Bobby Mair.

Bobby Mair is a fantastic comic, but often more off-the-wall than me. He may sometimes suggests I improve a routine by, for example, jacking off onto a dead kids’ face, which suits his comic voice much more. He is very emotionally intelligent, and knows how to draw things out of me that I feel, but I’m not sure how to say.

Sam Eley is very gifted. He always knows how to read an audience, and take a joke in the most interesting way once their perception of me has been thoroughly analysed.

The show has mainly been inspired by one event — me being robbed in New Orleans by two women who led me to believe they wanted a threesome with me. A lot of material around that has seemed to keep on the same theme: Believing stuff just because it benefits you.

I’ve done lots of previews of it around the country to my online fans, and after Edinburgh I’ll be taking it on a tour of UK and Ireland.

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

Phil Ellis, Eric Rushton and Chris Kent. They’re my favourites at the moment, and hugely underrated.

Chris Kent had me crying laughing the last time I saw him in Kilkenny. Before that, I can’t remember the last time I cried laughing at stand-up.

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