“This is my first time bringing three very different shows.”
WHO: Matt Davis
WHAT: “Dubbed ‘an intellectually-driven stand up comedy king’ by the Australian press, Matt Davis brings his internationally minded approach to take on challenging topics. In a wild and hilarious rebuttal to the increasingly prevalent black-and-white view of our world, the comedian weaves together personal narratives as he comically challenges beliefs. Grab that friend who likes to laugh, or that one who really needs to, and join us on the other side of arguments with two dimensions for an evening where things are… Colorful!”
WHERE: Hoots @ The Apex – Hoot 5 (Venue 108)
WHEN: 18:10 (60 min)
MORE: Click Here!
Is this your first time to Edinburgh?
This isn’t my first time, that was quite the to-do. My first time coming to EdFringe it was a last minute decision based on having to leave Thailand because I publicly called out some human traffickers for what they were doing. In my defense, they were kinda new at it, open-mic’er human traffickers if you will, so I underestimated their capacity for death threats.
I skipped to Myanmar and put on a show, since “military dictatorship” is still alphabetically superior to “murdered.” While there, another comedian, Janey Godley, reached out about the nonsense I was in the middle of, and told me to just “come to the Fringe.” So I did! 48 hours and maybe that many flights later, and she introduced me to her audience and I did a quick set. I took in the Fringe for a week doing the odd spot, and was hooked.
It’s the perfect little vacay as a punter to take your mind off of people trying to track you down because you ruined their human trafficking circle. 5 stars for that, would recommend. I’ve been back since with a solo, but this is my first time bringing three very different shows (a solo hour I tour, a storytelling show of more nonsense like above, and an improv format show that is pure chaos fun); the last of which was written purely with the Fringe and all its chaos in mind. And bonus points for this.
What are the big things you’ve learned since 2023 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?
I wasn’t at the Fringe in 2023, but my top 3 biggest lessons I learned from that year as a whole are:
1) Never tell a border guard your reason for visiting is that you “just want to look these mf’ers in the eye.” It’s funny in your head, sure, but you really need a spare 5 hours to explain it.
2) When a sign says “don’t pee on the electric fence,” they’re being whimsical, but that fence really is electric and you do not want to pee there.
3) a list of two things really needs a third to feel like a real list
Tell us about your show.
I started writing my show “Colorful” as a rewrite/update to the previous show I brought and toured and was supposed to film before the pandemic. But the process split into two sets of material: the socio-politcally focused stuff about religions and the world based on growing up in Alabama and performing in more than 60 countries now, and stories about me being an idiot. The latter I split again into before and after sobriety and eventually gave the name “More Fun (I used to be)”. I worked on them both simultaneously while touring thru Europe and North America this Winter and Spring; alternating material at first, then alternating shows. The format show, “With Your Guest,” was once-upon-a-time a TV pitch that was called “too weird” by management at the time, but that the team at RGB Monster (who are producing all three of my shows this year) jumped on board with immediately for the same reason. It’s a very wild ride, with comedians coming on to host a talk show THEY decide the topic, but their armed with audience suggestions; while I play the role of guest and have to promote something the audience decided before hand. Three comedians each host a show, one after the other, and without leaving; so the shows stack up and it ends with three happening at the same time. It’s really crazy and fun, and outside of some test runs Edinburgh will be the premiere of that for sure. All of these I hope to tour through this year and next, and Colorful already has dates set for Tallinn Fringe, Hong Kong Comedy Festival, and Sydney Fringe as well some black box theater dates like Frankfurt and few others.
What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?
There are so, so, so many shows *I* want to see! But some I know are great include Jack Holmes’ “Round Man, Square Hole” which is such a punchline heavy show; also, excited to see what Kavin Jay has in store with his latest “UNSOLICITED ADVICE.” Kavin is always a go-to for me when I’m in Malaysia, so happy to see him here at the Fringe this year. “The Most Toast” is absolutely the silliest idea for a show, and I’m kinda mad I didn’t think of it. Hoping I have time to see Asli Akbay’s new show “Tomboy.” And I’m keeping an eye on the whole slate of shows being brought up by Soho Theatre, as they always have some great ones, as well as other alumni of this year’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
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