Category Archives: Plus 3 2018 – Features

All our features from the 2018 festivals.

+3 Interview: Pity Laughs: A Tale of Two Gays

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

“Ultimately though, an unfavourable imbalance of talent and arrogance can only get you so far.”

WHO: Will Dalrymple & Mark Bittlestone, Performers & Writers

WHAT: “More perverted, more depressed, more jokes… the gays are back! ‘The first true gem of the 2017 Fringe’ ***** (BroadwayBaby.com). Mark’s parents are dead. That’s not a joke, though it is really funny. He and Will are also gay – in the modern sense of course, they’re certainly not happy. Mark’s stand-up about being a gay orphan meets explicit gay parody literotica from Will (think 50 Shades of Gay). Two gays, one orphan, absolutely no limits. ‘Very well written… horrifyingly funny’ **** (EdFringeReview.com).”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just Up the Stairs (Venue 88) 

WHEN: 16:05 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Mark: It’s our second as ‘comedians’ – we’re hoping to pre-empt any snide reviews with those quotation marks – but we both went up the year before with a couple of plays and Will again the year before that.

It does get increasingly less overwhelming as the years go by but in a way more unforgiving; once you become more aware of how things work you’ve got less of an excuse to not be smashing it. Ultimately though, an unfavourable imbalance of talent and arrogance can only get you so far.

Will: For similar such self-deprecating humour, come see the show!

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

Will: Guy off Grindr. Holy christ.

Mark: I was the runner up in the 2018 Max Turner Prize, a pretty competitive comedy competition in South London, which was great!

Will: Best I could have managed would have been to ‘hobble up’. Seriously, he was HUGE.

Tell us about your show.

Will: It’s something of a sequel to our 2017 Fringe stand-up show of the same name. We’ve both written it and have produced it alongside our colleague Will Penswick, who’s taking his own stand-up show ‘Dank Verse to the fringe (not to be missed!). The three of us came together (lol) last April; Mark and I through Uni and Will and Mark through school and since then it’s been…well, it’s been.

Mark: The last show was put together quite quickly from bits of stand up we’d both done. This time we’ve experimented across several previews in London, Brighton and Bristol and the resultant show is much more exciting; it’s a live gay sketch/stand-up/multimedia comedy extravaganza! There’s a bit of everything in there. We get up on stage and make jokes about being gay in as many different ways as possible. If all goes well it should be making the rounds in London in the months following the fringe.

Will: At its heart it’s an exploration of what it is to be gay…or at least it would be if it had a heart. It straddles silliness, darkness and unsentimentality in a way you might not have seen at the Fringe before.

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

Mark: We actually run several comedy nights in South London with Will Penswick and we can’t wait to see some of the acts we’ve hosted up at the Fringe. To name but a few: Adam Hess, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Ross Smith, Olga Koch, Flo & Joan, Rob Oldham, Ken Cheng, all guaranteed to be well worth an hour of your time and several units of your money.

Will: In addition to ‘Pity Laughs’ and Will Penswick’s ‘Dank Verse’ we’re also bringing up a play: ‘Space Doctor’ at Gilded Balloon. It’s a family-appropriate, hilarious sci-fi spoof complete with time travel and questionable alien outfits, do check it out!

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+3 Interview: Bonqrz

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

“A BonQrz is directed by Erkan Mustafa (80’s legend Roland Browning from TV’s Grange Hill) and written and performed by myself.”

WHO: Narin, Actor & writer

WHAT: “A BonQrz style seminar about how Narin Oz’s disastrous life choices made her decide to be a budgerigar. Directed by Erkan Mustafa (80’s Legend Roland Browning from Grange Hill) Narin Oz takes the audience on bizarre journey of human folly in order to show them why life is now better being a budgerigar and reveals various methods of freeing your mind. These methods create a very effective path to become a fully brainless budgie like Narin Oz. “Exhilarating” – Marissa Burgess, The List. “Oz is the 21st Century Andy Kaufman”- Martin Walker, Fringe Pig.”

WHERE: Laughing Horse @ The Mockingbird – Upstairs (Venue 441) 

WHEN: 14:45 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Noooo. I am known for blurring the lines of reality and fiction because all my shows have an element of live pranks. Q I did an interactive show comedy show called Narin Oz: Addicted To Love in 2014, in my car, about love addiction. It was was a live prank show where I did physical stunts on my car and then pretended to fancy one of the audience members. Then I told them to bugger off. It was fun. In 2017 I did another show called #Dirtywoman it was inspired by Jekyll & Hyde story and it contained topsoil which the audience sometimes threw at me every time they felt offended.

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

Getting rid of #Dirtywoman. There was too much mud in the show and I became sick of going home all the time looking like a horse sh*t me out.

Tell us about your show.

A BonQrz is directed by Erkan Mustafa (80’s legend Roland Browning from TV’s Grange Hill) and written and performed by myself. The show is a satirical seminar about how Narin Oz’s disastrous life choices made her decide to be a budgerigar. Narin Oz takes the audience on a very surreal journey of human folly in order to show them why life is now better being a budgerigar. Oz shares the most embarrassing details of her life and reveals various methods of freeing your mind. These methods create a very effective path to become a fully brainless budgie like Narin Oz.

“Fed up of life? You too can be a budgerigar with my one-step programme. So set yourself free, come join the flock & get a free budgie swing with every cage whilst stocks last. This seminar is purposely unconventional because the moral of the show is intrinsically about self-acceptance & the courage to express your true authentic self. Only then you will be able to walk the path of your true destiny as a budgerigar. This seminar is so life-changing that I will be taking a 20% cut for the rest of your life (Cash only. You will be fitted with a tracking device so that our people can find you)”.

I have done 14 previews including The Brighton Fringe Festival and I hope to perform the show in odd places.

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

There are two main shows & people that changed my life that dabble in the risque:
1) Red Bastard’s Come Lie With Me
2) Sharney Nougher & David Tieck’s Two Little Dick Heads.

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+3 Interview: The Drowsy Chaperone

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

“Our wonderful Director, Chloe Simpson, has thought about every aspect of the show so carefully and has brought new depths to this production.”

WHO: Samantha Redfern, Producer

WHAT: “After yet another five-star run, EUSOG returns for its 25th year at the Fringe with The Drowsy Chaperone! A satirical masterpiece, paying homage to Jazz Age musicals of the 1920s, showcasing a series of fantastic characters and outstanding musical numbers, with glitz, glamour and top-notch comedy. The story focuses on Man in Chair as he listens to the rare recording of a forgotten production. Watch as his once dingy apartment is transformed into an impressive backdrop to this wonderful Broadway spectacle. Music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar.”

WHERE: Paradise in Augustines – Sanctuary (Venue 152) 

WHEN: 21:35 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Excitingly, this is actually EUSOG’s 25th year at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe! The Drowsy Chaperone follows several recent critically-acclaimed, sell-out Fringe productions; Company (2017), Spring Awakening (2016), Little Shop of Horrors (2015), and Avenue Q (2014). We’re lucky enough to receive fantastic reviews every year and are hoping to continue this tradition into the next quarter century…

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

Every year with EUSOG is bigger and better than ever, of course! We perform three shows a year, from well-loved Broadway classics to Gilbert & Sullivan operettas. Since last year’s Company at the Fringe, we’ve enjoyed a dark retelling of Oliver! and a groovy interpretation of The Sorcerer.

Tell us about your show.

A musical within a comedy. The Drowsy Chaperone pays homage to Jazz Age musicals of the 1920s, poking fun at all the tropes that characterise the musical theatre genre. The show focuses on the middle-aged Man in Chair as he listens to a rare recording of the forgotten production and, as his record plays, the show comes to life onstage whilst he drolly comments on the music, story and actors.

With an elaborate cast of over-the-top characters, including the dashing groom, his best man, a drunken chaperone, two gangsters posing as pastry chefs, and the Latin lover, The Drowsy Chaperone boldly addresses a great unspoken desire in everyone’s heart – to be entertained.

Hailed by New York Magazine as “The Perfect Broadway Musical”, The Drowsy Chaperone was the winner of five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Best Original Score, and its numerous featured roles and dance numbers make this production a perfect fit for the Fringe.

Our wonderful Director, Chloe Simpson, has thought about every aspect of the show so carefully and has brought new depths to this production. Ross Hadden as our Musical Director is fantastic and his jazzy band will scream of the 1920s. Alongside the inventive choreography by Anna Phillips, this show is certain to be exciting and polished.

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

This past year, a group of past EUSOG members have created their own production company, Bare Productions, who are performing ‘You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown’ in Paradise alongside us.

We’d also love you all to support our friends at Edinburgh University Footlights who are putting on an edgy production of ‘American Idiot’ between the 12th-18th August at C Venues – C+3.

Sticking with Edinburgh University, the Shakespeare Society is performing ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ set in Sicily in the 1980s, which sounds like it’s going to be so brilliant (and also features one of our cast members, Holly Marsden!). It’s showing between the 20th-25th August in theSpace @ Niddry Street.

Lastly, I am also producing Edinburgh Studio Opera’s ‘The Tumbling Lassie’ which is happening between the 16th-20th August in the Hill Street Theatre. It’s a new piece written by Alexander McCall Smith with music by Tom Cunningham and will be accompanied by another one of their operettas, ‘Fergus of Galloway’.

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+3 Interview: Tori Scott Is #Thirsty

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

“I’m thrilled to be making my debut and can’t wait to explore Edinburgh.”

WHO: Tori Scott, Perfomer

WHAT: “Celebrating poor life choices and an unconditional love of vodka, direct from New York City. This Garland for the Grindr era is ‘a force to be reckoned with’ (BroadwayWorld.com), desperate to escape Trumpland and be let loose on Scotland! Join Tori and her band The Shame Spirals on an audacious musical journey of slurred autobiographical stories and songs she stole from other people. Set to the music of Lady Gaga, Queen, Edith Piaf, Pink and more. You’re in for ‘an absolute thrill’ (HuffingtonPost.com). ‘Sheer delight… what a marvel’ ***** (BritishTheatre.com).”

WHERE: Underbelly, Bristo Square – The Dairy Room (Venue 302) 

WHEN: 22:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

It is!! First Fringe and first time in Scotland! I’m thrilled to be making my debut and can’t wait to explore Edinburgh.

Tell us about your show.

#Thirsty is an hour of sassy commentary celebrating bad decisions and my unconditional love of vodka. Mixed in with the stories are songs I stole from other people like Lady Gaga, Queen, even Judy Garland. I wrote the show based on personal experiences and, with the help of my wonderful music director Jesse Kissel and my fabulous director Seth Sklar-Heyn, we created a really great shameless musical journey of poor life choices. #Thirsty is produced by Robin Rayner in association with Steve Richardson and Joe’s Pub at the Public Theater. I’ve been working with Jesse and Seth for the past 6 years since I began doing my shows at Joe’s Pub in New York. I began working with Robin Rayner last year and we premiered a very early version of this at The Vault Festival in London. It’s changed quite a bit since that run and we are really thrilled to show it to an Edinburgh audience. After Edinburgh, we will do a one night only performance of it at Live at Zedel at the Brasserie Zedel in London on August 29th. And after that, I would love to take it on tour!

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

I’m really looking forward to seeing fellow Joe’s Pub performer and New Yorker Murray Hill’s show at the Gilded Balloon. I’m also excited to see Velma Celli and The Worst Little Warehouse in London at Assembly. And you don’t want to miss the most charming magician, Tom Brace, in his magic show over at the Pleasance Courtyard.

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+3 Interview: Jake Howie: Read My Lips

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

“I never thought I’d get married and technically it’s still illegal in the majority of countries. Gays getting married is kinda punk rock if you’re in Russia or Saudi Arabia, so it makes me feel so edgy.”

WHO: Jake Howie: Writer, producer, and performer

WHAT: “They say a loose pair of lips could sink a ship, but you’ve gotta talk truth to give reality a flip. And reality in 2018 needs the hard word, so there’s never been a better time to get lippy. Reading Comedy Festival New Act of the Year and 2018 NATYS Finalist Jake Howie doesn’t pay lip service – there’s no time for niceties when the world is drowning in disillusion. Join him as he takes you on a journey through the lens of an eternal optimist trying to grapple with this wild moment in time.”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Caves – Just the Wee One (Venue 88) 

WHEN: 21:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

YES! I am popping my Edinburgh cherry after a few years of doing comedy. I feel like I may be the first married gay man from New Zealand who grew up in the church of Scientology and whose greatest inspiration is Nicki Minaj debuting at the Fringe? But then again, it’s the wild and wacky Edinburgh Fringe so maybe not…

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

I GOT MARRIED. That’s big news because I don’t believe in marriage, I never thought I’d get married and technically it’s still illegal in the majority of countries. Gays getting married is kinda punk rock if you’re in Russia or Saudi Arabia, so it makes me feel so edgy.

Tell us about your show.

I am a relentlessly positive Kiwi who believes in the good of people living in a time where the good of people is questionable and relentless positivity is impossible. I wrote and produced Read My Lips to get lippy, to give the hard word and to mouth off on all of the wild contradictions of the world. There’s also some bum jokes – LOL. And you will leave feeling so happy, and I won’t lecture you on Trump – YAWN.

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

I will be seeing Esther Manito and Ryan Dalton’s Angry Emoji Face, Jenny Collier’s A Few Good Jen, Yuriko Kotani’s Moreish, The Ballad of Sarah Callaghan and all the LGBT+ shows I can possibly see!

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+3 Interview: Lucky

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

“We brought SIX up last year in its premiere, and LUCKY is our next musical new writing project.”

WHO: Alistair Henfrey, Director

WHAT: “Lucy is young, fresh-faced and feeling lucky. She also just lost her mother. Propelled by contingency, she is sent to live with her estranged father, Lothario and long-time lad Ricky Pense, infamous for his problematic dating show. Coping with loss is never easy, especially when it’s televised for national consumption. In this new world of TV artifice, Lucy must struggle to retain integrity as the lines between life and ‘live!’ begin to blur. Lucky is a new musical from the Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society about reality TV and the performance of emotion.”

WHERE: Greenside @ Infirmary Street – Forest Theatre (Venue 236) 

WHEN: Varies (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

No! It’s not my first time, I took a show up last year, but this is my first time as Director.

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

I’ve directed two large-scale musicals, and a piece of new writing.

Tell us about your show.

The shows called LUCKY, it’s about a young girl thrust into the world of reality television and how she navigates the experience, alongside the death of her mother.

The show’s written by Ash Weir and Harry Castle and it’s produced by Gabriel Humphreys. The company is Cambridge University Musical Theatre Society (CUMTS), we’re Cambridge University’s biggest musical theatre society and we produce musicals in Cambridge as well at the Fringe. We brought SIX up last year in its premiere, and LUCKY is our next musical new writing project.
Edinburgh will be LUCKY’s premiere and we’d love to take it further.

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

There’s a wealth of new musical content and we support and will be seeing as much as we can!
But also catch the professional version of last year’s production SIX!

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+3 Interview: The Man Presents: Women

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“It’s crazy that now I’ll get to be wearing the passes that I spent lots of my first year printing!”

WHO: Ania Magliano, Director

WHAT: “What happens to the women that men can’t write? In this showcase of strong female characters, a group of Cambridge’s finest lady and non-binary comics will endeavour to find out. Fresh from every screen and stage ever, the cast-offs, the sidekicks, the nonspecific love interests and the straight-up plot devices come together to stick it to the man. Specifically, one man in particular. Their writer. With multiple women actually allowed on stage at once, who knows what might happen? Starring female members of the Cambridge Footlights and more, we wager it’ll be something very, very funny.”

WHERE: Assembly George Square Studios – Four (Venue 17) 

WHEN: 21:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is the first time ‘The Man Presents: Women’ is hitting the Fringe! It has previously had three sell out runs in Cambridge, but now we’re ready to take on THE WORLD (starting in Scotland).

I (Ania – director) have been up to Edinburgh every year for three years now, and my first experience was as a reception intern at Assembly. It’s crazy that now I’ll get to be wearing the passes that I spent lots of my first year printing!

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

‘The Man Presents: Women’ achieved its third sell out run in Cambridge, with a brilliant new cast and five star reviews.

Tell us about your show.

The show was conceived by Molly Stacey and Kat Weaver (who are now working on the Footlights Tour Show) last year. Since then it has been passed down to myself and Emmeline Downie (performing in a sketch show called ‘Manhunt’), for its first Fringe run.

The show is opened by ‘The Man’ (a drag female act), a writer who has decided that women have been marginalised for too long. His cure for this is to write a variety of ‘three dimensional’ female characters himself, giving women their much needed voice (from a straight cis man). The majority of the show is a series of character comedy monologues performed by ‘the women’, parodying and reclaiming tropes of female characters in films, literature and wider culture.

The Man Presents: Women uses ‘very well written humour to address an important topic in a funny and light-hearted way’ (The Tab). The idea for the show was birthed out of the observation that even when women are cast in a ‘comedic’ role, they are often not funny at all.

Each monologue is written by the performer, however the process has been extremely collaborative which enables us to foster a broad sense of humour. We hope this is only the beginning for our journey at the Fringe!

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

I could go on for absolute hours. I have to start with Emma Sidi’s show ‘Faces of Grace’. Not only is she a stellar character comedian, she is also an ex-footlight and an inspiration for the cast!
There are plenty of other funny women not to be missed: Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Olga Koch, Rose Matafeo and Jayde Adams to name a few.

And if stand up is your thing, I am doing a split hour at 3pm in Tolbooth Market for a sweet £0!

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+3 Interview: Mad Women in My Attic!

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“It’s a semi-autobiographical cabaret, but with a quirky setting: I am an asylum patient.”

WHO: Monica Salvi, Performer, Creator, Producer

WHAT: “Powerhouse madwoman Miss Monica Salvi brings back to Edinburgh her scintillating cabaret tour-de-force, with finely-tuned musical gems administered with the aid of her psychothera-pianist. Winner of Best Cabaret Award (NY’s United Solo Festival). ‘Salvi is endearing, funny, and sexy, inviting her fellow “patients” into the darkness with her, always with a wink and a clever costume change’ (TheatreInTheNow.com). ‘Incredible voice and a perfectly judged repertoire of songs. A stunning cabaret, full of wit and weirdness’ **** (FairyPowderedProductions.com). ‘Gem of a show’ **** (FringeGuru.com). ‘A performance of dark, entertaining beauty’ ***** (TheMumble.net).”

WHERE: PQA Venues @Riddle’s Court – PQA One (Venue 277) 

WHEN: 19:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my third time as a performer/producer. But I’ve been coming every year for the past 6 years, because it’s like an addiction! When I cannot afford to take a show to the festival for the full run, I just visit it for a few days to enjoy the atmosphere and support other shows.

It’s such a thrilling experience for an artist, whether you are performing or not, as you literally breathe an air which is highly charged with creativity, and you go back home full of inspiration and ideas waiting to be put into reality!

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

I had my off-Broadway debut at United Solo Theater Festival in New York in 2017, it was exciting but daunting, as I had no idea how the American audiences would react to my quirky show and whether they would like my performing style…

In the end they did, and I came out of it with a Best Cabaret Award!

Tell us about your show.

It’s a semi-autobiographical cabaret, but with a quirky setting: I am an asylum patient, who, during the recreational hour, entertains her fellow inmates, by recounting how pursuing a theatre career and being often typecast as a mad woman, allowed her an exploration of her own psyche’s demons. It’s my true story, but obviously fictionalised (I haven’t ended up in an asylum, yet). Most of the songs in the show are from the musical theatre and cabaret repertoire, and the characters are characters that I have portrayed on stage in my career: for some reason I’ve always been typecast in this kind of role. I have also researched other songs from various styles that I could fit into the theme of psychotherapy and madwomen.

For the past 4 years it’s been a self produced endeavour, aided only by my wonderful director Clare McKenna who helped me to put my crazy ideas into reality. At every new production of the show, I am accompanied by a different talented pianist, who also portrays my psychotherapist in the story, or as I like to call him, my psychothera-pianist. So far, I have performed the show in London, Brighton, Edinburgh and New York. My plan for the future, is to conquer more and more cities, and spread my mad verb all over the world!

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

I urge everyone to go and see Emily Carding’s one woman show “Hamlet – an experience”, a compelling actress, and an incredible piece of theatre, an interactive take on Shakespeare.
David William Bryan’s “In loyal company” is another show I cannot wait to see, if his social media posts are anything to go by, his script has to be an intriguing and deeply honest piece of writing.
Beloved returning performers are Jo Jo Bellini with her “Agents Provocateurs” and Familie Floz with “Infinita”.

I’m also looking forward to seeing fellow Italian Cecilia Gragnani in her “Diary of an Expat”, which I already saw in London a few months ago and it blew me away for the brilliant and ingenious storytelling. You will laugh to tears throughout, til suddenly you find yourself unexpectedly deeply moved!

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+3 Interview: The Song of Lunch

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“It is staged with cartoon animation by Charles Peattie, gorgeous black and white silhouettes which, because The Song Of Lunch is a retelling of the Orpheus myth, uses imagery from Greek pots.”

WHO: Robert Bathurst, Producer

WHAT: “Robert Bathurst (Cold Feet, Downton Abbey, Toast of London) and Rebecca Johnson (The Trip, The Flood) star in this hilarious and poignant drama of a disastrous attempt to rekindle lost love. Set in a Soho Italian restaurant, Costa Award winner Christopher Reid’s verse comedy is exquisitely intertwined with glorious animations by Charles Peattie (Alex cartoon, Daily Telegraph) in this bittersweet tragi-comedy of love, loss and Chianti. Directed by Jason Morell. ‘Robert Bathurst is a class act and a master of nuance’ (Herald). ‘A beautiful comic actor’ (Financial Times).”

WHERE: Pleasance Courtyard – Forth (Venue 33) 

WHEN: 14:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I was here when I was a student, doing revues. It had the same manic atmosphere but was less shiny and efficient than it is today, with few performance hubs and no instant ticketing. There was an attractive handmade griminess, cut n paste publicity, a greater sense of amateurs winging it, and the coffee would simply not be acceptable to today’s crowd. Decaff, soy latte, extra shot please.

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

I’ve done another series of Cold Feet for ITV.

Tell us about your show.

The poet Christopher Reid wrote a book, The Song Of Lunch, as a comic antidote to his previous publication, A Scattering, written in tribute to his late wife and finding some resolution in grief. Both are in verse, both are about love and loss and I thought I could stage them together. Christopher has let me.

I’m trying out The Song Of Lunch at this Festival. It is staged with cartoon animation by Charles Peattie, gorgeous black and white silhouettes which, because The Song Of Lunch is a retelling of the Orpheus myth, uses imagery from Greek pots.

I got funding from the Arts Council and the Jerwood Foundation to help make the animation and, after a short trial run at Chichester, this is the first time I’m presenting it for critical opinion. I’ve put together a really skilful and committed production team, the show’s a two-hander with the wonderful Rebecca Johnson and we’ll see how it goes. With luck people will begin to realise that Christopher Reid is one of our finest living writers.

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

Tim Key, John Hegley, Arthur Smith (who’ll be getting a statue soon), Su Pollard, Esther Rantzen, Margo, Avocado. And all those whispers.

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+3 Interview: The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen

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“We’ve got a band of the Baron’s fellow adventurers with us and between us we’ve been to the Fringe almost a hundred times. If that doesn’t sound like many then I mean almost a thousand times. If that still doesn’t sound a lot then I obviously mean a hundred billion times.”

WHO: Lord Lovell of Leytonstone, Adventurer, explorer, inventor.

WHAT: “Amazing tales, elegantly told. Top award-winning comedians and improvisers tell extravagant stories, all based on The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. There will be swords, duels, elephants, castles built of cheese and all of it completely and irrefutably true! Discover how the Baron invented morris dancing, how his actions saved the Isle of Skye from sinking beneath the waves, why every fourth child in Bruges is named after him and other fantastically delightful stories. This show will delight adults and children with its wonderful joie de vivre and other pretentious words!”

WHERE: The Stand’s New Town Theatre – Studio (Venue 7) 

WHEN: 12:10 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

By goodness no! We’ve got a band of the Baron’s fellow adventurers with us and between us we’ve been to the Fringe almost a hundred times. If that doesn’t sound like many then I mean almost a thousand times. If that still doesn’t sound a lot then I obviously mean a hundred billion times. The Baron isn’t great at maths.

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

Well, modesty prevents us from mentioning that ‘The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen’ was nominated for “Best Kid’s Show” at the Leicester Comedy Festival this year. If we weren’t so modest and could tell you that this show is an award-nominated show, then that would definitely be the biggest thing that has happened to us this year…oh apart from discovering a living dinosaur, but that’s another story.

Tell us about your show.

Well, the show is, of course, based on the real-life adventures that we have all had whilst in the company of Baron Munchausen. Fortuitously a chap named James Wallis also wrote a role-playing book based on the great Baron, with permission we used some of his suggestions for the absolutely true tales that we make up on the spot. Last year the show existed as a loose framework where guest improvisors came and told stories, the very best of those acts were invited to join the company and since the last fringe, it’s visited the Glasgow International Comedy Festival, Leicester Comedy Festival, Shaftesbury Fringe and the Stanley Fringe. We are hoping that the show will tour the UK following the Edinburgh Fringe.

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

For families then we highly recommend Bumper Blyton at 16.10, Underbelly, Bristo Square. John Robertson’s Dark Room for Kids (even though it did pip us to the post for Best Kid’s Show in Leicester). Star Trek vs Star Wars – a cracking show that settles the argument about which is better forever (well, it doesn’t but it’s a lot of fun).

For adults: Worst Show on the Fringe, Subway, 69 Cowgate 2.30pm Only acts who’ve ever had a one star review can appear! 101 Comedy Club Hanover Tap 2.30pm. And Will Seawards Spooky Midnight Ghost Stories. At the Gilded Balloon. At midnight. Obviously.

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