Category Archives: EdFestivals 2018

All our coverage from the 2018 festivals.

+3 Interview: The Delightful Sausage: Regeneration Game

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Last year went embarrassingly well. Reviewers and audiences liked it. We really weren’t prepared for that.”

WHO: Amy Gledhill and Chris Cantrill, The acts

WHAT: “Surreal comedy from Yorkshire’s finest, meat-themed double act. Join Chris and Amy in a gag-packed mission to crown their town the City of Culture. Find out what culture is, who’s been secreting it and why that stain won’t wash. A multimedia adventure for fans of economic recession, blue top milk and Bigfoot. The follow-up to the duo’s debut show which was recorded for NextUp and transferred to the Soho Theatre. ‘One of the best adverts for modern alternative comedy’ **** (EdFestMag.com). ‘Inventive and increasingly hysterical’ **** (Skinny). ‘Brims with ideas and creativity’ **** (ThreeWeeks).”

WHERE: Monkey Barrel Comedy Club – Monkey Barrel 2 (Venue 515) 

WHEN: 12:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It will be our second time up there as a duo. (Chris did a solo show in 2016 and the twelve people who saw it have never been the same since.)

Last year went embarrassingly well. Reviewers and audiences liked it. We really weren’t prepared for that. We were brought solidly back to Earth though when we got back to the confused grimaces of comedy clubs of the north-west.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

We had a run at Soho Theatre which was a huge deal for us. On the last night all four of our parents were on the front row, and Chris had a tiny cry on stage, which has never happened out of joy before. Amy’s dad shook everybody’s hand in the theatre bar and since then we’ve both had the confidence to complain in restaurants.

Tell us about your show.

Regeneration Game is a bizarre comedy show, loosely (oh so loosely) based around a City of Culture bid. It features trolls, unsettling illustrations and is packed tight with gags. We write (secrete ) and produce it ourselves with the overseeing, ever-twitching eye, of our agent.

We met whilst performing as solo acts in the Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year final and both of us ended up relocating to Manchester and needing someone to have a Cheeky Vimto with.

Regeneration Game will premier at the festival this year and if the friendship survives, it will be going on a small tour of the UK early next year.

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

We’d highly recommend having a day at The Monkey Barrel, their programming is innovative, often silly and of a really high standard.

Our other picks of the fringe would be;
Ross Brierley – Accumulator.
James Meehan – Gaz
Jack Evans – Work
David Callaghan – One for Sorrow, Two for Joy – Shoes.
Sleeping Trees – World Tour
Lazy Suzan – Forgive Me, Mother!
Harriet Dyer- Sooz A Prick
Lou Conran – At Least I’m Not Dog Poo Darren
Lee Kyle – Kicking Potatoes

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+3 Interview: KillyMuck

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I took last year off to pay all the credit cards and loans I took out to fund my work!”

WHO: Kat Woods, Writer/Director/Producer

WHAT: “Inspired by real events, Killymuck is a housing estate built on a paupers graveyard in 1970s Ireland. Niamh navigates life through the parameters of growing up, with the trials and tribulations of being a kid from the benefit class system. Lack of opportunity, educational barriers, impoverishment, addiction and depression are the norms as the struggle to escape the underclass stereotype becomes a priority. From school trips organised as cross-community excursions to unite a fractured post troubles town, to finding the humour within an estate crippled with misfortune. From award-winning, critically acclaimed writer of Belfast Boy, Wasted, Mule.”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Jersey (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 18:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

In 2004 I went on a Hen party to Edinburgh and one of the only things I can remember was the Frankenstein bar and a very drunken open top bus tour!

This will actually be my fourth Edinburgh Fringe. My previous shows include BELFAST BOY in 2014 (Sold out and won; The Stage award for Excellence and The Fringe Review award for Outstanding Theatre), WASTED (Sell out shows transferred to New York and London) in 2015 and MULE in 2016 (Sell out shows transferred to London and Northern Ireland). I took last year off to pay all the credit cards and loans I took out to fund my work!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I cleared my credit card, working a million Restaurant hours!

I signed with a fantastic writing agent, Alex Rusher at Independent Talent. Found my writing Mojo again and penned Killymuck. Mule went on tour to Northern Ireland. Belfast Boy took part in a producing showcase in London. Wasted premiered in Wales.

My company have been invited to Baltimore and Washington DC, at the end of August to present Wasted as part of a college campus tour.

Tell us about your show.

I am the Writer/Director/Producer. The show is a solo piece of theatre and will be performed by Aoife Lennon. I have known Aoife from doing a Drama Degree in Derry N.Ireland over 10 years ago and I have worked with her on a few pieces, most notably, our last EdFringe piece Mule.

Killymuck is an exploration of issues surrounding class, that I have experienced throughout my childhood and adult life. I am from a council estate, grew up on benefits. With the rise of unpaid internships, unpaid work in general and cuts to arts funding. I felt compelled to write something. We are in danger of the arts becoming solely an elitist playground. Yes, ‘Fleabag’ is fantastic but it is yet another middle-class voice. Where is the representation of the underclass, have we been forgotten? No one speaks of us. It’s time to change that.

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

I am always a little bias towards other Irish shows and in saying that, ‘My Left Nut’ by Michael Patrick and ‘Maz and Bricks’ by Eva O’Connor both look incredible.

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+3 Interview: Jeremy Nicholas: After Dinner Stories from My Disastrous Broadcasting Career

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“This is my Edinburgh debut at the age of 55. I’ve been many times to watch and always loved it.”

WHO: Jeremy Nicholas, Writer and performer

WHAT: “Sony Award-winning broadcaster Jeremy Nicholas brings his hilarious debut hour. Based on true-life stories from 27 years of trying not to get fired on TV and radio with the BBC. There was the time he reported on the face of Elvis in the blue veins of a cheese or his catastrophic mistake to a global TV audience during London 2012. You’ll also get the inside track on the dreadful celebrities he’s interviewed. Jeremy has been described as ‘a complete anchor’, but he may have misheard. Not to be missed.”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – Nightclub (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 13:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my Edinburgh debut at the age of 55. I’ve been many times to watch and always loved it.
Last year I was chatting to a South African theatre director about me doing comedy and he said ‘oh you must bring your one-man show to our theatre in Johannesburg’.

Now I’m a very experienced after-dinner speaker, but the comedy I was talking about is a class I do on a Monday night with adult performing arts academy Stage & the City at Kings Cross.

However, as we’d just done some improv sessions with our fab teacher Maddy Anholt, where we learnt to say ‘yes, and ….’, I found myself saying, ‘yes that would be lovely, when shall I come?’

He offered me a date in December, which gave me four months to weave three hours worth of long-form after-dinner stories into a punchy Greatest Hits-style comedy show.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

So on December 12th I found myself performing a one man, one hour show for the first time, in Johannesburg. I figured if I was rubbish, no one would ever need to hear about it, as it was a long way from home.

But it wasn’t rubbish. It sold out and I got great reviews in the papers. Mainly in Afrikaans, so I’m not sure what it said, but it was all good apparently.

I’d promised myself that if it was good I’d take it to Edinburgh. So I applied to six venues and waited to see if I got in.

My best ever day was on March 15th (the Ides of March) when Gilded Balloon said yes. I couldn’t believe I’d got into such a prestigious venue. I thought I’d be in a tiny space on the outskirts somewhere. And then when I looked to see who else was on at my venue and saw Luisa Omielan was, I suddenly was completely overwhelmed, because she’s one of my all-time comedy heroes.

Tell us about your show.

So now I’d got my slot, I thought I need a much better show than I actually have. I’m one of the top after-dinner speakers in my category, which is: Speakers you’ve never heard of, who haven’t climbed anything, overcome anything or won something involving a ball.’

This show needed to be more than just me rambling on. So I hired Maddy Anholt to produce it for me. She’s my comedy teacher from Monday nights at Kings Cross, who inspired me to do this.

I picked her because I saw her Edinburgh show ‘Herselves’ last year and was blown away by it. She’s superb at comedy characters and has her own production company MadMaddy TV.

Maddy has made me much punchier. She’s added theatricality to my performance. My background is current affairs presenting on TV and radio, so I’m used to being quite calm. One of my producers once described me as ‘a complete anchor’ but I may have misheard. With Maddy’s direction I came out of my shell. She allowed me to develop my stories by adding more accents and becoming the characters, rather than just talking about them.

I’ve seen the show go from quite good, to rather good, to quite possibly brilliant. I could never have done that on my own.

The show started as a ‘work in progress’ at the Cavendish Arms in Stockwell, London, with other shows at the Museum of Comedy in Holborn, Hen and Chickens in Islington and Turk’s Head in Twickenham.

I then played to a sell out crowd at the British Legion in Radcliffe on Trent in Nottingham. That’s when I thought it might be good.

The scariest gig was the Quay Theatre, Sudbury to an audience that included my Mum, Dad, sisters, aunties, uncles and old school friends. (My mum features in one of my big punchlines and I was worried she’d stand up and say ‘I never said that!’)

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

I would suggest going to see Luisa Omielan: Politics for Bitches. I saw a short bit of it at The List launch in London and it looks fab. If it’s anywhere near as good as her last two Edinburgh shows, What Would Beyonce Do? and Am I Right Ladies? it will be brilliant.

Bernie Dieter’s Little Death Club will be fab if you’re after cabaret, along with The Secret Divorce Society with Till Death Us Do Part?

As for stand-ups I’m going to Hal Cruttenden, Lou Sanders, Lauren Pattison, Heidi Regan, Tim Key, Zoe Lyons and Gary Delaney.

I’d recommend going to compilation shows like Fast Fringe, Spank! and Late ‘n’ Live. That’s where I go to find shows I’d never think of going to.

As an after-dinner speaker myself, I’ll be going to see Gyles Brandreth in Break a Leg! He has so many fun stories from inside politics as well as more serious stuff from Countdown. This time it’s all theatrical anecdotes.

I’m also a fan of interview type shows like Fred MacAulay in Conversation. I love to hear people just chatting, rather than performing and Fred is the master of that.

And one last shout out to a serious bit of drama from David William Bryan, In Loyal Company about a missing WWII airman. This guy is a phenomenal performer.

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+3 Interview: Sid Singh: American Bot

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I graduated from law school after living in San Francisco for the past 3 years specializing in refugee law and also start up law. So really the moment I can help a refugee who invents something, my non-comedy career path will be set.”

WHO: Sid Singh, Comedian

WHAT: “Silicon Valley dominates the news with the richest man in the world (Jeff Bezos), a website that helped spread fake news and swing a presidential election (Facebook), and a future presidential candidate (Mark F*cking Zuckerberg). Join Silicon Valley native Sid Singh, fresh off his best-selling comedy album Amazing! Probably, returning to Edinburgh to take down Silicon Valley’s toxic tech culture. From tech’s invasion into our personal lives, to the rampant sexism and racism that festers behind closed doors, the world of tech has never been more problematic or more powerful.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Mash House – Just the Cask Room (Venue 288) 

WHEN: 18:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my fifth time doing Edinburgh and my first new hour since I released my first comedy album “Amazing (Probably)” last year! I love the Fringe and am excited to be back!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I graduated from law school after living in San Francisco for the past 3 years specializing in refugee law and also start up law. So really the moment I can help a refugee who invents something, my non-comedy career path will be set. I also only went to law school initially to please my parents so to actually be done is one of the weirdest feelings in the world.

Tell us about your show.

As I mentioned above, I’ve now been doing stand up for almost a decade and most of my comedy was very introspective and self-deprecating. Then I moved to San Francisco after having been gone for 10 years and my perspective completely changed. My hometown has basically been sold off into a playground for the rich. Thanks to law school I was able to become one of the heads of the Homeless Legal Services and also volunteer for the Legal Action Resources Clinic and see first hand how the city has changed for the worst and actively hurt people who need our help the most.

So I decided to write a show about that, specifically how the tech billionaires who control much of San Francisco are crazy and should get a lot less respect than the working class that still make up this city. Despite the fact that it’s my first ever show with a message (which would normally go against my general brand of New York styled comedy), I believe the show can be one of my funniest ever too.

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

Honestly, the reality of the Fringe is that you’re best served watching as many shows as possible to get as many perspectives as possible. So in addition to the shows I’ll recommend, please do just wander about and get talked into seeing anything that strikes your fancy.

As for shows that I do want to specifically recommend: Droll by the Owle Scheme Theatre is such a fun show. Basically, the premise is what if a bunch of really fun and talented performers put on a play from 400 years ago that was ILLEGAL at the time it was written and didn’t take themselves too seriously? The result is a really fun time. As a man raised with a large amount of toxic masculinity that he has to overcome, I was shocked by how much I liked this play, especially one that describes itself as experimental classical theatre.

As for comedy, go watch this amazing list of people if you can: Dan Audritt, Tamar Broadbent, Ed Night, Aatif Nawaz, Peter Michael Marino, Jamie Oliphant, Rahul Kohli, and Eshaan Akbar. They are all so different from each other and that is what makes them also so unique and distinct in super interesting ways.

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+3 Interview: Nick Hall: Spencer

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“I had my appendix taken out. It was a huge moment in my life when I stared death right in the eyes and kicked it in the balls.”

WHO: Nick Hall, Writer/Performer

WHAT: “Spencer Percival has one claim to fame. He’s the only British Prime Minister ever to be assassinated. Unfortunately, no one’s ever heard of him. 206 years later, Nick Hall tells his story. In this inventive and hilarious journey through history, Nick brings alive the world of the 19th century, while drawing parallels with the present. In this age of Brexit, Trump, Corbynista and Maybot, could we still learn something from the past? As seen on BBC Two and Three, and heard on BBC Radio 4. ‘Brilliant’ (Times). ‘Crackingly original’ **** (List). ‘One not to miss’ **** (Skinny).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – Clover (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 13:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my 8th year of coming to the Fringe! There’s something very depressing about writing out that sentence. That said, once you come up here it’s a great fun and you wonder where else in the world you’d like to be. Then by the end of August you can’t wait to get away. And the cycle starts all over again…

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I had my appendix taken out. It was a huge moment in my life when I stared death right in the eyes and kicked it in the balls. The moment when the nurse turned to me and said, ‘Yep it’s definitely appendicitis’ was a truly life-changing bombshell which put things in perspective. Coming round the next day after the general anaesthetic I swore that I would lead life to the full, and not waste a single moment. Six months later I’m eating Pringles while I write this and preparing to go to the Fringe for the umpteenth time. But I’ve got a really good show. Which is actually sort of about death.

Tell us about your show.

My show is called Spencer – it’s written and performed by myself (egotistical I know). There is no company apart from myself – I’m a one-man company. A manpony. Although that just sounds like a man and a pony were genetically fused together in a Fly-like scenario. It’s directed by an wonderful lady named Jess Lazar and is being premiered in London in the run-up to Edinburgh. As for what happens after, touring around London and the UK hopefully, and then who knows? By the way that isn’t a rhetorical question, I’m genuinely asking the reader what I should do next.

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

You should check out the hilarious stand-up stylings of Dan Cook. He’s a brilliantly funny man who also happens to be my flat mate in Edinburgh. I’m therefore recommending him in a bid to sooth his gigantic ego and try and curry favour when it turns out that I accidentally used his milk.

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+3 Interview: Dan Simpson: Worried Face Emoji

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“I fly through the Fringe with an electric energy, riding those currents of exhaustion to the very end.”

WHO: Dan Simpson, Stand Up Poet

WHAT: “If brevity is the soul of wit, then emoji is the funniest language on the planet. Or it should be. Stand-up poet Dan Simpson taps into the ideograms and idiocy of our modern anxieties with a little ‘wordplay alchemy’ (FringeReview.co.uk). ‘Charmingly geeky’ (Scotsman). Glastonbury and BBC regular returns to the Fringe with whip-smart words and playful performance. Praise for previous Fringe shows: ‘The perfect antidote to the perpetual screen-burn of our internet-obsessed age’ (Scotsman). ‘A talented wordsmith… poetry for the selfie generation’ (WestEndWilma.com).”

WHERE: Banshee Labyrinth – Banquet Hall (Venue 156) 

WHEN: 18:40 (55 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my fifth Edinburgh with a solo show, and the ninth time I’ve headed up to be part of it in some capacity. As a solo performer who does everything for the show – from writing and performing to producing, marketing, and press – I fly through the Fringe with an electric energy, riding those currents of exhaustion to the very end. In 2016 I managed to perform in over 90 shows – two of my own each day, plus guesting anywhere else. I absolutely love it.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I did a big project in Chicago, with the Botanic Garden there. I’m part of a popular science partnership (Dr. Illingworth & Mr. Simpson) and we flew over for nearly two weeks to partner up poets and scientists, and get them to make spoken word pieces together. I also ate a lot of deep dish pizza, which is the very best food in the world.

Tell us about your show.

They say a picture paints a thousand words: so how many does an emoji depict? Can poetry survive in a world of love hearts, shocked cats, and smiling poop? I love thinking about the impact of technology and how we communicate – essential things for a poet, or any writer / performer – so the show is influenced by that. It’s also a whole bunch of pieces I’ve written over the past two years as I work towards my second collection of poems.

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

Rob Auton is always a fantastic experience – I can’t fathom what he does, and he’s super unique. A big shout out to all the other spoken word shows, especially on the Free Fringe – the biggest home to the genre at the Festival. I can’t not mention my other show Stand Up & Slam: a battle night where we get poets to fight comedians (with words) – that’s 8.45pm each day at Subway on Cowgate, and we have acts like Harry Baker, Mark Grist and The Story Beast going up against the Fringe’s finest comedians!

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+3 Interview: Christopher Macarthur-Boyd: Home Sweet Home

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“I got a PlayStation 4! So, yeah, it’s been a big year.”

WHO: Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, stand-up

WHAT: “The debut hour from the future of Scottish stand-up. A three-time Scottish Comedian of the Year finalist, So You Think You’re Funny? finalist and two-time nominee for Best New Act at the Scottish Comedy Awards. As featured on BBC Radio 1 and 4 Extra. ‘On the cusp of something big and you don’t want to miss it’ (Daily Record). ‘A charming young comic. Macarthur-Boyd’s material is well-honed and well-delivered’ (Scotsman). ‘The personal and political housed seamlessly’ (Skinny). ‘A comedy nerd’s informed tweaking of stand-up convention’ (Chortle.co.uk).”

WHERE: Gilded Balloon Teviot – The Turret (Venue 14) 

WHEN: 22:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my first proper debut hour, but it’s not my first rodeo. In 2015 and 2016 I did double-handers with Ben Pope and Rosco Mcclelland, then last year I did a 45-minute solo show called The Boyd With The Thorn In His Side.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

My girlfriend has emigrated from Australia to Glasgow to live with me… in my mum and dad’s house. That’s what the show is about, too, funnily enough. Also, I got a PlayStation 4! So, yeah, it’s been a big year.

Tell us about your show.

Well, like I said, I’ve got my girlfriend living with me, my mum, and my dad. The show is about that living situation. 4.3 million adults in Britain still live with their mum and dad, and I think that’s shite.

The first ever run-through of it was at the Leicester Comedy Festival in a room above a pub, then the Glasgow Comedy Festival at The Stand. Since then it’s had trial runs at the Bath Comedy Festival, at The Stand in Edinburgh, at the Tringe in Tring, at Breakneck Comedy in Aberdeen, and in the corner of a pub in Bristol called The White Rabbit. I’ve put a lot of miles into making sure that it’s as good as it can be.

I’d really like to tour it post-Fringe. Fingers crossed!

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

The room I’m performing in at the Gilded Balloon is called The Turret. It’s a wee tiny sweatbox, and it’s great. I can recommend virtually every comedian who’s playing in it. It’s like a who’s who of modern Scottish brilliance; Rosco Mcclelland, Julia Sutherland, Jay Lafferty, Chris Forbes.

Also, check out Ed Night and Ben Pope. They’re brilliant.

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+3 Interview: Paul Savage: DoGooder

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“The first year I did a show where at the last minute we decided to give away free tea and biscuits. We had a 140 seater room and we said we’d be happy to get 20 in. We ended up filling it nearly every day. “

WHO: Paul Savage, Comedian

WHAT: “It’s hard to do good when everything’s falling apart. Paul Savage had a weird year, that really made him look inside himself. That’s never a good thing. Contains great new jokes about depression, identity politics and jewel heists. ‘Brave enough to be offensive, with a number of insane anecdotes. Shades of brilliance lurk here’ (ThreeWeeks). Top 10 Jokes of the Fringe 2017 (Guardian, Mirror, Esquire, Shortlist, Week). ‘An engaging and affable labour of love from a man determined to find comedy in the unlikeliest of places’ (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘Genuinely brilliant. An all round hoot’ (Guardian).”

WHERE: Ciao Roma – Downstairs (Venue 283) 

WHEN: 16:35 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s my 7th time in 8 years, 5th solo show, and I think the 17th show I will have done for the full run. I didn’t do 2012 because I had Olympic tickets. The first year I did a show where at the last minute we decided to give away free tea and biscuits. We had a 140 seater room and we said we’d be happy to get 20 in. We ended up filling it nearly every day. Never underestimate how much the great British public want a sit-down.

Did the same again next year, with anothr 3 hander and free tea and biscuits. Then in 2013, started with my solo show Cheerful Shambles. That was very fun, then next year did the very fun (but utter nightmare to write) show “Paul Savage finds all the jokes in the bible”. That had a lot of nice reviews, mostly from its very hooky title. Then the next year, the difficult third album “Tired And Emotional”. It had some of my favourite bits but I was very jaded with comedy and it never came together as a whole. That year, I also did my gameshow Hell To Play (A gameshow set in Hell, hosted by the devil. I played Bernard Manning, a virgin sacrifice, and God, as a cockney gangster), which was the most fun I’ve ever had at the Fringe. It was riotous. Proper things falling apart in a sweat soaked box that stinks and shows running over by 15 minutes because there was too much laughter Fringe experience. It was great.

Last year’s show was called Paul Savage is set to self destruct and was really fun. Probably the best “show” show i’ve put together. And then this year’s show is called “Do Gooder” and is about trying to be a better person despite everything falling apart. Too early to say if it’s better yet, but it has some real nice set pieces and i’m building and rewriting and editing. I’m also MCing the late show for AAA at the Pleasance with Sakia Preston and George Zach.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

Biggest thing is, I bought property. It’s a 41-foot narrowboat I live on and is both the best and worst thing I’ve done this year. There’s a lot in my show this year about narrowboat maintenance and your problems not going away because you transfer them into a leaking tub with a knackered shower tray moored in Birmingham.

Tell us about your show.

It’s a show about trying to do better. I had some heartaches last year. My girlfriend cheated on me, a sitcom I was writing for RTE that we wre told was a lock was cancelled when they made a very similar idea, and I had a couple of friends die in their 30’s. So, it’s sort of about seizing the moment but also that doing so will have consequences.

I tried it out in Leicester, and it went ok, and then it’s been to Brighton and Wandsworth and various other places where I learnt some horrible and useful lessons on marketing and so on. I’m hoping I can get the show funny enough to hang in some sad bits because they have to have load bearing jokes underneath. Otherwise, it’s just pointless self-indulgent mawkishness.

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

I am contractually obliged to say see me at AAA late at the Pleasance (23:00) although you should, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s a hot sweatbox of a room and a rowdy late night crowd and those sort of rooms are always fun for me to compere.

Darren Harriott will be great. He always is. He smashed the arse off the gig I run in Birmingham. Laura Lexx I reckon is gonna take a step up this year and cement herself amongst the big dogs. But lovely dogs, like a red setter or something. Rob Kemp’s gonna be very interesting as it’s a show about he cannot possibly follow up on his last show The Elvis Dead which I maintain is maybe the best show I have ever, ever seen. He’s a very funny boy. I always say boy despite the fact he’s 4 years older than me and has a mortgage because he has the sort of childlike glee of a smart kid who likes taking apart things to see how they work. Great when it’s Mechano, bad when it’s a kitten.

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+3 Interview: Snowflake It ‘Til You Make It

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Even a cat who has had a stroke is working harder on self-improvement than me.”

WHO: Matt Duwell, Performer/ writer/ producer

WHAT: “Matt Duwell is a snowflake, and he is owning that label (despite thinking labels are pejorative). A show for anyone who has ever been called a snowflake, a libtard or a remoaner. Expect jokes about lighthearted subjects such as the polarisation of political discourse and the rise of nationalism as well as more serious subjects like Netflix and Angel Delight. ‘Razor sharp ability… the boy’s got talent’ **** (MumbleComedy.net).”

WHERE: Laughing Horse @ Harry’s Southside – Upstairs Bar (Venue 264) 

WHEN: 22:0 (45 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No this will be my fourth fringe show and my second solo show, after last year’s ‘A Pessimist’s Guide to Being Happy’. More importantly, Edinburgh is my home. I came here for the culture, the people, the views and, yes, the relatively reasonable house prices.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’17?

I adopted a crippled cat. Watching a cat drag itself up a flight of stairs like a mountaineer whose had too much Buckfast is both the most heartbreaking and heartwarming thing you could possibly see, as well as being a stark reminder that even a cat who has had a stroke is working harder on self-improvement than me.

Tell us about your show.

This show has been written by me and foisted upon the people of Hastings, Brighton and London who seem to be at ease with their status as testing ground for Edinburgh shows. It describes how offended I get with being called easy to take offence. Basically, they are correct for all the wrong reasons.

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

Go see Christopher MacArthur-Boyd. Great guy and the best thing I’ve seen in Scotland comedy wise this year. NB: I haven’t seen a lot. I’ve been watching a crippled cat scale a flight of stairs. I’ve been very busy.

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+3 Interview: Beaker’s Place

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2018, Plus 3 2018 – Features by

“Taking a show to Edinburgh … is a massive leap into the unknown.”

WHO: Pippa Le Grand, Company Manager

WHAT: “‘You stab ‘em, we slab ‘em!’ Beaker is the meticulous owner of an illegal body disposal service in the cellar of his pub. Deeply affected by the recent demise of his cat Paul, Beaker decides to take his own life. But at the crucial moment, he receives one last urgent delivery. Anxious to complete his own “departure”, Beaker is shocked when the bag begins to move…”

WHERE: theSpace on North Bridge – Argyll Theatre (Venue 36)

WHEN: 12:25 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It’s our first project as a company, and our first time at Edinburgh! I’ve been as a visitor before, and our Technical Manager, Iz, has worked as part of the crew for productions, but this is a new challenge for all of us!

Tell us about your show.

‘Beaker’s Place’ is Only Lucky Dogs’ first show. It’s an original dark comedy, with the concept by writer James Huxtable and director Michael Saliba. We’re exploring the eternally present questions of life and death through the character of Beaker, the meticulous owner of an illegal body disposal service in the cellar of his pub. Deeply affected by the recent demise of his cat Paul, Beaker decides to take his own life. But at the crucial moment, he receives one last urgent delivery. Anxious to complete his own ‘departure’, Beaker is shocked when the bag begins to move…

Only Lucky Dogs was born in early 2018 as a result of wanting to take a show to the Fringe, and the idea for Beaker’s Place really taking hold of all of us! Myself and Aaron, our Publicity Manager, are producing the show along with our graphic designer and producer for the project, Lucy. We’re all students at Sheffield Uni, with lots of experience acting, directing and producing at the uni’s theatre company, SUTCo. Although, taking a show to Edinburgh from this experience is a massive leap into the unknown (to shamelessly steal the 2018 slogan)!

We previewed the opening of the show back in March at Platform Performance Festival, winning their Best in Theatre Award – that was an incredible boost to our confidence in the show! We’ll be doing a full preview in Sheffield in July too, and we’re really looking forward to getting the reactions (and reviews!) from that.

The future of Beaker’s Place depends a lot on the Edinburgh run, really. We think it’s got great potential and would love to take it to other venues and festivals. Only Lucky Dogs will keep unleashing new writing on Sheffield and beyond, regardless of what happens to Beaker’s Place, though!

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

I’m a bit biased, having come from SUTCo (Sheffield University Theatre Company), so you should definitely watch their wonderful play My Mate Dave Died. Brilliant writing, very funny and charming characters. I’m also a fan of Fat Rascal Theatre, having seen their musical ‘Buzz’ last year at Edinburgh and just loved their sense of humour. Definitely an inspiration for the future of Only Lucky Dogs!

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