“I know I won’t really understand Edinburgh Fringe until I’m in the middle of it.”
WHO: Joanna Parson
WHAT: “Welcome to a bustling transcription office in 2001 New York City, where typists are busy listening to – and typing out – raw interviews for pulpy television shows and other mass media. The ultimate eavesdropper in a storm of sound bites, clichés and unexpected confessions, Joanna Parson presents a unique musical monologue that shows you what happens when a young woman with a sense of humour and a guitar tries to keep her sanity and heart intact in the centre of the news cycle. ‘I laughed, hummed, and was deeply touched’ (Kathryn Markey, Plays For Us).”
WHERE: Gilded Balloon Patter House – Bothie (Venue 24)
WHEN: 12:00 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
Yes, this is my first time in Edinburgh! My roots are Fringe-y– I used to volunteer for the NYC International Fringe Festival from its very early days. I was an adjudicator for solo shows and for musicals, and it was always a fascinating experience as that festival tried to take lessons from Edinburgh and encourage that open, diverse theatrical energy in the heart of NYC. I’m doing my show “A Transcriber’s Tale” at the Hollywood Fringe now as a way to prep myself for August. But I know I won’t really understand Edinburgh Fringe until I’m in the middle of it. So many people have told me it’s a bucket list experience, and the best time they’ve ever had as an artist. I can’t wait!
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
Great question! I performed my show “A Transcriber’s Tale” for the first time in Bellingham, WA and Everett, WA last winter because I wanted to know how it would play for an audience outside NY. I incorporated changes to the show to make it even more of a personal journey. It turns out people really do want to learn from someone else’s experience, and the details of one person’s life story are all we need to start thinking of our own lives in a new way.
Tell us about your show.
I wrote the show myself with the help of developmental director Aimee Todoroff, and some additional musical arrangement by musical director Drew Wutke. I started working with Aimee in 2021 when I knew I wanted to resurrect the show I had begun developing in 2012 at the All For One Festival in NYC. The show is about a young woman who works as a transcriber for the mass media in NYC in the ’90s and through the time of 9/11, and the effect that listening to human voices tell stories has on our minds and hearts. The experiences we all went through in the last few years made this show land differently. In 2012, people said, “Are you sure you can talk about 9/11 on stage?” Now, people say, “Oh, right. Collective secondhand trauma. We get it.” I hooked up with Mike Blaha and Nigel Miles-Thomas of Fringe Management early this year after I realized I had several friends who’d had great experiences working with them, and I am so glad I did. They’re making the experience feel like a group endeavor.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
I’m currently performing at the Hollywood Fringe along with awesome shows like “My Mother Doesn’t Know I’m Kinky” by Jean Franzblau, and I just got to see the adorable bilingual children’s show “Baby Rock”. My friend comedian Carolyn Castiglia is also bringing her AWESOME solo show “Chuck”, about gun violence that affected her family, to the Free Fringe. I can’t wait to see Karin Trachtenberg’s “My Mother Had Two Faces.” For music shows, I’ve heard great things about Oliver Harris’ Elvis and Rainee Blake’s Joni Mitchell: Take Me As I Am. And oh my God, I saw Zack Zucker’s “Jack Tucker’s Comedy Stand Up Hour” at the Soho Playhouse and was blown away. Check them all out!
LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!
INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!
You must be logged in to post a comment.