Tag Archives: EdFestivals

+3 Interview: Simon Caine: Every Room Becomes a Panic Room When You Overthink Enough

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“I adore the festival (it’s why I keep coming back, it’s not for the love of flyering).”

WHO: Simon Caine: Everything.

WHAT: “Loads of male comedians struggle with women, but even more of them struggle to make their problem sound unique. So instead of writing a show about that, Simon has written a show about stories, memories and habits. He also just finished the best comedy course available: an unstable upbringing. ‘You’re a more authentic John Oliver’ (Doug Stanhope). ‘What you’re doing is great… the problem is nobody understands it’ (Iain Coyle, Dave Comedy Commissioner). ‘His paranoid persona is immediately entertaining, simultaneously relatable and bizarre’ (BroadwayBaby.com).”

WHERE: Sweet Grassmarket – Grassmarket 4 (Venue 18) 

WHEN: 20:35 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my 4th time at the festival doing a solo show but before that I did 2 years of split bills.

I adore the festival (it’s why I keep coming back, it’s not for the love of flyering).

I look forward to being surrounded by a creative playground of likeminded humans who love to create and share ideas. I’m not looking forward to the first time I see my flyer dropped on the floor by a heartless punter who can’t find a bin.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Personal – I joined a gym and actually took an hour a day to go swimming and get out of my head. I can’t wait to do that again. It REALLY helps with your mental health.

Professional – I only made an £80 loss. Which sounds like a bad result but if you know anything about this festival you’ll know most people lose MUCH more.

Mundane – I did the 4th foodbank collection (where I ask performers to donate their leftovers to the homeless instead of throwing it away at the end of the festival) and after that was all done and dusted I managed to get Fringe Central to take it over (they have the resources to do it better, bigger and easier than me).

Tell us about your show.

I wrote, produced, star in and created this show. The director is John Gordillo who has previously worked with Michael McIntyre, Reginal D Hunter and Eddie Izzard (clearly his career has gone down hill).

I thought the show was about my relationship with social media but since working with John he’s shown me the that it is actually about my relationship with sex. But given how quickly I check my phone after I’ve cum, it might be both.

I’ve done 35 previews around the country at 20 comedy festivals to get it ready for Edinburgh (so you would think I wouldn’t be still working on it at 2am the week before the Fringe but hey…)

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

My main recommendations would be Bec Hill as she’s outstanding and should be more famous. Daniel Kitson but everyone who should know him already does. Oh and Max and Ivan as they do outstanding multi-character sketch comedy that nobody else can even touch.

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+3 Interview: Global Grooves, Ancient Voices

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“East meets West and tradition meets innovation.”

WHO: Suba Sankaran: co-artistic director, performer

WHAT: “Internationally-renowned, Canadian-based Autorickshaw is on the cultural cutting edge with their seamless and downright cool sounding blend of jazz, folk, pop and Indian classical music. Fresh off their tour of India promoting their fifth award-winning album Meter, Autorickshaw is thrilled to make their debut in Edinburgh. Autorickshaw features the sultry, sophisticated vocals of Suba Sankaran, the driving basslines and beatboxing of Dylan Bell and the intricate tabla grooves of Ed Hanley. They have toured North America, the US, the UK, Europe and Asia. ‘Utterly unique and musically pioneering’ (Daniel Ariaratnam, Record).”

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

WHEN: 18:30 (45 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes, this is our first time to Edinburgh as the band Autorickshaw. We’re really looking forward to drinking in all that Edinburgh has to offer via Fringe and otherwise. We’re planning on checking out the Castle, the Grassmarket, taking a walk along Hollyrood and Arthur’s Seat, the Royal Mile, Pleasance and so on. At Fringe, we hope to catch some other live music, comedy and whatever else comes our way! Two of the three of us were at Fringe last year, so we know to expect the unexpected and to be ready to party at every turn! The feast for our senses awaits…!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Winner of the 2018 CFMA (Canadian Folk Music Award) for best World Music Group of the Year/Album (entitled “Meter”). Winner of the 2019 Outstanding Performance Award at JEN (Jazz Educators Network) held in Reno, Nevada.
Toured India for the 4th time (Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Goa).

Tell us about your show.

This is a self-produced and written show by Autorickshaw. We are celebrating 15 years of musical service, and this new show, debuting in Edinburgh, is called Global Grooves, Ancient Voices. Autorickshaw is on the cultural cutting edge, seamlessly blending Indian classical music with pop, folk, funk, jazz and originals. Autorickshaw features the sultry, sophisticated vocals of Suba Sankaran, the driving basslines and beatboxing of Dylan Bell and the intricate tabla grooves of Ed Hanley. They have toured North America, the US, the UK, Europe and Asia.

East meets West and tradition meets innovation. Imagine a Sanskrit chant with live-looping, a song of female empowerment inspired by the highlands of India, and blistering Hindustani vocal percussion mingling with reggae and electronica, and you’ll get a glimpse of the subcontinental soundscape of Autorickshaw.

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

Two of the three members of Autorickshaw (Dylan Bell and Suba Sankaran) are part of an a cappella live-looping duo called FreePlay. Their show is A Cappella Around The World. This is innovative live-looping at its best. They toured a show here last year as well, to great acclaim. Others should check it out if they want to experience the intimacy of two voices, the smooth, effortless technique that allows for deep grooves, juicy harmonies and cool effects, and an a cappella musical trip around the world, all without leaving your seat!

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+3 Interview: Ladies Who Lunch

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“The dream to write was always strong.”

WHO: Niamh Collins: Writer/Director

WHAT: “Sally has enemies. Or she thinks she does. The problem is, they are all old friends. Gathered around a bistro table after 30 years of silence, five mothers pour out their parenting experiences for dissection. Motherhood may be the ultimate competition, but what’s the prize? Who’s done it well? Who’s plagued by regrets and who deep down wishes they had never done it at all? After an explosive run of Yen, Fourth Wall are back with a witty but strikingly poignant drama holding a microphone to the voice we seldom hear: the mother. ***** (TheBubble.org.uk).”

WHERE: Greenside @ Infirmary Street – Ivy Studio (Venue 236) 

WHEN: 10:05 (65 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

As a company Fourth Wall have made their way up to the Fringe many times, but as a writer this is my first debut which is unbelievably exciting! Their previous tour of ‘Yen’ was fantastic and it’s such an honour to follow such a strong performance on the fringe stage with Ladies Who Lunch. The play was written when I was sixteen, it was left (like all drafts penned by insecure writers!) in my desk draw for three years until I directed it and performed a three day run in Durham city. I never could have anticipated the reception that we had.

To have the opportunity for such a brilliant company to take my words and present them to such a dynamic and global audience is unreal. As a play that uses actors under twenty-five to embody older characters, the fact that the generation who the play painted were so moved by it was the most gratifying thing about the whole run. A teenage boy came and found me at the end of the final night and said ‘I never understood my mother until watching this’. That was a big moment for me. Many young women contacted me and asked me for a copy of the script as they wanted their mothers to read it and be able to say ‘now I understand you’. I never could have predicted that.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

The biggest thing was probably the realisation that I wanted to be a playwright. It was the discovery that I had so many stories inside me that I wanted to share and that I hoped would be able to make an impact. Thus, Ladies Who Lunch was born out of my desire to explore the experience of the older woman. It was my sixteen-year-old self trying to document a struggle which I felt did not have enough exposure.

When I was growing up, the dream to write was always strong; from those first enduring images of a captivated writer banging away on an old Smith Corona in a Parisian coffee shop with an espresso and cigarette in hand (it was only later when you realise the Parisian apartment of your dreams has a rent hike, the espresso machine is broken and you’ve given up smoking for the sake of your lungs that reality really sets in!) When Ladies Who Lunch got the reception that it had that was the big moment for me to go; ‘maybe it’s okay for me to want to do this professionally.’

Tell us about your show.

Ladies Who Lunch was written to explore the voice of the older woman. I wanted to ask some powerful and controversial questions about ageing and motherhood in theatre and explore the highs and lows of maternal challenges. The play centres around the maternal experience of four older women and one young mother; it’s witty but also poignant and I hope that many people will be able to identify with it.

The play premiered in Durham and is made up of a company of six exceptionally talented young actors, some of whom have the challenge and the most incredible ability to blend seamlessly into their roles as sixty and seventy-year-old women! My friend who turned sixty around the time of the premiere said it would never work, I was so delighted when she saw the play and said there had been not a single moment when she doubted they were the age of the characters… that’s the magic of theatre I suppose! We are also surrounded by a wonderful producing team of seasoned fringe creatives Hetty Hodgson and Charlie Whitehead (also both presidents of Fourth Wall Theatre Company). It’s an amazing team, I’m very lucky.

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

There are SOOOOOO many good things on at the Fringe this year but for me the ‘MUST SEES’ are ‘Tappuchino’ at Gilded Balloon, it’s hilariously funny and brilliant for families! On at Greenside with us is ‘Bost-Uni Blues’ by Ugly Bucket. I saw their performance at NSDF this year and it absolutely blew me away, clowning has never been so brilliant! Some amazing other Durham companies are bringing some brilliant work to Fringe this year including ‘Poseidon’s Playhouse’ and ‘Ophelia is Also Dead’, so many wonderful things to see, it’s going to be one hell of a summer!

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+3 Interview: Privates: A Sperm Odyssey

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“There was one guy called Charlie who had been to the show 5 times, on his way back from work at night. So cool! Personally, that’s what I’m most looking forward to: the community aspect of the Fringe – being reminded by a tidal wave of creatives and performers that you are anything but alone.”

WHO: Tom Curzon: Performer

WHAT: “Attention all sperm! This is a military operation in procreation. Join three fun guys who fertilise in an adventure as big as life itself. Imagine Saving Private Ryan meets the sex education you wish you had, and they don’t wear adequate protection. Nine months later this show pops out. Don’t be ejacu-late, but don’t come early. The most physical comedy you could wish for, from the pr*cks behind the total sell-out Planet Earth III, Luke Rollason, Christian Brighty and Tom Curzon. ***** (EdFestMag.com). **** (VoiceMag.uk). ‘Made me cry with laughter’ **** (BroadwayBaby.com). ‘Hugely entertaining’ (Chortle.co.uk).”

WHERE: Heroes @ Boteco – Basement (Venue 516) 

WHEN: 17:20 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is our first time at the Fringe performing as a trio, but we’ve all been performing in Edinburgh for a few years now. Last year Bright Buoy ran a late-night clown cabaret called ‘The Wonder Jam’ in the Speigelyurt (a beautiful yurt run by Heroes (Bob Slayer and Lucy Hopkins)), where every night we’d create whatever we could with whoever was around, trying to elicit cries of ‘we were there when…’ and ‘I’ve been back every night!’. There was one guy called Charlie who had been to the show 5 times, on his way back from work at night. So cool! Personally, that’s what I’m most looking forward to: the community aspect of the Fringe – being reminded by a tidal wave of creatives and performers that you are anything but alone.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

One of the coolest things was doing Stepdads (mine and Luke Rollason’s double-act) at the Leicester Square Sketch Off Final and the Musical Comedy Awards. Both finals held in enormous theatres with audiences expecting sketches and musical comedy. And Stepdads offering neither! We would go out in our knitwear, Luke holding his tiny children’s Casio keyboard above his head like he’d just won the world cup, and tear up the rule-book like savages. I’ve also learnt how to bake bread this year, Christian got his ear pierced again, and Luke managed to keep his phone off for an entire week once. Oh! And in Brighton, we were booked to play Privates: A Sperm Odyssey for mums and their new-borns. That was a pinnacle for sure.

Tell us about your show.

Luke, Christian and Tom have tried to create the least sexy show about sex ever. It’s an action thriller and we are all dressed in skin-tight white spandex turtle-neck suits, pretending to be sperm on a mission to an egg. We dance around lots and occasionally our swimming hats pop-off. In the name of sexual education!

When we started making the show, the consensus was that our school sex-ed programmes were woeful and largely hijacked by videos of moustache-sporting, lab-coated men looking at their own sperm through microscopes. Something needed to be done! And then this show happened, and off we went to play at the Brighton Fringe. And then we were booked to play for the 300,000 people at Glastonbury, and hardly any of them came! So now we’d like our show to become part of UK school’s sex-ed curriculum. We could have a company of thousands of sperm actors and send them round the country.

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

It doesn’t seem quite right for me to plug Luke’s brilliant new solo show ‘Luke Rollason’s Infinite Content’ (12pm Monkey Barrel), so I’ll send you all off to see David McIver’s ‘Teleport’ at the Banshee Labyrinth instead. He’s just rewritten the show so that all the characters have a broken arm, and then he really genuinely broke his arm to do the show justice. I can’t wait. 12:20pm. Clashes with Luke so don’t book them on the same day.

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+3 Interview: Ian Smith: Half-Life

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“I’m looking forward to going to Mother India Restaurant – then going to a steam room the next day and smelling curry getting released from my pores and the other people in the steam room looking confused.”

WHO: Ian Smith: Performer

WHAT: “Multi award-winning comedian Ian Smith (BBC3’s Sweat the Small Stuff, Dave’s The Magic Sponge podcast) returns with his sixth solo show. It’s part one of a one-part show about halves, love and a holiday to Chernobyl. It will include theatrical techniques such as shouting and moving around. Amused Moose Comedy Award and ThreeWeeks Editors’ Award Winner 2017. ‘Catch him now before his inevitable jump to the big time’ (Telegraph). ‘One of the best you will see at the festival’ (Mirror). ‘A riot of sprightly silliness’ (Chortle.co.uk). ***** (ThreeWeeks). ***** (Mirror). **** (Chortle.co.uk). **** (Metro).”

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

WHEN: 17:15 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This will be my sixth solo show – and I did a few compilation shows before that. I really love the Fringe, and Edinburgh is such a beautiful city. I’m looking forward to going to Mother India Restaurant – then going to a steam room the next day and smelling curry getting released from my pores and the other people in the steam room looking confused. Once a singer I really like, Jim Moray, came to see my show and I was delighted – that was a high point!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Since last year’s Fringe I got to take my show over to New Zealand Comedy Festival again. I love it over there – and this time I went fishing and caught some Red Snapper (a red fish, but not particularly snappy). One of the people in our group caught a fish and then felt so guilty they had to sit down for an hour. This year I entered a professional Scrabble tournament – so I’m talking about that in my show this year. Looking back at the games, I got beaten in one game by a woman who kept putting down fake words that I didn’t have the courage to challenge.

Tell us about your show.

My show is about love and stress – this year my fiancee and I had to postpone our wedding, I went on holiday to Chernobyl and entered this Scrabble tournament. So, the show is about those things and why they’re all linked. It’s directed by the very funny Stuart Laws. I think it’s the only show to have a cliffhanger and previously on… recap section. Hopefully I’ll be touring the show next year and I’d love to take it back to New Zealand Comedy Festival.

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

Comedy wise – I’d recommend going to see:
Jack Gleadow: Mr Saturday Night (17:45 Pleasance Courtyard)
He’s a really creative an exciting act doing his debut show – he’s worked very hard on it and there are so many unique set pieces. He’s a one of a kind!

Stuart Laws Is All In (12:20 Monkey Barrell 1)
Not only is Stuart Laws, he’s offering $250 to the best audience member too!

Outside of comedy:
Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd (18:25 Roundabout @ Summerhall)
Richard’s shows are always incredible and I’m excited to see this!

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+3 Interview: Beat

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“The world and her people (including myself) remain illogical, a pure mystery and the promised wisdom of adulthood has turned out to be the waiting for Godot.”

WHO: Daniel Bellus: Alfie

WHAT: “Alfie lives with his little brother, Hugo, Mum and George. Alfie is not like the other kids, but that’s only a problem for other people: his irritated parents, the bullying classmates and the exasperated teachers. Alfie doesn’t care as long as he can play his drums. He turns his everyday routine into a life bursting with wonder and music. The funny and moving story of an extraordinary mind gone rogue. The Molière Award-nominated smash-hit show premieres in the UK. ***** (Le Parisien).”

WHERE: Pleasance Dome – QueenDome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 14:30 (60 min)

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Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

My first time performing, yes! My first time coming to the Fringe, however, was at the age of 17, nearly a decade ago. Two of my good friends and myself flew over from Amsterdam (Yes, born and raised there) to see what the buzz was about.

Memories? Plenty. Sweeny Todd, the Show Stoppers and, believe it or not: Mischief Theatre, back then performing in a 100-odd-seater and completely sold out. Until present remaining the best-improvised comedy I have seen so far, in a scenario where names related to random foods were crucial to the plot development and plentifully dropped.
After an overflow of hilarity and increasing bladder pressure, during the improvised murder mystery, one of the cast members called:

‘Ah, detective Sandwich!’ The other actor seemed stunned and seemingly searching for and adequate comeback. ‘Yes, it’s me!…’, he proclaimed, barely able to hold his laughter. ‘Sandwich! Ham Sandwich’ A hundred heads howling with laughter and actors shaking with tears is most likely the signature memory of that festival.

Other memories include: late adventures, dancing in an empty night club, taking the train to Burntisland and seeing the festival city from across the bay. And falling in love with the city, the festival and in general.
I’m very much looking forward to performing my first solo show, rediscovering the beauty of the city and the festival all over again. Only this time, from the other side of the auditorium.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Brexit! No. I’ve grown up! No… The world and her people (including myself) remain illogical, a pure mystery and the promised wisdom of adulthood has turned out to be the waiting for Godot.

But on a less Beckettonian note: I have been lucky enough to be doing a good few Voice-Over gigs, touring with the Three Inch Fools (yes, Google) and I’ve come to see more of the UK than the country I was born in!

Tell us about your show.

To me, the show is truly about freedom. It is about pursuing that which makes you feel alive. The world in which we live often focuses on surviving and perpetuating a cycle of future promises, making sure we can build an existence.
To my character Alfie however, nothing exits unless it relates to drums. And then, when there is a beat, the world is a wonder without past or future. It is a story about passion and desire and how the heart beats the most beautiful of rhythms when it is set free.

Cedric Chapuis is the writer. He has written and performed the play throughout France for over ten years and now the production is landing a l’Angleterre. I was lucky enough to be cast by himself, Stephane Battle-the director, the producers (SiT Productions) and the beyond wonderful Nadine Rennie. A truly brilliant company to be part of.

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

Anything that makes you feel alive and forget about any problems you may have.

And if you don’t have problems, the better: you’ll have plenty of dilemmas about which show to queue up for! Go to music gigs, see physical theatre such as Fish Bowl or George(by Contingency Theatre), Intolerable Side Effects (crying out loud comedy with an important message by Claire Parry) and in general: just go with the flow! Read reviews and go to one star and five star shows. Just like a Harry Potteresque box of Bertie Botts every flavour beans, you’ll never know what you’ll find. Isn’t that delightful?

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+3 Interview: My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice

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“Friends are either made stronger or broken at the Fringe!”

WHO: David Hockham: Producer & Production Manager

WHAT: “In 1897, three explorers took off to the arctic in a free-flying balloon. Behind them, they left a woman who could not forget them. Winners of the Les Infants Terribles Award 2019, Dead Rabbits present a highly visual and physical journey through whiter than white nights and darker than dark days, where nothing is what it seems. A tale of love, loss and strange power of the human heart. Presented by Dead Rabbits. Recipient of the 2019 Greenwich Partnership Award.”

WHERE: Pleasance Dome – KingDome (Venue 23) 

WHEN: 12:30 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

This is my 4th Edinburgh and 6th show at the fringe – although its the first time for Dead Rabbits Theatre Company.

My first show was back in 2009 (I think). Back then I was performing and using a highly visual and physical style to tell stories with music and comedy. The trouble was I wasn’t very funny… Its why I started working backstage. You did not need to make people laugh and rarely had to remember your lines. Interestingly this show is working with the same director, 10 years later. Friends are either made stronger or broken at the Fringe!

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

This year has been amazing. We have won the Les Enfants Greenwich Partnership Award 2019, been awarded Arts Council funding to make a new show – Some Little Entertainment in These Troubled Times and made some great friends – including Greenwich Theatre James Haddrell who is helping with PR. We have been part of a project in Woolwich looking at how we make performance accessible to a local community which has involved workshops and collaboration with partner organisations of the University of Greenwich and have now forged a friendship with Laura Goulden who will be interpreting a show for us in British Sign Language in Edinburgh on the 20th August! The first time we have done this. I also can’t thank the Pleasance, Les Enfants and Greenwich Theatre for the opportunity of performing in the King Dome this summer!

Tell us about your show.

The show – My Love Lies Frozen in the Ice – Is about the true story of 3 explorers who head to the arctic in a hot air balloon leaving the love of their life behind. Told through her eyes this is really a story of love, exploration, the human spirit and chauvinism.

The company are all past graduates from St Mary’s University. I graduated over 10 years ago, and the cast have graduated earlier than this, some as recently as 2 years ago and others 6 or 8. Our director, Kasia Zaremba-Byrne all taught us at one time or other.

I have only been involved with the work since the summer of 2018 as Kasia called me and said I need some help making the work seen in the UK. Hopefully, I’ve started to achieve this? Before this, the work toured North America in 2017 and won lots of awards! (Of which I can take no credit). We have had limited show dates in the UK but have a preview at the Bathway Theatre in Woolwich on the 25th July. It’s free!

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

We Want You To Watch (The Space). So this is nothing like our show. Its about PORN. I am slightly biased. I have taught all of this company technical theatre and helped with their design and aesthetic. Look out for the Cans of Sex on the Mile in week 3&4

Scandal and Gallows, She Sells Sea Shells (Underbelly) – Female centred show! Lost Women form history, Dinosaurs… What’s not to like!

SharkLegs, Fulfilment (Underbelly) – Because I am intrigued. They are supported by Greenwich Theatre as well so it will be good, but I like the idea it is created form the audiences desires each night. No clue what this means but worth a punt I’d say!

Perhaps Contraption, Nearly Human (Pleasance) We met these guys at the Les Infants Award. They were winners as well! Who does not like a huge band and nice people done in a way I’ve not seen in a while and well…

Incognito Theatre, The Burning (Pleasance) They won the Greenwich Partnership award last year. Women & Witches has me hooked. Also, I’m curious to see if this follow up from last years show is as good!

Haste Theatre, Ex Batts And Broilers (Assembly Rooms) Clown, Physical Theatre comedy and meat farming… What not to like!

Wonderbox Theatre, A Womb Of One’s Own (Pleasance) I feel like feminism is a theme here… Or perhaps shows which showcase women… not sure. Anyway,I think it will be good.

ChatBack Theatre and Comedy, If This Is Normal (Zoo Playground) – I thought their previous work “Lost in Thought” was fab. So looking forward to this one

New Diorama Theatre, The Incident Room (Pleasance) – I think anything the New Diorama touch is gold…. So I hope this is no different!

2Elfth Night (Venue 152) – So a bot of a wildcard. We have become twitter friends and they seem like good fun

Bait: Kill The Princess (Spiegel Yurt) Saw this at the Bathway Theatre in Woolwich. They are a lovely pair and funny! Also, they have promised to make a show with me called Dave the Unicorn where they brush my hair in a live art sort of way… I mean I think they were joking but… Also, a Bathway Theatre Network supported company – so part of the club.

Handprint Theatre, Moon Bird (pleasance) – a family pic, but also completely accessible! Which is exciting for the fringe. Laura is BSL interpreting our show on the 20th August!

Probably loads more – sorry If I have forgotten you

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+3 Interview: Brett Johnson: Poly-Theist

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

“It’s a true solo comedy show about faith, non-monogamy and KFC.”

WHO: Brett Johnson: Writer/performer

WHAT: “Brett was a 21-year-old, married, monogamous Evangelical. Then he became the opposite. After sell-outs across the US, stand-up Brett Johnson’s show about (non)monogamy, God and KFC hits the Fringe. ‘A uniquely poignant story, with humour and deep sensitivity… a thought-provoking and ultimately inspiring tale’ (PortFringe.com/Reviews). ‘Boundless charm… the definition of more-than-meets-the-eye’ (PGHintheRound.com).”

WHERE: Just the Tonic at The Charteris Centre – Just the Crypt (Venue 393) 

WHEN: 13:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I visited when I was a little kid, and I came to the Fringe for few days last year to get the lay of the land (mostly to acclimatize myself to the Scottish accent).

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Premiering this damn show and bringing it to about a dozen cities across the States. I also correctly used the manual paper feed on a printer, first try.

Tell us about your show.

The tagline is that I was a married, 21-year-old monogamous Evangelical, then I became the opposite: it’s a true solo comedy show about faith, non-monogamy and KFC. Edinburgh is the show’s international premiere and my EdFringe debut. I plan to take it to more cities in the US after August but also – hopefully – to some spots around the UK late 2019 or 2020!

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

After my show to go Calton Hill and take in the view, I hear it’s killer. After that: Jamie Loftus who is absurd and great; Mike Lemme and Sam Morrison who are both funny and just good dudes, Molly Brenner who’s worked her tail off on her show, and Kyle Legacy, who’s unwell but a sweet boy.

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+3 Interview: Static

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I’m feeling both prepared and completely in over my head.”

WHO: Daniel Amedee: Co-Creator / Actor / Musician

WHAT: “Static is a hybrid theater and live concert production that tells the story of a son using music as a means to cope with losing his father to dementia. Static is a multifaceted production that utilizes projections, live music, and a simplistic approach to story telling that delivers an emotional, moving performance that is sure to leave you heartened and shaken.”

WHERE: ZOO Playground – Playground 2 (Venue 186) 

WHEN: 19:00 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Yes and no! It’s my, Daniel’s, first time in Edinburgh. But my partner in STATIC, Conor Kelly O’Brien, has been the past several years and produced a couple plays at the Fringe. So I’m feeling both prepared and completely in over my head.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

It’s actually been a very busy year… We debuted STATIC at the Scranton Fringe in September of last year and did a small run at a theater in the Pocono’s in November ’18. I’m mainly a musician and I tour full time with my band LIGHT SOUND, so in March I did a US West Coast tour and then went to do STATIC at Orlando Fringe in May. We’re also doing Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters for their East to Edinburgh Festival right now. That ends the day before we fly out to Edinburgh.

I also announced the release of my debut metaphysical / sci-fi novel, Human World, via Boyle and Dalton. That’s unrelated to the play but still something I’m really excited about!

Tell us about your show.

The show started out in a really unique way. I’m mainly a musician and my partner in the show, Conor Kelly O’Brien, is a playwright / actor/ arts administrator. He and I met when he booked my band at a venue he owned in Scranton, PA when I was touring through back in 2014. We stayed friends and when I released my latest album, I sent it to Conor and he was so moved by it he wrote the story of STATIC to weave between the songs on the album. When someone writes a play to your music you don’t say no. So we started working on at a distance (me from New Orleans and him from Manhattan), and came together to rehearse as we’ve been able to and it evolved from there.

After this Edinburgh run we’re planning on bringing it to Adelaide Fringe and then to Tokyo for a short run. We’ll rest somewhere in there.

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

Big Gay Story Slam! The same production company that produces STATIC, the New Vintage Ensemble, also produces an even called The Big Gay Story Slam. It’s a storytelling event doing a full run at Gilded Balloon that focuses on LGBTQ+ stories / performers.

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+3 Interview: It’s Miss Hope Springs

Posted in *Written Interviews, EdFestivals 2019, Plus 3 2019 – Features by

“I did a show many, many moons ago when I was a teenager. I had an awful argument with the woman I was doing it with and we didn’t talk for the length of the run. We were sharing a flat with HER HORRENDOUS MOTHER (dear God) who wasn’t talking to me either!”

WHO: Ty Jeffries: Composer Lyricist Performer Producer

WHAT: “Join comedy cabaret superstar Miss Hope Springs at the piano, presenting original musical numbers from her vintage repertoire of toe-tapping show tunes, finger-snapping pop and heart-rending ballads, interspersed with scandalous stories from her ‘Ritz-to-the-pits’ showbiz life in LA, Paris and… Dungeness! Still in the sequins she fled the Pink Pelican Casino wearing in 1972, let Hope (once the toast of Vegas, now down on her luck and heavily medicated) take you on a trip down ‘mammary lane’ in this ‘smash hit laugh-out-loud-move-you to-tears show’ (BroadwayWorld.com).”

WHERE: Assembly Rooms – Bijou (Venue 20) 

WHEN: 20:20 (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

Well, I’m thrilled to say this is my first full run, and in one of the top venues too! I did a show many, many moons ago when I was a teenager. I had an awful argument with the woman I was doing it with and we didn’t talk for the length of the run. We were sharing a flat with HER HORRENDOUS MOTHER (dear God) who wasn’t talking to me either! it was a total nightmare. I was only 18 at the time.

In 2014 I brought Miss Hope Springs to The Edinburgh Playhouse, The Boards but that was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ 6 show run but it was a big success. It’s taken me this long to really have the time to put into it as it’s such a mammoth task…isn’t it? I have to say the team at The Assembly Rooms and The Fringe Society have just been simply amazing.

What’s the biggest thing to have happened to you since Festivals ’18?

Being the support act for Marc Almond at The Apollo Hammersmith and sharing the bill with him and fabulous Immodesty Blaize. I love Marc’s work so it was a real thrill to be asked. The other acts that have been part of that season are Burt Bacharach, Joss Stone and George Benson…So it’s pretty good company to be keeping.

Tell us about your show.

Miss Hope Springs was once the toast of Las Vegas. Now she’s down on her luck and highly medicated. As Hope, I play the piano and sing songs from her vintage repertoire of finger-snapping pop, smouldering torch songs and toe-tapping showstoppers. Broadway World kindly called it ‘The smash-hit laugh-out-loud-move-you-to-tears show’ and Julian Clary insists it’s ‘Tragi-comic genius’. But you really have to see it for yourself to judge. I think it’s safe to say it blows all the stereotypes about ‘drag’ out of the water. All the music is mine, the lyrics and the dialogue too and I play the piano and sing live and tell stories from Hope’s Rits to the pits life in LA, Paris and erm…Dungeness! (where she lives in a camper van with her ex-husband Irving and his close hairdresser pal Carlos).

I’ve been writing songs all my life and had my first publishing deal in my early 20s (signed to Elton John’s Rocket Music.) Then I created my alter ego, fading glamor-puss Miss Hope Springs and appeared at The Brighton Fringe and went on to win Best Cabaret there 2011. Then I moved to London and have been resident at Crazy Coqs/Live at Zedel ever since. In 2017 I toured Miss Hope Springs around the UK with her ‘The Devil Made Me Do It’ show and have also toured the USA with it. I’ve even performed a solo sold-out show at The Wigmore Hall in London (which is the next best classical venue to The Albert Hall).

I also direct it, and it ‘s produced by Vaudelesque Productions (if you can pronounce that you get a free gift) which is my production company. I created it for my shows as Hope and the more autobiographical shows I do as myself playing the piano and singing my original songs and talking about my childhood growing up in Hollywood (my father was the late British character actor Lionel Jeffries) and also my original classical piano music, which was recently featured by Suzy Klein on BBC Radio 3 Essential Classics. ‘It’s Miss Hope Springs’ show returns to London at Live at Zedel/Le Crazy Coqs in the West End and I’m then taking it around the country.

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

Probably a psychiatrist! Did you know Miss Hope Springs actually has a support groups for addictees. People literally become obsessed with her and come and see every show, which is extremely flattering. I would certainly say catch Dickie Shelton in his ‘Sinatra Raw’ show and of course fabulous Reuben Kaye wherever/whenever you can catch him.

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