Ewan Spence's Edinburgh Fringe Radio Show And Podcast

And with that, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2024 comes to an end. Trying to capture everything that happened is a task worthy of Hercules, so I hope that I've brought you a flavour of the Fringe during August. The Fringe has always faced challenges from its first days to this year and beyond. Instead of an interview to close out August, I wanted to talk a little about our Fringe community and my hope that over the next year, we can all listen to everyone's concerns and work on solutions that benefit everyone. Let's ensure that when we all return to Edinburgh in 2025, the Edinburgh Fringe is the best it can be.

As we come to the end of week three, we sit down with Anthony Alderson, director of The Pleaseance Theatre Trust. We touch on several critical issues running one of the largest venues at the Edinburgh Fringe, including the continuing impact of COVID and the importance of government funding to the Fringe community and The Pleasance. Given the cost of the Fringe is on everyone's minds, we talk about turnover, tickets, and artistic risk. We also talk about the work of The Plesance to support and promote the arts at Edinburgh in August and throughout the rest of the year, including various Pleasance Futures projects and the ambition of creating sustainable touring for theatre in the UK.

Tim Benzie joins us on the show today to talk about his two Fringe shows, "It's A Mystery" and "Solve Along A Murder She Wrote". Yes, he loves his cosy crime shows, but doesn't everyone secretly love a mystery? We start with the rules of detective fiction before our talk turns to Agatha Christie and Dame Angela Lansbury, how you can do a solve-along-a with a murder, and the advantages of having two shows at the Fringe where one is guaranteed to get the ticket sales.

Mark Dean Quinn joins me on the show today to do his best not to talk about his show 'Oh No (That's Not Your Cheese).' He's found the right level of fame, and doesn't feel the need to go any further. Nevertheless, we've lots to talk about, including the importance of the Free Fringe and how this can offer more artistic freedom, his work on the Edinburgh Fringe Performers' Forum, and why he is ready to help people before they get to Edinburgh. But does he eat cheese?

Juliet Cowan has an impressive CV of character roles in TV and film following her stand-up appearances, yet 2024 is her first hour of comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe.  The delightfully titled show has Cown looking at the impact of the menopause and its reflection on the rush of hormones in her teenage life. We...

To open up week three, I speak to Nina Gilligan on her show Goldfish. We start with the classic observation of a Goldfish's memory before exploring what that means to Nina and how it ties in with the show. We also go into the importance of "the hour" at the Fringe, why it is well suited to Nina's show, and how she could never be as vulnerable on the regular circuit as she can be in Edinburgh.

Rachel Kaly is over from the US to bring their debut hour to the Fringe. Hospital Hour looks at Kaly's many appointments and visits to the American healthcare system for psychological treatments. We also talk about what the fringe means in general and Edinburgh specifically. How do you know when an hour is ready for the Fringe, and how does the show change throughout the month?

A fun conversation with Louise Atkinson today as we talk about her show She's Got The Look. The press release provides my first question (to the light of morning DJs the world over), but we go into more topics on the business and art of being a comic. How can you make comedy accessible to everyone? How does Edinburgh fit into the United Kingdom's festival circuit, and why is the Fringe one of the biggest routes into comedy? And if it's all about rhythm, what beat does Louise work to?

John Meagher joins me on the podcast today to discuss his life and Edinburgh Fringe debut. 8 years after starting on his performing career, he has an hour for the Fringe. Big Year is that show, and it's an opportunity for John to look back over his life, from an island off the coast of Ireland to his own home in England. We talk about his approach to writing material and why it has to be personal, the various culture shocks throughout his life, finding love and looking back on his life to find the good times.

Today, I speak to Natasha Pearl Hansen. Following her breakout hour and comedy special retelling the moment she cancelled the wedding and turned it into a recording session for a live show, Natasha returns to the Fringe with The Right Amount of Wrong. It looks at life after that not-wedding day, finding the joy and the win in the day, and the journey that followed. We talk about that, but also the challenge of transferring US comedy to the UK, how to name a show so it can be easily pitched and flyered, and (of course) the weather.

Vyte Garriga's Paper Swans is a mesmerising and thought-provoking piece of absurdist theatre that is picking up critical acclaim in the media covering the Fringe, and offering an emotionally complex hour for the audience. We talk about moving from Lithuania to the UK and London and why RADA felt like the only option for Vyte to further her career. From there, she talks about her academic studies and why she was hungry to be on stage, both individually and as part of a theatere company. Finally, we talk about the writing process and the challenges presented by the repeating motif in Paper Swans and the challenge if offers the audience.

Archie Henderson joins me today. He's the creative mind behind Jazz Emu, a flamboyant singer with illusions of grandeur, as Emu looks to climb the dizzying pole of stardom. The show at the Fringe is a brash mix of musical fun, intense moments, and the drive to succeed in front of royalty. We talk about the influences of music and style behind Jazz Emu and how the audience interaction of a comic can apply to what is essentially a piece of musical theatre. How that changes depending on the venue Henderson and the full band are playing in, and why the Government's lockdown campaign is a key part of Emu's story.

Joining me on the podcast today is Julie Flower, who has a story that looks at "love, memories and the stories our clothes have to tell." Bringing the true-life story of her Grnadma's counter-culture second-hand shop in Sheffield to the Fringe, we talk about the trailblazing nature of her relative, investigating your own family for personal and professional reasons, and subverting expectations.

Bebe Cave joins me today for the big interview. She's been a regular at the Fringe since she debuted in 2012 in a two-hander show with her sister, but this year is her first solo show. 'The Screen Test' is a period piece set in the Golden Age of Hollywood, but it talks about the industry demands of today, as well as a near century ago in Hollywood. We also talk about the delights of the heroines of the screwball comedy, finding the confidence to go out on stage, and the importance of family support when you work in the Arts.

Today's interview is with Finlay Christie, a comic who has found success on the stage and online, with sell-out shows at the fringe and a popular YouTube channel that can bring hundreds of thousands of viewers to his material. His show ‘I Deserve This' sees the 19-year-old question his success and how he balances the different needs of comedy for the online and offline worlds.

Today's interview is with Alison Larkin. She has brought "Grief… A Comedy" to the Fringe. It's a solo piece about Alison finding love late in her life before her partner died. Alison's grief took her on an unexpected journey full of hope, laughter, and a cameo from Archbishop Desmond Tutu… as all good stories must.

For our second preview of the Edinburgh Fringe, Ewan Spence talks to Darrell Martin, owner of the Just The Tonic venues. We talk about starting out at the Edinburgh Fringe with the Big Value Comedy Showcase before moving into venue management; the mix of ticketing at the Fringe (from Free to full price) and which Darrell thinks is best; the cost of attending the Fringe; and finally touch on the impact of politicial decision in Edinburgh and Scotland threaten the Festival.

For our second preview of the Edinburgh Fringe, Ewan Spence talks to Julie Lærkholm, the Community Engagement Officer at the Fringe Society to find out more about how the Fringe works with local communities, organisations, and schools, to make the Fringe more accessible to Edinburgh residents and the visiting audiences.

It's our first full preview of the Edinburgh Fringe 2024, as Ewan Spence meets Chris Grace to talk about his new solo show 'Sardines (A Comedy About Death)', how fringe theatre continues to be important to his career, and why the Edinburgh Fringe is such a magical time of year.

With August and the Edinburgh Fringe approaching, Ewan Spence opens up the season with our prologue to set the scene, and to listen to our traditional opening song from Daneil Cainer.

Reviews play a critical part in the Arts world, especially during the Edinburgh Festival. Who is reviewing you, did it read like a five-star, why is nobody turning up, and what can you do with them in September? In this podcast, I'm joined by Scott Matthewman. He has been working as a theatre critic for nearly twenty years, sometimes as a part-time freelancer and at other times as a fully employed staff writer. We talk about the importance of reviews and reviewers in the Arts, how reviewing has changed over the years, and what can be done to improve the review landscape at Edinburgh and other Fringes around the world.

Ewan Spence is joined by theatre producer Fin Ross Russell (The Collie's Shed) to look back at this year's Fringe, the preparation required, what happens next, and plans for 2024.

What does it mean to bring a legend back into the light? That's the challenge faced by Two Halves Productions in the delightful tongue-twisty Never Trouble Trouble, Until Trouble Troubles You.  Writer and performer Paul Beeson joins the podcast to talk about the life of Bobby Walker, and portraying the legend at the Edinburgh Fringe. Joining Heart of Midlothian Football Club in 1896, Walker became one of the first footballing superstars; before fading from the public eye. What responsibilities are there with a biography, how do you find the voice of someone born in the 19th century, and what is it like to perform in a museum full of the memories of the legend?

Cat Shit Crazy, with either an exclamation mark replacing the eye or a censored graphic over the title, caught a lot of attention as the Fringe started, in part due to the aforementioned ‘we can't have that sort of thing on display at the Fringe'. Sometimes the best publicity comes as a surprise. But the show is about much more than that. Hollywood-based Cindy D'Andrea's autobiographical show is much more than that. At one of the darkest moments in her life, her best friend suggested she should get a cat. Moving from I hate cats, to countless feline friends over the last fourteen years, this is a story about a woman, a cat, and unconditional love.

What happens when you decide to make your own magic from whatever you can find around you? What happens when you add a dash of robotics to the magic? And then an old tomato soup can from the bin to be your next robot assistant. That's the world of Mario The Maker Magician. It's a family show packed with slapstick humour, handmade robots, and a lot of skill. THere's a mix of science, creativity, showmanship, and laughter that is incredibly hard to balance. Mario makes it look easy.

When you do comedy, there's always a message - the old adage of only punching up is born from many a hard-earned lesson on the stage. You can do that powerfully with force and aggression, but if you prefer a milder comedian, then why not ask Tom Mayhew. Tom's show for 2023 is ‘This Time Next Year, We'll Be Millionaires!' and beyond the well-timed nod to something the audience may be more familiar with to catch their attention, Mayhew has much to say on capitalism, on hopes, and dreams, in a whimsically sweet hour that delivers some sharp satire on the United Kingdom when you least expect it.

The Fringe is not static. Neither are board games, and the classic Monopoly is a perfect example. It's not a great game, it's poorly designed, and it ruins friendships and families. Benjamin Alborough not only has the arguments on the dangers of Monopoly, but is also going to reinvent the game with the help of the audience. Absolute Monopoly is an interactive yet rather chaotic gameshow; from going through the rules through becoming the board to play the game, to deciding the winner. If there's going to be one.

Rebecca McGlynn's musical ‘Asexuality' asks what it means to be a man in the 21st century and how toxic masculinity affects those of us assigned male at birth. It's an autobiographical musical comedy about Rebecca's life before transitioning. Sitting down with Rebecca in a brief moment of sun, we talk about the power of Sondheim...

One part of the Edinburgh Fringe for every performer is being judged; by the audiences, by the industry, by the reviewers, and pretty much every part of the business. Which makes it all the more interesting that Colleen Lavin has not only built a robot to judge her, but it's doing it live, every day, in from of an audience. In ‘'Do The Robots Think I'm Funny', Colleen asks what it means to be insecure in the modern world, how comedy and improv mix, and the differences between a room in Chicago and a room in Edinburgh. Underneath it all is the nagging question of the moment… will we all be replaced by robots?

Featuring cameos from Columbo and The Eiffel Tower, here's my chat with Sid Singh. His Fringe show for 2023 is “Table for One”, where Sing talks about his dual career as a stand-up comic and human rights advocate - careers that see him taking on the US Government over human rights before dealing with deportation from India while staying in Germany.  The show, which is supporting and raising money for the Centre for Gender and Refugee Studies, asks how you can fight the good fight while you are far away from home.

Emily Walsh brings her show ‘Dad Girl' from the clubs of New York to the Grassmarket of Edinburgh. Emily does not know if she wants kids, but she would like to be a dad. It's a show about making decisions in a world where others believe the decision has already been made for you by society. The Fringe offers something that many comics, including Emily, rarely get. A chance to spend an hour with an audience. That allows more complex topics to be addressed, to go into much greater depth, but also a chance to look at a wider picture. It's an offer that Emily luxuriates in.

Sikisa's Hear Me Out is her second hour-long show at the Edinburgh Fringe. During last year's debut, after reading a passage of text an audience member wondered if she might be dyslexic. To cut a long story short (and not give away any spoilers), Sikisa was diagnosed, and this year's show is about that journey. Sikisa and I talk about her performance and how it rarely reflects how she is away from the comedy stage, the importance of music, and how her 2023 show can be summed up in a single question… “why is it so hard to say the right things?”

‘Bed The Musical' is centred around the titular piece of furniture. The show examines a twenty-year-long marriage through the presence of the bed that Alice and Ben bought instead of going on a honeymoon. If beds could tell their own stories, this bed has a tale to tell, and it's all put to song. Written by Tim Anfilogoff and Alan Whittaker Bed is a musical about a place we spend a third of our life in, and much more of our life around it, making it, and thinking up new things to do in it., Ahead of the show making its worldwide premiere at this year's Fringe, I spoke to writer Tim Anfilogoff and director Matthew Gould about the devilish divan that can be found at the Gilded Balloon.

Patrick Susmilch has spent time looking back over all the messages, memes, and moments with his friends on social media. Many are still around, yet some have died. Through those older messages, he feels connected to those who have passed on. Through the medium of PowerPoint presentations, Susmilch introduces us to his dead friends, their impact on his life, the bursts of joy and laughter as well as darker moments. Think Twilight Zone and Black Mirror mixed with Who's Line Is It Anyway.

If the world is becoming more used to shades of grey, why is infidelity still a black-and-white conflict with a clear villain? Chloe Radcliffe is one of many comics who has made the trip from the US to Edinburgh this year (something, something. exchange rate, half-price trip, something). Her show. ‘Cheat' is in the classic fringe style of examining the human condition first through the eyes of the comic and their lived experience, before moving that out to the wider world and finding something intriguing to explore over the hour.

Kuan-wen Huang's Fringe show for 2023 is ‘Ilha Formosa', (which means ‘beautiful island' in Portuguese, a nod towards the sailors who landed on the islands in the 16th century). In it, he talks about how he traded his beloved Taiwan for the rainy British Isles, what it means to be Taiwanese and what it symbolises through generations of migration and shifting identities. The show does have some autobiographical elements, how could it not given its subject, but it does offer that time-honoured use of comedy to take a sideways look at both politics and the human condition through a medium that makes it easy to talk about complicated issues.

The Edinburgh Fringe is a mix of every genre and emotion; from stand-up and dance, through music, to cabaret and theatre, and beyond, the Fringe swings from light and fluffy to hard-hitting and heavy themes and emotions. It's the latter that we're going to talk about in this episode. Emily Carding is one of the performers in Let The Bodies Pile, the other performer, Henry Naylor, is also the writer. This is an intensely political piece that looks at the reaction to Covid here in the United Kingdom, primarily in nursing homes and how society comes to terms with the decisions made by politicians.

Bedlam Theatre is home to the Edinburgh University Theatre Company… and when August comes around Bedlam Fringe comes around with an eclectic and varied programme of shows. Except it's not been at the Fringe since 2019. That changes this year, as the gothic 90-seat theatre opens its doors once more. Ewan sat down with venue manager Marie Rimolsrønning to find out what it takes to return to the Fringe, what Bedlam represents, and some of the shows we can expect.

In today's Fringe 2023 preview, Ewan is joined by long-time friend of the parish Marc Burrows. He's bringing three shows to Edinburgh this year… a classic stand-up, a second show that talks about what happened in his third show, and a third show that takes us through the life and work of Sir Terry Pratchett. When did Marc decide to bring Sir Terry to the Fringe, why the footnotes that Pratchett loved are part of the experience, and what was he thinking when he added a third show to his already busy Fringe schedule?

The Edinburgh Fringe is drawing closer, so let's continue our previews, talking to some of the artists who will be arriving in August. In our second preview ahead of Fringe 2023, Ewan chats with Anu Vaidyanathan about her show 'Blimp', and her busy creative life. She is a comedian, filmmaker, director, and triathlete; Anu brings her show to the Fringe, exploring her nomadic and creative life with the audience.

Our first full preview of the Edinburgh Fringe 2023, and Ewan meets jD Shapiro to talk about his second Edinburgh show “Stories From The Hood To Hollywood”. How does stand-up fit into his career as a writer and director, what did he learn at the Fringe last year, and why has he come back to Edinburgh?

As we prepare to explore another year of the Edinburgh Fringe, Ewan Spence opens up the season with our traditional musical prologue from Daniel Cainer.

‘Who, Me' launched in Australia in 2011, and has been a popular hour on the touring circuit since then. It's always nice to have a show that always sells at the Fringe. to go along with your regular set. This is the show that made bank for Rob… and still does. He joins myself and co-host Jon Jacob in the Rose Street Theatre; we broadcast the podcast live in 2017, so everything was one take, get it right, fun and games. So now, ‘vworp vworp' back in time to the Fringe, back to the time as a new companion was announced by the BBC, and a little bit of a doctor who trivia train with Rob Lloyd Always remember: The show is finished, don't try and get tickets- Actually, this time, the show is still out there, so maybe?

Getting his big break on Irish television in 2004, and then working up the rungs to his first Edinburgh show in 2010. The momentum kept building, including a sting of becoming fluent in Chinese to do a stand up show in the country, multiple years selling out venues at the Fringe, and bringing back something bigger each year. It's easy to be an observations comic. It's hard to be a really good observational comic. Des makes it look easy. In my minds eye, let's head to our luxury studio beside a touring theatre company… in real life lets head to a shed next to a double decker bus with a performing space on the top deck…. Back to 2016, back to the Grey Matters of Des Bishop.

Following on from the viral success of his retro throwback to the days of the ZX Spectrum and other 8-bit home computers, MJ Hibbett brought his musical mix of comedy and meme-ability to the Edinburgh Fringe… although the hit song was released in 2000, and he didn't make the Fringe till 2015, this might feel tenuous but when you have a one-hit wonder online, you live the dream. MJ, along with Steven Hewitt, expanded that little ditty into a time-travelling rock and roll opera, mixing in Back to the Future, Ukuleles, and obscure Doctor Who references. They join myself and Jen Blacker in he Leith Radio Studios to talk about the show, viral success, and of course, they brought a guitar for a bit of a turn. So not only are we back in time to 2015 but back in time to 1982 as well. It's the Free Fringe at Sneaky Petes, it's Hey Hey 16K.

Put on by Old Trunk in 2014 - Sadie Hasler (Playwright/Actor) and Sarah Mayhew (Director/Actor) brought The Bastard) Children of Remington Steele to The Fringe. The play is less about about the television series and more about life and finding a place in it Curiously, this show was a double-header at the Fringe - while this and ‘The Secret Wives Of Andy Williams' were both standalone plays, they were also designed to be seen in partnership with each other and create a larger story. The podcast brought them into the local radio station - the show that year pulled double duty with online downloads, streaming, and FM transmission - to talk about the shows, although our resident chaos bunny Dan rapidly derails the conversation towards the titular Remington Steele. We're heading back to 2014, back to the Underbelly on the Cowgate, and back to Remington Steele.