Author Archives: Dan Lentell

EdFringe Talk: Don Quixote (Is a Very Big Book)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“For decades I’ve heard nothing but horror stories from performers who return like they’ve been at the Somme.”

WHO: Dik Downey

WHAT: “Dik Downey’s mid-life crisis crashes headlong into Don Quixote’s crazed delusions. With a rogue’s gallery of puppets and desperate clowning, Quixote embarks on surreal, comic misadventures with sidekick Sancho Panza and decrepit horse, Rocinante. Dik fights to make this huge novel joyous to a contemporary audience. But as Quixote chases impossible dreams, Dik faces his own dwindling relevance and mortality. A laugh-out-loud international co-production on the indignities of fighting the inevitable. ‘Show of the year… so funny that your face will hurt’ (Bristol247.com) ‘Slapstick comedy and touching vulnerability… outstanding’ (Scotsman).”

WHERE: King Dome at Pleasance Dome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 15:25 (55 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first time performing at the EdFringe and I’m trying hard not to think about what I’ve let myself in for. For decades I’ve heard nothing but horror stories from performers who return like they’ve been at the Somme. Tales of financial ruin, dodgy digs and performing for one man and his dog, but I thought “why not? What have I got to lose?, apart from my savings, dignity and my knees! But seriously, I do know that it is a fantastic place to work, and seeing as Don Quixote (is a very big book) is a relatively new show, a run of 24 performances will really break it in. Plus, it’s a great show and I want as many people as possible to see it.

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

Look after your body! After a year of careering around in a genuine suit of armour, I’ve discovered the importance of a strict exercise regime. I’ve taught puppetry and clowning for decades and always stress the importance of warm-ups, but have generally been crap at doing them myself. However, in preparation for the festival I got myself a personal trainer to try and whip me into shape. Let’s just say I’m still working on it.

Tell us about your show.

Don Quixote (is a very big book) was written by my director Emma Williams, my creative technician Chris Collier and myself, up in the Lofoten Islands within the Arctic Circle last May/June. We spent 5 weeks in 24hr perpetual daylight, slowly going mad as we tried to distil a 939-page novel, written in 1605 into 55 minutes of hysterical mayhem, with a suit of armour and a cast of puppets. I’m proud to say that I think we pulled it off. The show has had a great reception when we premiered it in Norway and played it in Spain, Sweden and Bristol. As soon as we pack up after Edinburgh, we fly off to Berlin where we play for 4 nights at the At.Tension Festival. I’ve been performing for 45 years and what’s interesting, is seeing a renewed enthusiasm for puppets. Every few years there’s a renaissance in puppetry and I’ve always been fortunate to be there to ride that wave.

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

I would certainly recommend Dracula: Lucy’s Dream by Plexus Polaire. It’s an astounding retelling of the story from Lucy’s perspective using life sized puppets and a beautiful score. They made the show at the same theatre in Norway where we made DQ(IAVBB). They are on at The Pleasance EICC at 17:30.

Also, you’d be a fool to miss Jill’s Tupperware Party at The Underbelly at 2:35. Good weird comedy. Then there’s Max Fulham: Memory Foam. He’s a fantastic ventriloquist I stumbled upon on Instagram , I’ve never seen him live, but I can’t wait, and finally; everyone (and their dogs) should go see Paul Currie: Remove Your Skin Please at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House. It’s his 11th hour long show at the festival. Almost impossible to describe, but it will be raucous, hilarious and
surreal.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

EdFringe Talk: SpinQueen™

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“No one is going to give you permission to exist as you want to and you shouldn’t need it anyway!”

WHO: Megan Tomei

WHAT: “After a violent, sleepless night with her abusive boyfriend, Meg goes back to her spin studio like nothing happened. It doesn’t take long for her to spiral into a manic breakdown as she realizes her version of self-care (perfectionism, calorie-counting and people pleasing) is self-destruction. Throughout this one-woman show, Meg faces body dysmorphia, internalized abuse and the exhausting need to be adored. Physically relentless, brutally funny and surprisingly moving, SpinQueen™ is theatre you can feel in every muscle. A show that will leave you questioning how far we go to keep up and what it really takes to stop.”

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

WHEN: 19:35 (50 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my absolute first time at the Edinburgh Fringe – as a performer or otherwise! It has always been an absolute dream of mine to attend. I only have ever heard the most incredible things about the energy of the festival and the people that attend, and I cannot wait to soak it all in. I have always dreamed of bringing specifically a one-woman show to the Fringe. My late great friend, Issa Malak Best – who my play is dedicated to, always said I should create a one-woman show, as that’s how I typically move through the world (a never-ending performance), and I hope SpinQueen™ pursuit honors his artistry and memory.

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

Oh my goodness this has ONLY been a 12-month period of learning lessons! The biggest one right now is to say f*ck it to most things. No one is going to give you permission to exist as you want to and you shouldn’t need it anyway! It’s too crazy, too intense, and a lot of times too scary out there to not live the way you want to. I’m trying to live out loud essentially and not care what anyone thinks – but wow is that easier said than done.

Tell us about your show.

I wrote SpinQueen™, with the developmental help of my director Jennesy Herrera, and constantly feel like I’m still writing it. It is an absurd, often satirical piece, yet very much a personal story and a very personal experience that happened to me. It is shrouded in hyperbole, humor, the dark realities of being a woman in the world, and all the grotesque confrontations of having a body that endures these dichotomies. And who doesn’t love screaming into the void, while breaking a sweat? I came up with the concept after dealing after 8 years of teaching spin and was growing endlessly frustrated with myself and my body. It forced me to slow down against any will or desire of my own. It made me confront what systems I’m a part of and what cycles I perpetuate (pun very much intended). And I couldn’t help but connect it to how I keep pushing the physical and emotional facets of myself, often to the detriment of those very pillars that keep one moving forward. You think you should keep pushing through to get through, but when is it too far? And for what? Being a Native New Yorker, I premiered my show at the Chain Theatre in NYC just before heading across the pond for a full run at the Fringe, and plan on taking it to LA afterwards (where the play actually takes place).

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

Audiences should definitely see fellow one-man show In the Black created and performed by Quaz Degraft – it is very much as funny as it is true, and he is a phenomenal performer. Further, if you resonate with the themes of my show, please go see Belly created and performed by Reilly O’Shaughnessy. It’s touching, sweet, and full of deeper meanings that exist within a woman’s body. We love to delve into the depths of ourselves for the sake of art! It’s really brave what these artists are doing.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

EdFringe Talk: Toast

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“Can you believe a slightly feral, formally weird play about Universal Credit, by some skint gobshite from Coventry, won a Fringe First?”

WHO: Jude Green

WHAT: “A dark and unrelenting comedy about starving for your art. As negotiations with employers, agents and Universal Credit crumble, one actor drags you into a brutal and absurd takedown of the UK benefit system, the Cost of Living Crisis, and whether we value the art more than the people who make it. They’ll go down swinging, but they will go down – maybe making a play about food poverty is the only way out of it? After all, closed mouths don’t get fed. Winner of the Shedload-of-Future Fund 2026. ‘Impeccably written… a completely captivating performer’ (Liv Ello, Body Show).”

WHERE: Dissection Room at Summerhall & Old Lab at Summerhall (Venue 26) 

WHEN: Varies (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is! I’ve never been here before, even as an audience member. It’s honestly just too expensive. I think a lot of people are feeling that, especially this year. I’ve spoken to people who’ve gone into £20k of debt bringing their show. When I was first planning the run I was getting accommodation quotes of £6k+ from some places, and then people telling me ‘oh yeah, that’s kinda normal.’ It’s really frustrating as a working-class artist. It just feels like we’re not considered, like we can’t feed the machine so there’s no room for us here. That’s why it’s been so sincerely encouraging for ‘Toast’ to get things like Shedinburgh’s Shedload of Future Fund earlier this year – I would have no business being here without it. It’s meant we could pay for the venue and (a mercifully cheaper than £6k+) accommodation. Now that I’m here I am absolutely having the time of my life.

The Fringe is so vibrant and alive, there’s so much going on constantly, and a swarm of like-minded people everywhere you look – and more working-class artists than you think, making incredible art and showing us how its done in spite of how hard it is. And then for ‘Toast’ to win a Fringe First during the first week? I’m still not really over it to be honest. Can you believe a slightly feral, formally weird play about Universal Credit, by some skint gobshite from Coventry, won a Fringe First? I guess this is the place where that kind of thing can happen. I think that’s what makes Ed Fringe great. For all its faults and exclusivity, if you can scratch out a place for yourself here then there are opportunities like nowhere else. I can’t believe the support the ‘Toast’ just from one short ten-day run (so much that we’ve had to add extra dates for the final week of the fest.)

I just wish it received more support, and that artists specifically had more access to financial support to come here. Shedinburgh’s grant is incredible, but it’s the only one of its kind. Keep It Fringe grants are much smaller and they still had their capacity slashed this year. For shows like ‘Toast’ made by people like me to keep coming here, there needs to be more financial infrastructure.

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

Done is better than perfect, and if you try and make a play for everyone then it’ll end up being for no one. I’d been a little obsessive about making this well-made-play that was very perfectly formed and would change hearts and minds about poverty and benefits in the UK, but ‘Toast’ was always very defiant of that goal and wanted to be its own angry, funny thing. If people resonated with it that was a bonus. I wasted a lot of time being worried about what other people would think, not just of the play as a piece of work but of me and other people on benefits. It felt like a great responsibility and that’s intimidating. But in the end that became fuel for it. There’s this absurd performance you’re expected to do when you’re skint, especially if you’re on benefits.

You have to be mild-mannered and calm and understanding of the people and systems who bluntly don’t treat you as human, otherwise you’re labelled a scrounger, a thief, lazy, aggy, etc. All of which is just cheap language that’s used as an excuse to ignore you and refuse you access to services, wages, and rights – and the way that class and poverty intersect with so many marginalised communities, it’s something a lot of us understand very deeply. If you’re angry you’re a problem, and while advocating for yourself is essential, doing it to the Universal Credit people can have unintended consequences. In the end the play only started flowing when I faced that head on, when the journey became directly intertwined with the fact that this whole thing is a fucking performance. It’s literally a play. So let’s name that, let’s interact with that, and see how far we can push the absurdity of all this burden of performance until all the wheels come off. Learning that made the play what it is, I just wish I’d learned it sooner.

Tell us about your show.

‘Toast’ is a darkly absurd comedy about what it means to starve for your art in the UK. It gets into the grubby parts we all know exist but rarely, if ever, talk about openly: Unpaid ‘opportunities’, the pay-to-play nature of a lot of theatre work (including the Fringe), Universal Credit, and past a certain point the food poverty that you can’t afford to hide anymore. Closed mouths don’t get fed after all. It takes the form of phone calls with agents, would-be employers, and Universal Credit, and gradually breaks down until the dole is the only voice you hear. Because it does feel all-consuming when that’s your life. It’s based on real calls I’ve had with UC over the past nine odd years of trying to balance freelance theatre work and failing, real systems and policies that impact many of us throughout our day-to-day life, and the real impacts – like the times where there’s nothing left to eat but toast. Eventually the play starts biting back. I get to start taking the piss, and that’s when the wheels really come off.

I wrote it myself, and initially it was this huge collection of sketches really. There’s over a hundred – obviously they didn’t all make it into the play! It was a process of curating a flow of scenes that felt like a narrative, that felt like a story and like a person really going through it, while still leaving space for this slightly feral comedy as everything breaks down and it stops being a play anymore. I had the wonderful help of my fellow performer (and tech operator, and babysitter, and and and…) Jack Wakely, and our Outside Eye, Debbie Hannan, who helped me refine the script. I’d met them through the phenomenal CRIPtic Arts, hands down the best company I’ve ever worked with in nine years of professional theatre. ‘Toast’ got accepted onto their Reach programme in 2025 and I got the support, space, and wage to finally give the concept a real go. Jack is their Development Producer and was running the programme and its residentials, and I asked him to just read in for the part of the off-stage voice at the sharing.

He was just so hilarious, he’s a really gifted and crafted clown on top of being a producer, and he was getting way bigger laughs than I was, so there was never any question of anyone else doing the part from then on. Debbie’s partner was performing in one of the other pieces and bless him literally ran up to me after the dress rehearsal and said he wanted to put me in touch with them (cheers, Vinnie, love you.) So yeah, it was a really organic thing and I’m so glad of that. I can’t imagine doing it with anyone else. Everyone is working-class and been on and off the bennys, so we all intimately understand what ‘Toast’ is about. Everyone is disabled, everyone is neurodivergent, and everyone is queer too. I’ve never felt so held. I’ve been self-producing this and it’s been bonkers, and not having to justify yourself or your experiences is hugely important on a project. They are a joy. Hire them for all your things.

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

Oh, man. Too many to mention. We have to big up the working-class artists up here showing how it should be done: I think our biggest mad cap comedy, laugh-out-loud stand-outs have been ‘Slugs’ by Creepy Boys, ‘Horrible Things’ by Frankie Thompson, ‘I Am Jonny’ by Tessa Parr, ‘Landlords Wet Dream’ by Verity Sharpe, and ‘Very Hot Very Messy’ by Georgia Polly Taylor. If you’re after some similarly cutting drama that holds its comedy moments incredibly well, I beg of you check out ‘You, Me, And Whoever Comes Next’ by Keron Day and ‘Man Or Bear’ by Katie Hurley & Sarah Hehir, both are a grateful punch in the chest.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

EdFringe Talk: Georgina Thomas: Hysterical Soprano

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“I am on my 789 day streak of Duolingo. I switch between Italian and German. I still haven’t made it through any tense other than the present, but if there’s an upcoming trip to a zoo or someone needs me to describe my morning routine, don’t worry, ragazze, I’m all over it. Genau!”

WHO: Georgina Thomas

WHAT: “Some might say Georgina is a narcissist, but she prefers the term Soprano. Trapped in the echo chamber of her own vibrato, Georgina is forced to confront her greatest obstacle: herself. ‘Satirical gold’ **** (Spectator). ‘Effortless comedy timing’ **** (Everything-Theatre.co.uk). ‘Loud’ (her neighbours). Hysterical Soprano is her solo debut and magnum opus. Directed by Will Jackson. ‘Thomas shows a huge amount of potential’ **** (TheUpcoming.co.uk).”

WHERE: Dexter at Underbelly, Bristo Square (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 13:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Well, cowboys, this is not my first Edinburgh Fringe rodeo! I am very lucky to have experienced it in different capacities: as a punter, in a student show, as a volunteer and as a performer in my double act, Thick ‘n’ Fast. Each has been a unique experience and this time round will be different again as I am taking my first solo show. Just as a punter goes through the festival encountering weird and wonderful performances, performers go through the festival experiencing eclectic audiences of all sizes, shapes and attention spans. I’m excited for what this year’s Fringe will bring! (Yee-haw).

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

I am on my 789 day streak of Duolingo. I switch between Italian and German. I still haven’t made it through any tense other than the present, but if there’s an upcoming trip to a zoo or someone needs me to describe my morning routine, don’t worry, ragazze, I’m all over it. Genau!

Otherwise, I’m really looking forward to repeating the same mistakes again over the next 12 months.

Tell us about your show.

The show was born out of a conversation at the start of this year with my old friend, Will Jackson. Will is an incredibly gifted writer and I had just seen him in his latest Christmas musical, Dashing, in which he played a surprise harp solo. I had not realised that he too had a secret past in Classical music. A plan was hatched and I have been writing the show and developing it with Will since. The production has also had enormous creative input from Olivia Doutney, an outrageously talented opera singer, (Soprano, of course), who has been coaching my voice and helping curate the selection of music that has gone into the show. The arrangement of the music and accompaniment has been recorded and performed by Anto Buckley. We are really hoping to take it to new locations next year, but for now we are focussing on debuting the best version to our Edinburgh Fringe audience.

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

I have so many I’d love to promote, so sorry to those I will have inevitably forgotten. I think you should see Abigail Weinstock’s Giraffe (Pleasance Courtyard, 1:45) – Abi is a really talented actor with a sharp sense of humour and this is a semi-autobiographical story I am really looking forward to seeing.

Gannet (Just the Tonic Mash House, 12:00) Gannet is a story about a gangly bird, who suddenly finds themself in the big city. Expect lots of laughs. Daisy Day and Peggy Pollard are a winning combination of comedy talent on the rise.

Plaything by Isabella Thompson (Hoots @ Nicholson Square, 13:10) is a clowning comedy show that takes you on a wild journey through a series of hilarious characters, costumes, big smiles, and one enormous rucksack.

Bed Five by Nikki Fagbemi (Gilded Balloon Teviot 11:50) – this is a highly-anticipated show based on lived experience of invisible illness. Nikki has been working with director Alex Hardy on this show and I know it will be a hilarious and defiant piece of comedy.

Also, Charlie Vero-Martin is doing a work-in-progress at the Big Yurt about ghosts and I think this will be excellent.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

‘Not Another Quiz Night’ (Debating Hall at Gilded Balloon Teviot, until AUG 30)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 5*, Cabaret, Comedy, Rated: Outstanding by

“This show does audience participation like a solar eclipse does hurty eyes.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

A year ago at EdFringe25 I wrote that, “after careful consideration, I can confidently say this is the best show I have seen at any EdFringe.” In retrospect, I am filled with remorse at having written something so opaque. I worry that I was not fulsome enough, not clear enough, not sufficiently on the nose – like a Château Haut-Brion 2025 or a tap from Tyson Fury is on the nose – in expressing to you, savage reader, just how chuffing superb this entire production is. Subtlety is a curse. Fortunately ‘subtlety’ is not a malediction that affects Jake Bhardwaj and the crew. They’re BACK. They’re BIGGER. They’re EVEN MORE INVENTIVE and, who’d have thunked it, they are more, More, MORE of everything than last year.

Popadom Frisbee (Queensbury Rules) has been replaced with Slap That Bap. There’s a celebrity guest appearance by Andy Murray instead of Liam and/or Noel Gallagher. Baywatch Beach Parade has been replaced by shirt OR vest BUT biggest crisp is still in the lineup. There’s a lot more lighting, a lot more sound effects, a lot more glittery explosions, and a capacity crowd in the comparatively massiver Teviot Debating Hall. The venue seems to bulge at the seams like a Fat Cupid in a too-small loincloth as the crowd goes utterly wild from start to finish.

Bhardwaj is the greatest ringmaster and showcaser showman of our time. He plays us like a jacked up Bert in ‘Mary Poppins’ would play his one-man-band if it were replaced by ALL the instruments of the London Symphony and Berlin Philharmonic combined. The pace is out of this world. The night speeds by like a perp in a Yangwang U9 during a police chase and the border only 80 short clicks away.

Come for one of the two most insanely BIG and beautiful shows of this or any EdFringe. Stay for the skill and the craft of serious levels of silly done silly levels of serious. Get whatever coats, gladrags, hats, and assorted clobber you and yours can quickly club together on and go see this!

 

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

EdFringe Talk: Dirty Dancer

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“We all need connection. The Fringe gives us a pretty extraordinary place to find it.”

WHO: Melissa Firlit

WHAT: “A one-woman parody with a lift, this bold, funny riff on the 1987 cult classic Dirty Dancing is packed with sharp wit, physical storytelling and playful audience connection. The colourful crew from Kellerman’s Resort comes to life with a twist, fuelling this fast-paced, high-energy ride: no partner required. Dirty Dancer invites you to relive the nostalgia, revel in the joy and have the time of your life… because nobody puts this Baby in a corner.”

WHERE: Belly Laugh at Underbelly, Cowgate (Venue 61) 

WHEN: 19:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is not my first Edinburgh Fringe, but it is my first time onstage at the Fringe in 20 years and Dirty Dancer’s world premiere.

I love the Fringe because everyone is taking a leap. Artists create, audiences choose adventure, and the whole city is alive with possibility. You can walk into a show knowing nothing about it and leave with one of your favorite festival memories.

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

I’ve learned that courage is jumping into the work before I feel ready. At some point I realized: if I don’t do this now, it may pass me by.

And I’m discovering and learning that connection is the biggest thread running through both the show and the festival; from my morning cafe hellos to the shows I see, the people I meet, and my fellow venue mates. We all need connection. The Fringe gives us a pretty extraordinary place to find it.

I’m trying to absorb these lessons the same way I try to absorb my vitamins: daily, with varying degrees of success.

Tell us about your show.

I created and perform Dirty Dancer, a one-woman love letter and parody inspired by the 1987 cult classic film Dirty Dancing, which has occupied a permanent corner of my brain since childhood.
Our team came together through years of collaboration, friendship and a shared “yes, and…” response to the question: “What would happen if Melissa did a one-woman Dirty Dancer?”

Michael Thomas Walker directs, Kristyn Pope brings movement and stage management, Elaine Wong lights the world, and Stefanie Genda creates the costumes; all helping one performer tell a story that has been a life marker for me and, hopefully, create a whole lot of joy and nostalgia for the people who come experience it.

We’re open to travel, adventures and continuing to share this high-energy, joy-fuelled hour with audiences wherever they’ll have us. Dirty Dancer was built to connect with people, so I’d love to see where she wants to dance next. Edinburgh is the world premiere, but I certainly don’t think it’s the last dance.

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

See Mark Vigeant’s Out There. I loved Mark’s The Best Man Show last year. If you saw that, go. If you didn’t, all the more reason to go now!

Keep the joy going with How to Art, where two bananas wake up duct-taped to a gallery wall. That’s enough of a hook for me. It should be for you too.

See Goodbye Dandelion, a moving story about an unlikely friendship. Go!

And Desperate Wee Gay Boy, a bold, messy and joyous journey. Go connect and be seen!

These shows are what I love about the Fringe: artists using humour and theatrical imagination to reach something deeply human. What more could you need?

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

EdFringe Talk: Shotgunned

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, *Written Interviews by

“Nothing is a sure-fire success or failure, and audiences are always an unpredictable sort.”

WHO: Matt Anderson

WHAT: “Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, Matt Anderson’s Shotgunned is a relatable and intimate piece of theatre about how the people we lose can shape who we become. Described by The Stage as ‘a cleverly composed, superbly performed, achingly moving two-hander’. ***** (Stage). ‘Shotgunned is empathetic, heartfelt, and endearing all at once’ (WestEndBestFriend.co.uk). Following a sold-out run in 2024, Shotgunned returns to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the 2026 Made in Scotland showcase. MadeInScotlandShowcase.com”

WHERE: Studio Five at Assembly George Square Studios (Venue 17) 

WHEN: 15:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I’m originally from Aberdeenshire, now based in Glasgow, so I’m no stranger to Edinburgh. I have attended the Fringe more years than not, and whether I am bringing my own work or just coming along as a punter, always find it a highlight of my year.

Whenever I have a show on at the festival I always really enjoy it, though find it difficult to ever relax. Once the Fringe begins, it feels like it goes 24/7 until the end of the month, and so it’s hard to not make your brain operate the same way. Emails, events, flyering…. Honestly, the best cure is going out and seeing other shows, absorbing the talent around you, and remembering you and all the other artists are in this together.

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

To not expect anything! When I was here producing a show in 2024, all of my expectations were subverted. This year, I thought I would know what was coming, but honestly, it has all been subverted again. Nothing is a sure-fire success or failure, and audiences are always an unpredictable sort.

Also – monitor your daily caffeine intake. If I’m not paying attention, I can go the whole day drinking coffee, which makes trying to get a good nights sleep a bit of a challenge. I’ve gotten better now at limiting myself to one in the morning and one in the afternoon, potentially a third if I’m having a “meeting” with someone. For some reason meetings are always over cups of coffee and there’s nothing you can do about it.

Tell us about your show.

Shotgunned is a time-hopping two hander, chronicling a young couple’s relationship and break-up. It is written and directed by me and stars two amazing actors – Lorna Panton and Fraser Allan Hogg, both from Scotland.

The play is being produced by Kangaroo Court Productions and Serpentine Productions, and this is its second time at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2024, we were self-funded and had no real set, props, marketing, you name it. Despite that, we received some incredible five star reviews and won a Pleasance Pick of the Fringe award and a Scottish Theatre Award.

Now, we’re back at the Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase, with the hope that we are picked up for an international tour. The show is incredibly funny, heartbreaking, and universal in its exploration of love and loss. It has connected with older generations, teenagers, and first time theatre goers. It has also been published by Nick Hern Books, to coincide with our run this month.

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

Audiences should definitely go and see Common Tongue by Fraser Scott, an amazing monologue about Scots, language, and identity through accents.

Queen of the Empire by Sasha Snowdon is a really powerful story about a party girl dealing with addiction and grief. The run just finished but as audiences have been loving it, I think The Space has chosen it to come back for the last week of the Fringe in a new time slot.

I’m also really excited to see RockPools by Molly Windust and Behind Closed Doors by Studio Muiz Theatre.

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!

‘Doktor Kaboom and the Wheel of Science!’ (Beyond at Pleasance Courtyard, until AUG 16)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 5*, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“Doktor Kaboom occupies a place in the life of EdFringe like how Bismarck occupied a place in the realpolitik of 19th-century Europe.”

Editorial Rating: 7 out of 5 Stars (Outstanding)

There’s a rumour doing the rounds that Doktor Kaboom is planning an EdFringe27 show for adult audiences and my girls are not happy. Doktor Kaboom belongs to us, they insist, in that same howling protest voice they use when I turn off their Disney+ to catch the latest test match scores. Doktor Kaboom occupies a place in the life of EdFringe like how Bismarck occupied a place in the realpolitik of 19th-century Europe. The good Doktor’s strength of personality, his unshakable determination to outflank and outperform all other petty rivals, has delivered, year on year, a monumental show with some monumental messages. The Doktor is an institution in the way that Max Planck is an institute to which even my girls’ mighty professorial Grandad must attend when summoned to talk serious science.

He is missing out. This year’s edition of Doktor Kaboom is a noble vintage with the added pleasure of seeing the welcome return of the wheel of science, which was here last year, but not on stage. On the wheel are listed the demonstrations that have made the name Kaboom famous across continents and oceans and of interest to numerous security services and international watchdogs. Which will we see today? Let’s take a spin and find out.

In her EdFringe notebook, the one with Mary E. Brunkow and a group of happy auld mice on the cover, Daughter 1.0 (11 yrs) wrote: “Doktor kaboom and the wheel of Science was A-Mazing! I loved the vacum cannon and the hovercraft. But my favorite was Flour Power. For Obvious reasons. Flour Power was my favourite because of how much fire some flour and a candle can make. It’s incredible. Can’t wait to see this next year!”

In a letter to her Devonian (place and/or period) grandmother, Daughter 2.0 (8yrs) wrote: “Today I went to see docter Kaboom! It’s crazy fun and exciting. There are many experaments and One it called the hovercraft. its a table top with a shower curtin atached to it with holles and a hole in the table top were he puts the most powerful leaf blower money can bye and I Got to sit on the hovercraft and I squizzed the handdel and then got pushed to the other side of the room! I felt excited when on the hover craft and joyful.”

Only an Amazon-sized forest of bay trees could produce sufficient laurels for this show, which rests on not a single one. It’s not just the concept, or the performance, or the impact, or the lifetime’s worth of memories, or the did-he-really-just-do-thattery – it’s the consistency that makes this show such a family favourite. It’s like if The Almighty stepped out of Python’s ‘Holy Grail’, went back, bat in hand, to the crease and scored a century in under 70mins. The greatest Doktor since W.G. Grace continues to astound and astonish audiences with a show that is truly in a league of its own.

Come for the science. Stay for finely tuned spontaneity. Get your lab coats long enough to cover any Bundesflagge kilts you’ve slipped out past your valet on and go see this!

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

‘Explosive Science Show!’ (Studio One at Assembly George Square Studios, until AUG 31)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 5*, Rated: Outstanding, Theatre by

“There will be no shushing of the wee ones or demands for stillness. There will, however, be a chap seeming to set himself on fire – literally.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

Magnus Danger Magnus is an EdFringe phenomenon. The most charming man in the known universe. An elemental force of nature. A seasoned performer. A certifiably crazy person, he has more energy than the hypergiant Stephenson 2-18 in the constellation Scutum, which, if he reads this, I know will make him chuckle because our Magnus loves a silly (preferably risqué) remark from the comic nether regions. Double entendre? In your endo.

As a super-massive fan of the fantastically filthy ‘Adults Only Magic Show’ in which he also regularly appears to steal the show, there’s no doubting that he is one of life’s great natural performers. Incredibly hardworking, there is a precision and a delicacy to his finely honed stagecraft, belied by the tumult and mayhem. It’s obvious from the way he speaks that ‘Explosive Science Show!’ is his great passion project – his Magnus Opus. It’s the show in which he speaks from the heart to the heart of the matter – science truly is for everyone because neurospiciness is not a hindrance – it’s a superpower. There will be no shushing of the wee ones or demands for stillness. There will, however, be a chap seeming to set himself on fire – literally.

In her EdFringe notebook, the one showing Barbie graduating from the Max Planck Institute on the cover, Daughter 1.0 (11 years) wrote: “I loved this show because it has everything a child would want in a science show: explosions, Elephant’s toothpaste, a crazy lunatic setting his hand on fire. My favourite part was when Magnus poured a powder into a liquid and it burst into flames. I really hope to see this show next year.”

As a parent, there are some shows that are not only worth the money, they are worth having kids for. This is one such. If thrills and spills and Research Octane Numbers in the upper 120s are your thing, this show is a must-see. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to take espresso shots via the eyeball while having east of the Danube energy drinks pumped directly into your left ventricle, this is a safer(ish) way to find out. Magnus Danger Magnus is memorable in the way that finding out you’ve been strapped to the front of a prototype bullet train in Hubei province would be memorable.

Come for one of the two best kids’ science shows at EdFringe. Stay for the man, the myth, the legend. Get your lab coats on and go see this!

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!

‘Dickens: The Readings’ (Studio One at Assembly George Square Studios, until AUG 30)

Posted in *EdFestivals 2026, 5*, Rated: Outstanding, Spoken Word by

“Porter’s reading is a resurrection of living personalities. Davy, Murdstone, Steerforth, Peggotty and his progeny leap from the page as fresh as fresh pu’d gowans fine.”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars (Outstanding)

150+ years since Charles Dickens last took to an Edinburgh stage to perform his legendarily lucrative public readings, 22 performers are recreating the magic each day at Assembly Fringe. Several lifetimes ago, in 2019, Eddie Izzard attempted something similar, although the EdFringe ambassador of today did not receive the expected adulation back then. Should we be surprised? Dickens’ not entirely undeserved reputation for impenetrable, wordy monumentalism – as with his just-about-contemporary, Sir Walter Scott – has reduced somewhat the numbers queuing round the block to engage with his art.

When I first read ‘Waverley’ a couple of years ago, yes, I realised I had been missing out. It’s the greatest novel in the English language. A masterpiece. They should really name some large piece of civic infrastructure in the book’s honour. But then again, those same reasons which made me cordially loathe Kevin and Perry when they first appeared would have kept me from warming to the hapless Edward Titular during all of early adulthood. It’s just too sharply observed. Dickens and Scott are intended for mature audiences – readers who have lived a little and learned a lot. Enter the wonderful Gail Porter.

I liked Gail Porter a lot back in the day – as did every hot-blooded youth with a pulse. Today she is one of my heroes, a woman who has been through several layers of Dante’s Inferno and come back (aye, a tad wee bit singed) but in the essentials stronger than a powered-up Pac-Man. Porter is Edinburgh. Pretty, if you like that sort of thing (which I do), but more importantly resilient AF, unafraid of a few squalls of inclement weather, and a damn sight smarter than the average bare bum on the Houses of Parliament.

There’s no list of the performers who are reading on any given day. I just happened to win the lottery and got the reader with the sheer weight of lived experience, intellectual depth and emotional range to really, Really, REALLY do justice to ‘David Copperfield’ and a bit of ‘Little Nell’. Dickens is a refuge, a safe harbour, for those whose vital spark caught light early in life but who never had the time or opportunity to find those spiritual anchorages which keep us all from checking into the loony bin when the unavoidable big questions and those shitty little nagging doubts finally come a’knocking.

Hubris and nemesis. Trials and tribulations. Kindness and cruelty. Love, hate, and (what’s far worse) indifference. These are the colour-shade staples of Dicken’s painter’s palette. In her unrehearsed, perfectly spontaneous performance, Porter does for Dicken’s pictures in words what a great restorer could do for that auld oil portrait of Scott and his dogs that’s just about still visible in the Spec Halls under all that ancient coal smoke. She brings the colours out vividly like how the sea at Santorini is supposed to be vivid. Porter’s reading is a resurrection of living personalities. Davy, Murdstone, Steerforth, Peggotty and his progeny leap from the page as fresh as fresh pu’d gowans fine, as urgent as a bus driver tapping his air brakes at a pedestrian on South Bridge who’s not finished his hurried crossing en route to this show.

If the other 21 performers achieve half of what Porter did -and if they have a good Kermit the Frog story to throw into the mix for added good measure – then come for Dickens done right. Stay for the camaraderie of a crowd who know we’re on to a good thing. Get your coarse Petersham great-coats on and go see this!

ALL our recent coverage? Click here!