“I did my first Edinburgh in 1994 in a student production, where I got to play a dead body. I lay in Greyfriars Kirkyard watching the tattoo fireworks go off over the moving denouement of the play.”
WHO: Louise Leigh
WHAT: “‘Hilarious’ **** (TheWeeReview.com). ‘Brilliant’ (Scotsman). ‘Go see this show’ **** (FunnyWomen.com). How do you want to be remembered when you die? Taxidermied in a gastropub, of course! Also covered: raising teenagers among llamas; which are the most boring nipples; why the menopause is a cross between the climate crisis and World War 1; and biscuits. There’s always biscuits. Leicester Mercury Comedian of the Year Finalist, Funny Women Semi-finalist, British Comedian of the Year Semi-finalist. ‘Great performance, great confidence, great jokes’ (Gary Delaney). Viewers may become fiercely aroused.”
WHERE: Just the Tonic at Cabaret Voltaire – Just the Common Room (Venue 338)
WHEN: 15:30 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
No! I came to the Fringe as an audience member with my Edinburgh grannies as a small girl. As a performer, I did my first Edinburgh in 1994 in a student production, where I got to play a dead body. I lay in Greyfriars Kirkyard watching the tattoo fireworks go off over the moving denouement of the play. I loved it, but it took me until 2016 to come back as a performer and I’ve been up for a short while every year that I can since. This is my second full run and I love it so much. Just really being able to sit in this creative place surrounded by all the varieties of performance art, the best in the world, the worst, the weirdest, all rubbing up against each other. The camaraderie alongside the rivalries and in a beautiful city that I’ve known and loved since I was tiny. Yum yum yum.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
About the Fringe or generally? If about the Fringe, I guess that it’s a Mardi Gras, it’s a marathon, it’s a cruel mistress, it’s a crapshoot, it’s a lady called Helen who, (even though you reckon she’d love your show) doesn’t want to come and has valid reasons for it so please stop trying to give her your flyer.
Actually, the thing I know is that you have to have a really clear idea about what your show *is* at some level. You have to have such a clear pitch, whether you’re selling to audience members, industry or press, because ultimately, much as we all hate the idea, you have to sell it fast and furiously several hundred times a day. Have I absorbed that lesson? Let’s see….
Tell us about your show.
Written, produced and performed by me. The company came together when a man and a lady loved each other very much in 1971, and then lay very close together… but then it took another 40 something years and all sorts of distractions to become a comedian. I’ve previewed the show at a bunch of festivals including Brighton Fringe, Exeter Comedy Festival and local to my gaff in Bristol. I think it’s the best thing I’ve made (which is entirely as it should be, frankly. Imagine if wasn’t! The horrors!)
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
You must see Pauline Eyre’s Body, in the same room as mine (Cabaret Voltaire, Just The Common Room) but a bit earlier. Also, I’m looking forward to seeing Amy Mason’s show, Free Mason, at the Pleasance. David Hoare’s doing his 1000% musical comedy. If you see one split bill of comedy this year make it Alasdair Wallace and Tom Hutchinson’s “Are We Not Men?” I’m excited to see New Zealander Alice Snedden is back at the Fringe, I’ll be trying to catch her show. The main thing is to take a punt on someone whose company you enjoy when you meet them flyering. Even if you sit through an hour of absolute bobbins you will (as my mother said while flyering for me in 2022) “get a wee sit down” and a story to take home to your friends. If you don’t do that at least once, you’re not really entering into the spirit of the thing.
LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!
INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!
Get Your Coats On 