"In terms of doing stand-up [as an Icelander] in English, yeah I'm probably some sort-of pioneer or trailblazer if you will" Comedy like most arts has traversed across many countries and ended up creating varying scenes around the world, however like the Grand National there are many hurdles to jump in order to reach the finishing line, in this context, bringing comedy from your own country to the fore. This is what has happened to Icelandic comedian Ari Eldjárn who on a whim, hedged his bet on a 20-1 to win and the result was that he won adulation at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and has performed gigs in many other countries, there may have been a few stumbles at some hurdles but ultimately his comedy career has been as successful as Red Rum. Flying the flag for Icelandic comedy in the English language, Ari has seen himself being invited to be on Mock The Week, appear at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and play at the legendary Soho Theatre... all stemming from one bet, he joined his musician friends at an open mic club in Reykjavík for a dare. We spoke to Ari about his rise to international acclaim, how he has coped during the lockdown, what the future holds for Icelandic comedy and why most non-Nordics won't understand the fun at 'Nordic stereotyping'. Watch Ari Eldjárn discuss 'Nordic stereotypes' below. Ari, could you tell us how you got into comedy in the first place? "Ha ha long story or short? It was around 10-11 years ago, when a couple of my friends who were super busy in music decided as a dare to do stand-up, just the two of them at a small bar, I saw them do it and just wanted to tag along. They tried it again two weeks later and I joined them and never looked back. This was the first summer after the bank collapse of 2008, so it was following not a lockdown, but a very 'cabin-fever' type of era in Iceland, where people were very ashamed and afraid because of financial recessions and wrongdoings, so doing comedy turned out to be a very welcomed distraction. My friends and I kind of fell into it on a whim and started up a group, we did club shows together and have been doing them for 10 years. My background at that point was that I went to film school to study screen-writing for a year in London and I have been working as a flight attendant and a copyright, I never really thought that I would end up as a comedian, that never crossed my mind... I think maybe because it just happened like that [click of the fingers], it didn't mess with my mind too much. My dream was to become a film director but I didn't take many steps towards achieving that goal and I found that the production of film is very long, time-consuming and expensive... I found out that I could easily freak out at scripts during post-production, stand-up for me was a way for me to circumvent my procrastination." Who were your comedic idols growing up? Who did you aspire to? "Well I think the earliest real comedy influence that I can remember and is one that I still go back to all the time is The Simpsons, I obsessed about The Simpsons and recorded every episode on VHS via the Icelandic Broadcasting Service, I knew most of it verbatim, by heart and did impressions of them; a friend of mine taped The Simpsons episodes on like cassettes and carried them around on his Walkman... a very crude version of Netflix on your phone, we would only listen to it during school and imagine the animation, I would say that's probably the one thing that inspired me the most. Also a HUGE comedy influence for me, that I always forget to talk about because it's not stand-up, is something I inherited for the lack of a better word, a huge box of Mad magazines from my funny uncle who actually is a dentist, those were magazines from like 1962 up until 1983, and I read all of it when I was around 9, I learned English when I was 7 and lived in England for a year... so I could read it and of course a lot of it went into my head, but I very quickly versed in the main tropes of these Mad magazines. Movie spoofs are ones that I enjoyed the most, Don Martin per se and there is a scene in The Simpsons where Millhouse and Bart find a Mad magazine and it's like a special edition, a compilation, recycling old stuff..." Talking about where comedy comes from, usually it's the USA or the UK, would you say you helped put Iceland on the comedy map? "Well there is one comedian who arguably has put Iceland on the map of comedy and that's Jón Gnarr, who was Iceland's real first big stand-up comedian and a massive TV star here doing sketch shows and series, he became Mayor of Reykjavík in 2010 and would show up to official ceremonies dressed up as Obi-Wan Kenobi, he is arguably the biggest export of Icelandic comedy ever, but in terms of doing stand-up in English, yeah I'm probably some sort-of pioneer or trailblazer if you will. But I'm this cosy living bubble in my small country, having enough work to keep me happy and busy for a long, long time. I have this side of me that really enjoys English as well, I learned it at such a young age and have always kept some connection to the UK even if sometimes I haven't visited in years and years, when I go there it all comes back to me very fast and the average humour level of any given person in the UK I would say is quite high, it is a country filled with people who are very capable of sarcasm and 'less is more', passive-aggressiveness, jokes here and there, so when I go there I feel a little bit refreshed... it's like an alter-ego." Having had experience in living in the UK, this must have helped in delivering your first show in the UK right? "Yes, it helps me to filter out the stuff that probably doesn't make sense over there, I'm a very simple person emotionally, once I get the idea in my head that this is going well I'm like 'well I belong here', I think a lot of it is just the pleasure of doing it in English, in my mind it's an absolute miracle I can do it and speak in English. I felt when I went back home when I was 8, that I learned how to speak English earlier than my peers, they would say to me things like 'how do you say this or that'." Where was your first UK performance, what was the reception like? Have you performed elsewhere? "The first time I played in the UK was at open mic gigs at The Laughing Horse in 2010, I've been doing this for a living in Icelandic, I wrote up 5 minutes of English material which was all new, I didn't translate anything which is something I have not done since. I did this for a week at several places and ground it out, it was very daunting only because in my mind it was daunting... the reality though was that these were open mic gigs and so weren't so demanding, there were friends and families present of those competing... I think I blacked out doing my first gig because I forgot what I was going to say. The most daunting thing is always my head, in general you're not in danger if you decide to get up there and talk, you're not going to suffer serious consequences if you slip up, it's a live act. When I went to Norway to do some shows a year after the Icelandic banks collapsed and the Icelandic Krona was like halved and the Norwegian Krone was booming thanks to the oil prices; so connected to oil and I think I went to the Hard Rock Cafe in Oslo and ordered a hamburger and glass of coke, I think it was about £12 (laughs). There's this great Finnish comedian called André Wickström who had this bit about going to a bar in Norway and just buying the cheapest beer which is called Ringnes, which is like the lowest of the low and he asked how much it was as the price was in Norwegian Krone, how much is that in Euro's? It's uh 9 Euro's. 9 Euro's?!?! For a beer?!?! Yes it is happy hour." Do you feel at times that some people will laugh at a joke because everyone is laughing, even if they don't get it? "Yeah I do that, that's me watching Family Guy all the time, like most of the references in Family Guy I don't understand because I don't know what they're referring to, but I will still laugh because of the co-dependency you tend to have and also because they are actually funny even if you don't know what it's from. Sometimes somebody is so funny that you just go with it no matter what the person says, and then you do the research later." Where do you source your material from, is it from personal experiences such as from your previous jobs? "I've been able to mine some jokes from my job as a flight attendant, but a lot of it just comes from me talking all the time and trying to be funny, I keep little notes on my phone. The way I was raised where I come from a house with only brothers, a big brother, and younger brother and we would rip off each other all the time, have our own private sense of humour and just take the mick out of each other, it's like a social thing... I wouldn't say I spend a lot of time sitting down and writing any of the stuff that I do... I'm always trying to come up with something verbally and if I get a reaction from anyone I just write it down. I wish I knew how to write jokes, like some comedians work as comedy writers either for a sketch show or an awards show or what have you, they apply this professionally." What challenges did / do you have to overcome throughout your career in comedy? "Well the main challenges for me were when I always decided to do something new, but I think the biggest challenge for me when I first started was doing TV, I felt it was very different and didn't get the same instant gratification, I would always have to record it with a live audience obviously but airing it, made me realise that maybe I was not as self-secure as I thought I was, because I was actually quite terrified of having people judge me in their homes, I had to work on a bit of an obstacle there. But I'm very glad that I did because I think it helped me grow immensely in getting exposure much faster, I did a regular stand-up slot that was added to a new chat show that ran for half a season, which got panned by people in the early days of the internet. I was very happy that people liked my stand-up but they were like 'oh you're on that show, urgh it's going down like the Zeppelin', so that was a big challenge for me to overcome my controlling aspects of myself, I couldn't control how people perceive this and my perfectionism... I just had to let go and this may not be the best version of this bit, but this is the version that everyone is going to see and in the end, that is more valuable than having nothing seen." Tell us more about that Nordic Prize Award event you performed at, what was that like? "Ah the one that's on YouTube, that was a very strange one because I had been off for around 6 weeks and I hadn't done my English sets in ages, around 2-3 months before I took time off. I kind of showed up there and did it by memory, it went hugely well with the audience, I remember all of the prime ministers and foreign ministers of the Governments were there, I was ecstatic when I read some of the comments about the transmission locally, people were like saying 'woah, that seemed to be like a tough crowd' and I was like 'what tough crowd? It was a walk in the park', but then it turned out that it was perceived by people here the the audience was reserved... the mix was that you couldn't really hear laughter, this is a common problem with live comedy. I was like OK that's done, all good and then around a year and a half later it started to go viral on Facebook, mainly from Finland and expats who went to live in other Nordic countries, it got millions of views of which I would not discredit it at all, I think it probably helped me get my foot in Edinburgh as a result. My feeling at the time was that this was a strange gig, a woman behind me with a cello silently waiting, probably a gig that doesn't often have comedy and so I gave it my best. The joke regarding the social stereotypes alongside my Nordic stuff is meant to be based around me mocking Icelanders who have this inferiority complex and feeling hugely insecure, invalidated by the world and eager for any attention we can get. I'm playing off of the stereotypes that people draw up such as the Finnish always being drunk... I just found that these kind of stereotypes, addressing them as stereotypes I thought would be interesting. But, I don't really like comedy that relies on stereotypes, I don't like to say that this person is like this because they are from here, it's a double-edged thing and I think, with the stereotypes that I am playing, is like tiny little nuances between countries that are almost identical, it's just a bit of fun. I think social stereotypes that are made between Nordic countries are not widely known in the outside world and I thought it was interesting to show this, because like every small community or town says something about this town, that town, etc., it's like neighbouring towns... 'ah you know what they say about the people over there'... it's basically a very innocent version of England vs. Scotland, England vs. France and England vs. Germany ha ha." Tell us about the Icelandic comedy circuit, what is it like? "It's very small and very new, there was not much going on when my friends and I started doing it in 2009, however there is a comedy club here now called The Secret Cellar and has been running for I think 4 years, it had closed during lockdown but they reopened and have only shows in English, so this is a very interesting thing because a lot of cities have an English scene as well so... Stockholm has a club called The Big Ben, but there is a scene emerging here... there was a huge explosion in 2015 with loads of bars offering comedy, it's stable and very home-made but still there comedians who are full-time or people who work whilst doing comedy like I do... some people may work as caterers for big events or work in theatre production like I do. It's around and all of the big acts tend to come here when they're doing big European tours, there's a booking agency in Norway who always adds Iceland to the tour list but either gives us the first or last date of the tour, so we get the big stars who could be knackered after the European tour, those can get interesting." Are there any upcoming comedians that you could recommend for people to check out? "If we took out the word 'upcoming' and pointed you towards an Icelandic comedian who is performing and touring in English, Hugleikur Dagsson - he's a cartoonist and stand-up comedian, he's pretty known for his very dark cartoons with stick-men figures; you can see his work at (Dagsson.com), I highly recommend him to everyone, also he is my cousin ha ha! We have the same grandfathers who were brothers. He is in the same style as your Jimmy Carr but not as gag-based maybe but otherwise for sure he is that dark. Many of his cartoons go viral all the time, not everyone realises where they're from, for example he did a collection of cartoons called 'Greatest Hits' which went viral, basically he did these cartoons that have to illustrate a song; he did one way before Amy Winehouse, years before, he did one where someone was standing by an open grave and there's someone singing from the grave 'you tried to make me go to rehab, I said no no no' - this is like years before she died, that one when she died looked very grim. The most famous one was 'Anarchy In The UK' where a woman is holding a pot of tea and a man sitting at the table, she says 'would you like some tea?' and he says 'No. Anarchy In The UK!'You can buy all of his cartoons and stuff online, I bought his t-shirt during my friends run and on 'Mock The Week' as well. Other Icelandic comedians I could recommend include Bylgja Babýlons (who is Edinburgh based) and Snjólaug Lúðvíksdóttir." What was it like appearing on 'Mock The Week'? "Lovely! It was fantastic! The host Dara O'Briain is possibly the funniest and nicest person that I've met in my life, I didn't know the other guests personally but they were all really nice too and it was fun, of course I had to read up on the news and I don't live in the UK, so a lot of it was about the Labour Party and things like that I don't necessarily follow, but they were lovely and were really supportive when they said 'hey just come, it's your first time, try to do something, don't worry you don't have to dominate the show the first time you come, just relax, enjoy it, try to be funny, try to understand what Dara says and off you go'. Obviously I was a little nervous about it, but it was so awesome to do it because I've seen the show millions of times, my main memory was just sitting behind the desk, a desk I had seen so often and just realising 'hang on, these are all made from plywood, it's not painted on the inside, there's a cup of coffee here', that's my main memory, I was obsessed! That's how innocent I was. It was a tremendous experience, very proud and happy that I did it." Outside of comedy, what hobbies and interests do you have? "Too many, way too many and I've always been a person who gets completely consumed by some hobby usually during a period of anxiety leading up to a big project. At the moment, I'm completely obsessed with vintage film shooting on super 8mm and 68mm, developing it and have discovered a community of people on Facebook, I've spent a big part during lockdown researching how to process films. Vinyl is a passion of mine, I've been doing some hip-hop scratching... I used to do that 20 years ago, I was a hip-hop DJ, anything I really and I guess I'm just one of those poor lost souls who spends all their time on YouTube watching DIY videos, and feeling that I've done something myself... 'I wonder how you make a clock'. So I have many interests but my main ones are film and music; I mean most people would say that." What music are you currently into now seeing as you said you were a Hip-Hop DJ? What are your thoughts on Eurovision? "I find that as I get older, I'm going close to 40 now, I do find I am listening less to new music and having to have people programme me a bit and tell me you should check this out, but I'm a bit of an omnivore when it comes to music, I think these periods of being very nostalgic like listening to 60's rock and then I may do a full-on Kraftwerk bender, but the 90's Hip-Hop is a very specific period in my life when I was 15 to 17, when that Hip-Hop scene was very big in Iceland; probably wasn't that big though but very underground compared to modern day rap which is absolutely massive, Icelandic rappers are huge stars. I will always at any given moment get heavily immersed in The Beatles as this was my first big love after the band Kiss. Kiss, Madness and The Beatles are the first 3 groups that I listened to as a child so I go back to that a lot, especially The Beatles. Eurovision is huge and I know a lot of people who have competed in Eurovision, Eurovision is a big thing here and always has been, I might be right in saying that for other countries Eurovision is a joke, but for us it's our foreign policy - one of our 5 main goals in life is to win Eurovision and then people will see what we're made of, I think there's a tongue-in-cheek factor with it always. But people are always generally happy that we contest from around these parts, that we do a big TV competition... we're that innocent when we participate in Eurovision. I have no idea what the ratings are for Eurovision, but I'm guessing around 80% of the population watches it, it's insane engagement. Regarding last year's entry Hatari (who I know), I was very happy to see them go and compete, they were very obscure in the rules of Eurovision and the moment it was announced that they won the Icelandic national finals, the feeling was that they have to win Eurovision, they must surely are going to win Eurovision because they are unique; it got noticed all over the world I think for being original and I think that they trolled the contest as well, like if anyone congratulated them, they would somehow flip it around and they always claim to be aiming to expose the weaknesses of capitalism, as an act though I thought it was a very original one. This year though the uniqueness carried on with Daði Freyr Pétursson and Gagnamagnið and their song / video "Think About Things" went even more viral, I'm sure that one was a heavy contestant... every year we say we are going to win, but that one was getting a lot of attention naturally and I saw a lot of comedians in the UK tweeting about it very early on, it seemed to get a lot of love. But I think he has followed up on it and is making an album or something; I think he has got a record deal. He's based in Berlin and doesn't live here, so it must have been strange for him to keep going back and forth and to find out that Eurovision has been cancelled. I think we were a little sad to not see them proceed and I think so was the rest of the world. It's a shame cause we would have won it this year!!" Do you feel that we are seeing a renaissance in comedy in that international comedy is ramping up more and more? "I think so, I mean for example the German comedian Henning Wehn is a star, he is so funny and is also quite British, he's completely mastered what the British like, he can play up his German side but then he also talks about taking the piss, he completely gets what it means to 'take the piss'; culturally he is British... almost. The thing is, comedians like South Africa's Schalk Bezuidenhout and myself all come from Mick Perrin's roster and Mick Perrin himself has made a huge difference in bringing on more diverse comedians from different backgrounds. I think also with the invention of the internet, with streaming platforms like Netflix you are getting a more variety of comedians. It's great that you can see many different types of comedian from both genders and backgrounds, I think the market for comedy is very big, and I think that international comedians are going to be more in demand than they've been before. A Finnish friend and comedian of mine in Ismo Leikola has become big in the USA, I got to know him in Finland and got my first gigs from Iceland in Finland through some friends, and met Ismo there, he is a complete testament to the power of joke writing and universal gags. His whole attitude in English is that he is the foreigner who comes and observes the Americans, he has some material there. Most of the stuff he does is just so warm, fizzy, bubbly and imaginative like Steven Wright or Mitch Hedberg, those kind of characters, surreal even and I think Ismo studied physics so he's a bit scientific; he deconstructs a lot and it's so fun to see someone from Finland breaking America." What are your plans leading towards late 2020 (COVID-19 depending) and into early 2021? Do you have any greetings / thanks you wish to send out? "Stick around in Iceland, lockdown forced me to completely stop, take a beat and I've been working for a long time and getting overworked because of it, I think it was actually starting to hurt my output just a little bit, because I was under too much stress and I think I'm not going to jump right back in. I'm going to do some test shows here where I'm doing new material and tossing it out, I'll do a New Years show in Icelandic as well. But my plans for the year are very minimal, I'm just going to sleep well, exercise and write 2 hours of new comedy, that's all. But hopefully I'll be back in the UK next year because I miss it really badly, I was going to do Edinburgh this year but obviously that's not going to happen, also Soho Theatre in London, I've always done Soho Theatre twice every year, which has been a massive support for me, a huge breath of fresh air for me. The Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh is in lockdown as well, they took a chance with me and gave me my first show in Edinburgh; they are really supportive, they are now releasing vinyl albums with shows recorded last year - it's John Kearns, Olga Koch and myself - it was on Kickstarter. I love that club and the people that work there, they are very supportive for comedians, they've done a lot to make the Fringe very fresh."
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The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is by far one of the most popular and excitable events to happen in the the comedy, theatre and arts annual calendar. Not only does it host established acts but it offers a unique opportunity for uprising talent to showcase their material and garner a wider audience whilst developing their underlying talent. Alice Fraser is no stranger to the festival having now embarked on her fourth outing, the Australian comes armed with her new material. Here she shares her thoughts on her attachment to comedy, the scene down under and her experiences both at Edinburgh Fringe Festival and elsewhere:- ETHOS: Edinburgh Comedy Festival
Humans have always been fascinated by non-human minds. From the Golem, to Frankenstein's monster, to artificial intelligence – computers who could think, and threaten civilisation. Imagine an AI: a brilliant but naive mind, newly created. Now imagine that mind learning about our world by watching a comedy show. Alice Fraser (The Bugle and BBC Radio 4) explains our society of contradictions to a new robot mind. A silly, funny, smart show that explores what it is to be human. 'A life-changer' ***** (EdinburghGuide.com). 'Inescapably funny.' ***** (Herald Sun). 'A sexy cerebral twist to comedy' *****(OUTinPerth). So Alice how and when did you get into comedy when growing up? "I didn't really have an interest in comedy, I used to listen to 'The Goon Show' on the way back from rowing on the weekend, I then moved onto 'Monty Python' and I would read a lot of funny books... I would have never thought about being a comedian, until I was one (laughs)" Most comedians admire other comedians past and present, are there any comedians you aspire to? "There is very few good comedians that I think I don't get inspired by, obviously you have people like Sara Millican but normally it's just good comedy that inspires me" Comedians either have a previous job or walk straight into comedy, could you tell us how you got into comedy professionally? "I was an unassuming lawyer by day... I went to the law firm everyday (and comedy of a night) and I thought if I keep on doing this, I'm going to die. So it was more of a self privilege that moved me into comedy. I did do a couple of corporate gigs, I would never do jokes during office hours, although there were a sort of few talent shows that I would go to with corporates permission. My senior partner was constantly saying things like 'tell us a joke' or 'that's not very comedian-like of you', I never felt very funny at the law firm" What is the Australian comedy scene like? "It's like a miniature version of the UK scene, there's much more openness to alternative styles of comedy, the ABC is doing good work there. But the mainstream comedy is more mainstream than the mainstream is here (UK) mainly because of what is on the main television networks. They're more restricted (Australia) in what their idea of comedy is I would say. In the UK people would go 'what shall we do Friday night?' and the options are lets go to the movies, the pub or a comedy show. That's not what most Australians will do, it's not one of the options available to most Australians. There's more people in the UK so therefore there are more comedy shows, I think in Australia if you want to see comedy you really have to make the effort." What was it like performing in the UK for the first time? What was your emotions like regarding performing in a new country for the first time? "It was lovely, was really lovely. I was so happy and excited. In Australia you wonder whether the comedy you think is funny will work over in the UK, when it did I was so very happy. I was interested to see how the audience would react, I was worried that it wouldn't go well, but it did and I've already done stand-up in New York... I did sketch comedy at university, then in New York I started doing stand-up. So I already had experience of doing stand-up in a different country and I figured that I had the skills to try something, but if what I was doing wasn't working, then I could at very least if I bombed it the first time, figure out what I could change and come back to give it another shot in another way" All comedians have their own style of comedy, what would you define yours as? "I would say I like to deal with difficult ideas, for me maybe comedy is about passing as many interesting ideas into jokes, trying to stop it in becoming a kind of pep talk" Being a veteran of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, what is about the festival that makes it special? What can attendees expect from your set? "I think that it is an agreement between a bunch of people that this fantasy city exists so much, there is no reason for it to be there it's just that everyone agrees that it will be and there's thousands of people show up. It's like a secret society or that it's some sort of magic spell where everyone decides its going to happen, so it happens. The great thing is you can see a lot of comedy, theatre, music, all going on at the same time, it's phenomenal. That they will get to see me on stages, I don't want to make too many promises in case I disappoint people. It's a double act with a robot talking about what it feels like to be human and I think it will be a lot of fun." Have you released any of your material on DVD? Are there future plans for any? Are you nervous about doing live recordings? "I have a DVD of a show I did a few years ago and I've also got my last show which is a trilogy coming as the last three shows, coming out on ABC as a podcast. I'm hoping to film more stuff in the future. Yeah I think I prefer to have it perfect, but it's important to give the audience a good show and I don't mind having some rough edges on a DVD because it makes it look more authentic." Alongside appraisal for your shows, what effects have they had on members of the audience? "I like it when people say I've changed their lives (laughs), that's always a good one. I had somebody tell me that watching my show has made them decide to quit their job and go into a career that she's always wanted. When people come back after many years and speak about the shows they've seen" Comedians tend to have some of their favourite jokes, what are yours? "Oh man! There's a joke that I did that regards a story about the time I did a TED talk, it's about three minutes without a laugh and is probably the most dangerous joke I do... there's no swearing in it at all, but because there's so much tension before the release valve comes off... I always like it when that joke works. I've got a joke that I do about my grandmother that I think makes a very good point about how the culture of hypocrisy I think, and then the rest of the jokes are just my one-liners - which I love to do." https://en-gb.facebook.com/AliceComedyFraser www.alicecomedyfraser.com "My main focus straight after the festival will be to get my sitcom pilot into production" The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is by far one of the most popular and excitable events to happen in the the comedy, theatre and arts annual calendar. Not only does it host established acts but it offers a unique opportunity for uprising talent to showcase their material and garner a wider audience whilst developing their underlying talent. Imran Yusuf became the first comedian to achieve the Edinburgh Comedy Award Best Newcomer nomination from the Free Festival in 2010 and the champion of the egalitarian revolution of the free scene. Here he shares his thoughts:- "Everyone is offended, everyone is a victim, no one is happy. Having made a career from challenging prejudice with witty rebuttals to humanise myself to my adopted countryfolk, I became bored of the assembly line nature of profiteering from victimisation. Is the problem of society really the right-wing media? Is it really the opportunistic demagogues seeking fame and fortune from the throngs of disaffected mouth-breathing underclass ignoramuses? Or is it the wanton disregard to take ownership of my own prejudices and admit that I have been as racist, sexist and homophobic as those I accuse of discriminating against me whilst screaming 'Woe is me, the pariah! I am not to blame; that is the fault of others whom serve me to overlook my own faults'. This is a no-nonsense show deeply cognisant of the shared human experience, of taking ownership of my own hypocrisy, realising that we become who we judge and accepting the bitter-sweet truth that from our tragic history has emerged an opportunity to embrace a greater potential. The Saint is all things Godly and good, The Sinner is all things devilish and bad. Between these two impostors, delicately oscillates the wandering, wondering path of masterful surrender…" Born in Kenya of Indian descent, Imran was raised in London by a family expelled from Uganda and yet became an original voice that embodies the multi-cultural wealth of modern Britain. After making his debut to critical acclaim and an award nomination in 2010, he went on to appear on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow (BBC1), completed two nationwide tours and fronted his own TV pilot The Imran Yusuf Show (BBC3) before starring as ‘Ed’ in sitcom Fried (BBC3) that began his entry into the acting world. In 2015, Imran hosted the first ever HaLOL comedy night which celebrates the growing talent of British Muslim comedy in the UK before becoming Director of HaLOL Entertainment, a role in which he aspires to create a more accessible road for minorities in the industry and to champion a more humanizing narrative amidst the sensationalist hysteria. GMA spoke to Imran to find out more about his choice of comedy topics, his forthcoming gig slot and his relentless travelling. VENUE: Studio - The Stand’s New Town Theatre, Freemason’s Hall, 96 George St, EH2 3DH TIME: 5:30pm DATES & PRICES: Thurs 2nd- Sun 26th August @ £10-£8 DAYS OFF: Mon 6th, Mon 13th, Tues 14th August TICKETS: 0131 558 9005 / www.thestand.co.uk _____________ So Imran, how does it feel to be appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival once again? "I’m excited to do a full run again with a brand new show. As I’ve grown up, I now know how best to navigate the tempestuous emotional roller-coaster that the festival can be. I’m going up this year with a better balanced internal game so that I can endure it all and still thrive." What for you makes the festival special? Aside from your gig will you be checking out other performers? "It’s a bizarre world of dreams and art, just walking around the city for a month in this bubble of performances is a weird experience. I’m keen to see Gamarjobat, I love what they do. No doubt I’ll find some gems too from random encounters." Back in 2010 you performed on 'Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow', what was it like performing in the presence of McIntyre himself? How were you approached for it? "Michael was really kind and encouraging. I never thought that someone like me would ever be considered for a show like that, and whilst just hustling for club work I was seen hosting a small gig and off the back of it I was offered an audition." You’ve travelled the world quite a bit since birth - UK & USA most recently, would it be fair to say that comedy has reached greater international heights over the last few decades? "English speaking stand up is booming in India, Malaysia and Singapore and their scenes are becoming bonkers now. South Africa is another country where stand-up is booming. It’s fascinating watching local comics satirise their lives and politics with such passion rooted in both privilege and apartheid. I’ve heard the scene in West Africa, particularly Nigeria, is exciting now, although that’s one place I’ve yet to visit." Being a Muslim, is it a bit touchy to pick Islamophobia and racism as topics for your stand-up routine? "A real stand up talks about what they know. Although I face prejudices in my life, I am also privileged in many ways too. My new show explores both my challenges and privileges." Do you have fellow Muslims comment on your material? Any negative criticisms (from anyone)? "Most Muslims like what I do, a few don’t. Some people write comments on my YouTube channel but I rarely have time to read them as I’m busy living my life and developing the next project." Aside from the Fringe, what are your plans for the year ahead? "After the festival, I’ll prep a tour for 2019, but my main focus straight after the festival will be to get my sitcom pilot into production. I want to make my sitcom and short films over the next couple of years and so am learning how to write, direct and produce by going through the process by collaborating with film-making friends." Imran Yusuf is at the stand Newtown Theatre, 5:30pm, throughout August. http://www.imranyusuf.com / TWITTER: @imranyusuf / INSTAGRAM: @imranyusufcomedy "I will always be grateful that I got to see Joan Rivers perform live in NYC before she passed away. What a legend!" The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is by far one of the most popular and excitable events to happen in the the comedy, theatre and arts annual calendar. Not only does it host established acts but it offers a unique opportunity for uprising talent to showcase their material and garner a wider audience whilst developing their underlying talent. If it's one thing the festival is mighty good at, it's bringing and showcasing the talent overseas. Heading to Edinburgh is America's own Tori Scott and her band The Shame Spirals, they come with credentials having sold out shows across the world, from her native USA to England and Mexico. She now comes armed and ready to conquer Scotland through celebrating her poor-life choices and unquestionably unconditional love for vodka. Through the use of music and comedy, Tori will set out to self-deprecates her way through an hour of sassy political commentary and shameless personal adventures. Through the music of Queen, Lady Gaga, Edith Piaf, Pink and more, she shares her own self-coping mechanism in dealing with her home-country’s ‘life crisis’ and being a female navigating her own way in New York. All of this, with a dirty vodka martini in hand. The Time Out New York’s ‘Top 10 Cabaret Performer’ has performed several times in London to critical acclaim and has graced the stage of the prestigious New York institute Joe’s Pub at The Public, who are co-producing this show alongside Robin Rayner (producer of Fringe First Award-winning Fabric), for the past five years. On television, she's counted to 20 as a singing garbage woman on Sesame Street and dubbed the vocals of a singing hooker on HBO's Cathouse: The Musical. Her debut album Plan B! was recorded live at Joe’s Pub and released on Chicken Ranch Records last December. VENUE: The Dairy Room - Underbelly, Bristo Square, Teviot Place, EH8 9AG TIME: 10:15pm DATES: Weds 1st August – Mon 27th August (not 8th, 15th & 22nd August) PRICES: Previews £6.50 / Weekdays £9.50 (£8.50) / Weekends £10.50 (£9.50) TICKETS: 0131 510 0395 / www.underbelly.co.uk GMA caught up with Tori to discuss the difference in attitude towards heckling in the USA and England, her upcoming slot at the festival and other 2018 plans. __________________________________ So Tori, how does it feel to be appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival? "I’m so excited!! I feel really prepared regarding my show, but I’m truly going into the unknown which is a suitable Fringe theme this year. I’ve never been to the Fringe and I’ve never even been to Scotland so I’m heading there thrilled for an adventure." What for you makes the festival special? Aside from your gig will you be checking out other performers? "The fact that this is the biggest arts festival in the world makes this a special and incredible festival! I will definitely be seeing other shows. How can you be surrounded by thousands of shows and not see anything? I will probably get my show off the ground and in a groove first and then start seeing things throughout the day and on my days off. I’m actually overwhelmed with how many shows I want to try to catch." Mixing comedy, acting and music together must be tricky at times? But it seems you nailed it well with your 'Tori Scott: Thirsty!' tour, what was the reception like? "This is a formula that I’m very comfortable with having grown up performing in musicals. I’ve been working with my New York based musical supervisor and arranger, Jesse Kissel, for 10 years now and we have a really nice method to our madness mixing comedy and the music together. Because we trust each other so much, we know when things are being forced versus when it will be a nice unexpected surprise for the audience. The first Thirsty tour I did was a great success, but I still felt like it needed some tweaking. So #Thirsty that is playing at the Fringe is a fun, updated version. We’ve cut some stories that started to feel dated and gave it a bit of a face lift. I’m really happy with it and I’m so thrilled to perform for the Edinburgh audiences and see what they think!" Is it true that in America, heckling is frowned upon whilst a performance is going on? If so what was your thoughts when coming to the UK for the first time? "I think heckling is just different in the US. Why would you want to go to a show just to then scream things at the person performing? I’ve performed in a lot of bars in New York and have had plenty of drunk people scream at me while on stage. But, it’s never been vicious which I feel heckling tends to be. They just want to be a part of the show. They sing along to the songs loudly. It’s annoying as a performer, but you also like that they are having such a good time. The problem I have had lately at shows are people getting really drunk and just TALKING LOUDLY to their friends while I’m performing. I’ve actually been to other shows where people have had to call out audience members for having loud conversations during the show. I mean, it’s like they are watching TV in their living room and there isn’t an actual person on stage?? But, regarding the UK, I’ve performed quite a bit in London over the past year and have had wonderful experiences. I actually did have one issue where it ended up being a table of Scottish guys. But, they weren’t heckling, they were loudly conversing about how they were enjoying the show…which was really hilarious. I can’t wait for more of that!" Would you agree that comedy and music are ways to escape the crazy world we live in? When you're not on the road, what do you do to keep yourself busy? Any hobbies? "I think comedy, music, and theatre are not only ways to escape the crazy world, but a great way to observe and comment on the crazy world. Hobbies?? I’m just trying to hustle and pay the bills! But, when I do have time to sort of relax, I love reading and cuddling with my cat. I get really obsessed with documentaries on Netflix…especially murder mystery ones. I have a lot of great friends in New York that I try to catch up with when in town and make them cook for me. I did try to get into cooking, but that didn’t last long. I hate following recipes and I don’t find it relaxing. Maybe I should take up knitting?" When growing up were there any musicians and / or comedians you looked up to? How did you get into music, comedy and acting? "As a kid, I loved musicals. I was a big Patti LuPone fan! I loved Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz and then as I got older I loved Judy Garland in everything. I’ve always been obsessed with Bette Midler and Carol Burnett. When I was in high school and then college, I got into comedy. I became a big fan of Margaret Cho and Sarah Silverman. And I will always be grateful that I got to see Joan Rivers perform live in NYC before she passed away. What a legend!" Aside from the Fringe, what are your plans for the year ahead? "I’ve got a fall residency ahead at Joe’s Pub at The Public in NYC and will also be taking #Thirsty to a couple cities in the US like Boston. I have a Christmas tour in the UK for my show “Vodka is the Reason for the Season” and hopefully a tour for #Thirsty in 2019! And at some point in between all of that, I hope to have a personal life!!" Tori Scott Is #Thirsty is at the Underbelly, Bristo Square, 10:15pm throughout August http://itstoriscott.com / TWITTER: @ItsToriScott "It’s been a challenge to dig the funny out of all that and try and make it suit my voice" - (Scott on topics like guilt and anxiety) The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is by far one of the most popular and excitable events to happen in the the comedy, theatre and arts annual calendar. Not only does it host established acts but it offers a unique opportunity for uprising talent to showcase their material and garner a wider audience whilst developing their underlying talent. Scott Bennett has been chosen by Chortle as this year's 'one to watch' and you can see why when he goes about talking about the sacrifice, support, love and discovery he has made whilst going through the decision to adapt which ultimately affected his life and his family's lives. Through his craft he has rapidly established himself as one of the fastest rising stars on the UK’s comedy circuit today. Securing a nomination at the 'Amused Moose Comedy Awards' in 2015 was at the very start lead him to go on to a support slot with Michael McIntyre and at present supporting his comedy hero Rob Brydon on his latest national tour. Scott has also contributed to the Panelbeaters podcast, BBC Radio 4's News Quiz and is currently writing for Chris Ramsey’s new Comedy Central series, The Chris Ramsey Show. He has also written for Jason Manford.. Scott Bennett is set to deliver his 'Leap Year' set at the following time, dates and venue:- VENUE: Just the Tonic - Mash House Snifter Room, 37 Guthrie Street, EH1 1JG TIME: 5:55pm DATES: Thurs 2nd-Sun 26th August (not 13th) PRICES: £5 in advance, or Pay What You Want at the venue TICKETS: 0330 220 1212 / www.justthetonic.com/edinburgh-festival/ GMA spoke to Scott about his forthcoming appearance at the EFF, what this means for him and what amazing things happened between the time he got into comedy and at present. __________________________ So Scott, how does it feel to be appearing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival once again? "It’s great, I’m really excited! Since my last time in 2015, I’ve had kids, left my day job and committed to comedy as a full time illness." What for you makes the festival special? Aside from your gig will you be checking out other performers? "It’s a trade fair for comedy. I love being able to walk to gigs and catch up with colleagues properly rather than just a brief chat in a service station on the M6 as we dash around the country. I love the variety of shows up there and the undiscovered gems that take us all by surprise. I have my young family with me for the entire run this year so I’ll be having a very broad fringe experience, from kids shows to stand up. I’ll definitely squeeze in seeing Glenn Wool, Tom Stade and Scott Capurro though!" What is your style of comedy for those who don't know your material, and will there be a mixture of old and new at Edinburgh? "I’d say my style is classic observational comedy. Although this year there is a departure in terms of the content. It’s the most honest show I have ever done; I take on subjects such as anxiety, guilt and the reality of juggling comedy and family. It’s been a challenge to dig the funny out of all that and try and make it suit my voice, but I’m hoping I’ve pulled it off! It’s a brand-new show and I’m hoping to surprise a few people with the messages and honesty in it!" What was it like working alongside Michael McIntyre for his 'Work In Progress' shows in London? Surely when you were confirmed to be his support act you must have thought 'I've made it'? "It was like watching a masterclass in observational comedy. These were his early routines, some of which he was doing from notes and they were so beautifully sharp and performed to perfection. He’s an inspiration to me; his work ethic, the ability to wring the funny out of every situation and make it look effortless. There is a reason he is at the top of his game and has been for so long. He’s our Seinfeld. I was one of three other acts including Russell Kane, Keri Godliman and Ed Gamble. I was definitely the ringer on that line up. I got the spot from them watching a clip of me online. It was so surreal. My wife was due to give birth to our second child the same day, but she told me to go, “I can have this baby anytime but this is Michael McIntyre!” What a woman! It was a great opportunity, but I think I am a better comic now than I was then. It wasn’t an easy gig - they were there to see Michael, not me!" In 2017 and early 2018 you supported Rob Brydon on his national UK tour 'I Am Standing Up', does this surpass supporting Michael McIntyre or is it on par with? "This was different but equally wonderful. I tell the story about how this came about in my show. Rob is a comedy hero of mine, bizarrely it was the first live gig my wife and I went to as a married couple in 2009. She had bought me his autobiography and had it signed. I had just started stand up, literally the night before that show. Eight years later I took the same book along when I first met Rob, and he signed the other page. It’s something I’ll never forget! I’ve learnt so much from watching him every night. The stage craft, the ability to put on a true one-man variety show and to do it completely clean. He’s a genius." What got you into writing for the 'News Quiz' on BBC Radio 4? What challenges (if any) were you faced with? "I just asked to come and do it! It was only a writers trial and I’d love to do more. I had written on many topical podcasts and for other comedians such as Jason Manford. I was also one of the writers on the latest series of the Chris Ramsey Show. The News Quiz was the most challenging however, I had to work really hard to create jokes from some of the political stories that week. I remember it was the time where Carillion had gone bust so it all felt a bit bleak. It is testament to the skill of the writing team they have there that we managed to pull together a really funny show. I also loved writing in Miles Jupp’s voice, it’s much more high status than I am on stage and it enabled me to write jokes I wouldn’t necessarily be able to get away with myself. I loved every minute of it!" Aside from the Fringe, what are your plans for the year ahead? "I am looking forward to next year. I have written a couple of sitcoms which I am working to try and get developed, that’s really exciting. I will also be filming the next project my wife and I have written (she’s a great comedy actor) following on from our last two projects “Caravan of Love” and “Pillow Talk”. I will also be writing my 2019 show and trying to put together a little tour too! I also will have a family holiday at some point as I think we could all deserve it after a month at the fringe!" Scott Bennett: Leap Year is on at the Just the Tonic Mash House throughout August Ed Byrne has been an acclaimed stand-up (with audiences and critics alike) for 20 years now. His success with shows such as the Roaring Forties, Different Class and the 1998 Perrier-nominated A Night At The Opera led to him appearing on the box in the diverse likes of Mock The Week, Father Ted, The One Show and All Star Mr & Mrs, while his love of hillwalking resulted in him writing a regular column for The Great Outdoors magazine. In fact, his love of natural history has crossed into television with appearances on The One Show (abseiling in Snowdonia), Countryfile (climbing Sgùrr Dearg, the ‘inaccessible pinnacle’ on Skye) and presenting items on Volcano Live (BBC). He is also co-host of the highly acclaimed Dara & Ed’s Big Adventure and follow up Dara & Ed’s Road To Mandalay, both on BBC 2. As he prepares to launch himself upon the nation with another touring show, the Irish comic is firmly of a belief that the current breed of parents spoil their kids rotten whether it’s to do with the ever-increasing size of garden trampolines, or his own kids’ demand for elderflower cordial. “My dad wasn’t a bad dad, he was just a 1970s dad. I could never see my children ever again from this moment on, and I’ve already done more parenting then he did in my entire life. But, of course, I made a conscious decision that I was going to be an awesome dad. My wife will come back with tales from her friends of how awful their husbands are and she’ll see me smiling and say ‘alright, stop congratulating yourself just because such and such can’t be left alone with their children for two minutes’.” In his new touring show, the perfectly-titled Spoiler Alert, Ed compares and contrasts the old-school child-rearing days with 21st century methods and suggests that there are different ways to learn how to be a mum or dad. “I grew up in what I would call an aspirational household in that my parents bettered themselves over the course of my childhood. My mother was a radiographer and ended up a lecturer in radiography, while my dad was a sheet metal worker and went up to a supervisory role. I’d still say that you are expected to do a lot more parenting than our parents did and that’s a weird thing because you tend to think that your parents are where you learned parenting from. But you don’t, really, it’s more that you look around you to see what’s going on with other parents.” For the show Ed extends his analysis on the culture of entitlement to look at areas where we could perhaps do with being spoiled a little bit more. “Where I think we’re not acting spoiled enough is in the political arena. We have a tendency to accept what’s happening and that’s where we should be acting more entitled: we are literally entitled to the government we want. We’re spoiled in all these little ways, but not spoiled enough.” As well as stories about his two young sons, Ed weaves in routines about running out of petrol in the most awkward place imaginable, helping rescue an injured man in the Cairngorms, and the nation-dividing campaign and result of the EU referendum. His way of tackling Brexit is to draw an analogy with the time his son was determined to touch an electric fence with his dad trying to warn him of the dangers. “I was telling the story of the electric fence for a while, and then suddenly it struck me that it was Brexit in microcosm. I don’t want to alienate half of the population or maybe a third of my audience, but it works as an analogy whichever side you’re on. The government told you not to do this and that it would be a terrible idea, but you said ‘no, we want to do it anyway’. So now we’re doing it and it’s proving a terrible idea. I do think it’s a fair analogy, but no doubt for some it will come across as me being a typical liberal elite Remoaner.” Spoiler Alert also continues a theme that he’s tackled in previous shows, that of his gradual shift from being a working-class Dubliner to a fully paid-up rural-residing member of the middle classes. Where once he would do routines slating 4x4 owners, he is now the proud(ish) owner of such a vehicle. And in the poster for his tour, he brandishes other signifiers of social mobility: a bowtie and chainsaw. “It’s one of two I own: that one is the smaller of the two,” Ed remarks of his chainsaw rather than his neckwear. “I use it for firewood, both for my wood burning stove and also for the barbecue. The first time I used one I was fine, though I think it worried my parents that I had bought a chainsaw.” Having premiered Spoiler Alert at the Edinburgh Fringe and used the month of August to hone the show, it is fully ready to go. “Being on stage is enjoyable and this part of the writing process is enjoyable. The empty page though is a scary thing. On the first leg of the tour l’ll do about an hour and 15 minutes, plus I’ll have a support act. I keep a tour diary now of places where the curries are disappointing and where they are good and where audiences have been good before.” With such an extensive series of dates ahead, chances are Ed Byrne will be coming to a town near you soon. Go and spoil yourself. A list of tour dates can be found here:- http://edbyrne.com/live-dates/ https://www.facebook.com/Ed.Byrne.Comedian/ http://edbyrne.com/ |