“ I described the show when I was trying to pin down a venue to say, what themes are touched on. I listed all the themes and I was like, I wouldn't come to this. I wouldn't go and see that show if it was written down like that. You've gotta sort of sell it in a different way. But when you're trying to apply to a venue, you need to be like, okay, so it touches on all this. So you read it like, Jesus Christ sounds dreadful. Sounds so depressing. But yeah, it's not. It's actually much the opposite....
Jun 20, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 56
“ I encourage people to do standup comedy… 'cause when it goes really well, it is like the everything medicine. You know, I think if you blew off my legs with a cannon after a really good gig, I would be like, well, this is a nuisance. But this is still a good day for me.” We talk to Comedian Gabriel Featherstone about the preparations for his upcoming Fringe show “Robocop vs The Terminator vs Gabriel Featherstone” including the benefits and downsides of the Free Fringe vs Ticketed shows. We als...
Jun 01, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 55
“ I genuinely thought that Liz Truss was a comedian, and I was jealous of her career because she was doing a better job at comedy than I was.” Actress and Comedian Nerine Skinner. We talk about Nerine’s experiences creating online videos and sketches and the influence Liz Truss has had on her career both in terms of creating videos for YouTube and TikTok as well as being a big part of her 2024 Edinburgh show ‘The Exorcism of Liz Truss’. We talk about the demands of creating topical comedy, her e...
May 05, 2025•30 min•Season 1Ep. 54
“ If Scottish comedians can't afford to go to the Fringe, then that's a crazy problem that we have.” I spoke with Comedy Director and Promoter Katie Palmer of Brass Tacks Comedy, we discuss the skills she brings to a number of performers at the Fringe and her work with Red Bull on creating the Brass Tacks Debut Fund (which since recording has been awarded to Ayo Adenekan ). We talk about her aim to reduce a lot of the gatekeeping that exists around the Fringe and the difficulty even Scottish act...
Apr 13, 2025•50 min•Season 1Ep. 53
“ I think there's generally like one or two people who win the Fringe every year and everyone else just has a time ranging from OK to heart breaking, our Fringe experiences as Hot Death Theatre have sort of sat more in the heart breaking camp. Whereas our experiences with almost every other Fringe we've done have been quite uplifting” I spoke with Freya and Lawrence of Hot Death Theatre about their shows b i r d and Powersuit, we talk about the different atmospheres for various fringes and festi...
Feb 23, 2025•44 min•Season 1Ep. 52
“ It certainly feels like the entire structure of the music industry has been created and maintained to separate the artist from their money.” This episode is with Musician Josienne Clarke and Filmmaker Alec Bowman Clarke, we talk about the music industry, Josienne’s crowdfunder for her new album and the accompanying making-of documentary Alec is filming as part of the process. We also discuss Josienne’s experiences in the industry that has taken in working with record labels as well as being an...
Feb 08, 2025•28 min•Season 1Ep. 51
I spoke with Laura Horton about how a meeting with Viv Albertine of The Slits was a catalyst for the play that became Lynn Faces, a “punk meets Partridge” show that combines getting over a toxic relationship, punk music and Alan Partridge’s PA Lynn. We talk about getting caught up with the difficulties her Edinburgh Fringe venue Summerhall had and how it seemed that she may never get paid her box office takings. The show is now on a national tour (dates below) and we discussed the various challe...
Jan 26, 2025•36 min•Season 1Ep. 50
"It's sort of about famous women who have died tragically throughout history and how many of them have ended up in rivers" - Laura Thurlow In our second episode at the Fringe we hear from another three performers who are taking part in the Fringe. Links River Time! Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/river-time Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laurelbrae/ TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@laurelbrae Dinner Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/dinner Twitter: https://x.com/dinn...
Aug 11, 2024•7 min•Season 1Ep. 49
With the Edinburgh Fringe up and running (for many it's been going since January or earlier with Work In Progress shows), I heard from a number of performers about their preparations and also tips for making the most of the Fringe experience. If you're performing at the Fringe and you'd be interested in being on the podcast during August get in touch. Links Girlhood Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/girlhood Twitter: https://x.com/GirlhoodThePlay Instagram: https://www.instagram.com...
Aug 01, 2024•10 min•Season 1Ep. 48
"You can't interview a ghost on this show. But you can have a woman who has swallowed her whole forearm" I spoke to Lorna Rose Treen and Jonathan Oldfield about a range of subjects including their Radio 4 show Time of The Week which you can currently catch up with on BBC Sounds. We also chat about their experiences with character comedy, drama and improvisation as well as discussing their experiences at the Edinburgh Fringe and Lorna’s experiences of winning Dave’s ‘Best Joke of the Fringe’ last...
Jul 22, 2024•1 hr 1 min•Season 1Ep. 47
Rosie is a musician who's played Glastonbury, a Comedian who has taken multiple shows to the Edinburgh Fringe, as well as a British Podcast Award nominated podcaster for her Podcast 'The Breakup Monologues' as well as the author of 'Is Monogamy Dead?' and 'The Breakup Monologues'. We discuss her experiences in these areas, the high and low points of each (both financial and emotional) and her future plans as a Fiction writer. Check out Rosie’s book / audiobook The Breakup Monologues here: https:...
Jun 10, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 46
This episode is with Ian Adkins and Laura Rouxel of 800lb Gorilla a comedy media company who produce, distribute, and market stand-up comedy video specials and audio albums around the world. We talk in particular about the work of 800lb Gorilla in the UK, filming and promoting specials for comedians such as Stuart Goldsmith, Fern Brady, Christopher Macarthur-Boyd, Ivo Graham and many more. We talk about their relationship with artists, promoting UK acts in America and Australia, the importance o...
May 27, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 45
It’s impossible to move at the moment for think pieces about the future of AI and for better or worse you’re getting another one here. In this episode I’ll talk a bit about examples from art, music, writing and coding and how what could be an incredible advance for some will bring consequences for others. I show how with text to speech advances it's hard to tell real and AI adverts apart, how whole songs can be created from just a sentence and the argument around 'homeopathic robbery' in that if...
Apr 21, 2024•14 min•Season 1Ep. 44
“It feels like people do have to almost have a second career to support themselves. And it's not clear where the kind of goals or the safe spot is anymore where you can just fully concentrate on that thing” Rachael Healy is an award winning journalist and the current British Journalism Awards Journalist of the year for Arts and Entertainment. Rachael is a freelance journalist working predominantly with The Guardian and the i newspapers and we talk about getting articles commissioned, from show r...
Mar 24, 2024•30 min•Season 1Ep. 43
“...people who go into medicine, often it's not so much just pure science people, it's people who've got maybe a bit more of a broader interest range than your standard person who just wants to be a scientist or a mathematician or something like that. So I think often you find people going into it who've got a bit of a second interest, even at the point of sort of choosing what career they're going into.” This episode is with Comedian Matt Hutchinson we talk about his experiences of the 2023 Edi...
Mar 18, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Ahead of the Glasgow comedy festival which runs from the 13th to the 31st March I spoke to comedians Jay Lafferty and Kathleen Hughes two Scottish comedians who are performing at the festival. We talk about Kathleen’s experiences as a relatively newer comedian who after a two week run last year is currently preparing for her first full Edinburgh Fringe run in 2024. We also discuss Jay’s experiences as a full time comedian, going on a nationwide tour with her show ‘Bahookie’ and how the Scottish ...
Mar 11, 2024•1 hr•Season 1Ep. 41
“Finding out information about comedy, if you don't already know what you're looking for can be ridiculously overwhelming” This episode I spoke to Zoë Paskett founder of LMAOnaise a website, newsletter and soon to be newspaper that covers some of the less mainstream areas of comedy. The ethos of this podcast has always been that even if your art may not be driven by money, without the money it’s difficult to keep creating the art and so marketing matters and my chat with Zoë was a great example ...
Mar 03, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 40
"With the advent of social media and Myspace as was, we sort of got a bit of a following and we've been growing our audience ever since" This episode is with Sheldon Southworth AKA Dickie Ticker from the band The Lancashire Hotpots. The band's motto is “ 21st Century Folk for 21st Century folk” and have released albums including Never Mind the Hotpots and Achtung Gravy and have performed at festivals such as Glastonbury and Kendall Calling as well as touring the country and are currently on thei...
Feb 26, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 39
“It’s a romantic comedy with added sexy cowboys” Eleanor Birdsall-Smith is producer of the sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Cowboys and Lesbians’ which is about to embark on a 3 week run at the Park Theatre in London and The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol. We talk about her background in TV, her Fringe experiences including the importance of reviews and the tactics of flyering as well as the impact of a name change to the show. LINKS Park Theatre London (Feb 21st - Mar 9th) https://parktheatre.co.uk...
Feb 19, 2024•44 min•Season 1Ep. 38
"Even though they took my songs, I still felt like a failure, and I did for the largest part of the last 10, 15 years. I felt like I failed at music" Alexis talks about her experiences as a singer/songwriter, comedian and actress, about going viral on TikTok and her resurgence as a pop star 20 years on. We talk about having songs she’s written being recorded by Kylie Minogue and Rachel Stevens, the impact being dropped by her record label had on her and her determination to make the most of the ...
Feb 12, 2024•37 min•Season 1Ep. 37
Kat Molesworth who as well well as having a huge amount of experience in digital marketing is event producer at Content is Queen who are running the International Women’s Podcast Festival which is taking place in London in October. We talk about traditional offline promotion for podcasts, what makes engaging social content to drive activity to your podcast as well as discussing the festival and Kat’s aims for it in more detail. There’s a load of other practical bits of advice from Kat throughout...
Feb 06, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 36
"I think life is bigger than AI. I don't think AI is bigger than life. That may be the most naïve thing anyone has ever said on the subject. We'll see." Andy Stanton is an author best known for his ‘Mr Gum’ Children’s books and has written a book called Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT which is available in print and also as an audiobook with ChatGPT voiced by Nish Kumar. As you’ll hear from our talk this doesn’t mean he’s typed a simple prompt and ...
Jan 29, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Season 1Ep. 35
“If you're really Into making it, into doing it, the worst thing in life is getting to 85 and not having tried to do the things that you want to do or not having been your best self” Dec Munro is a comedy director and producer and co-founder of the Bill Murray comedy club. Dec has directed loads of Edinburgh Fringe shows for performers such as Stuart Goldsmith, Mawaan Rizwan, Angela Barnes, Sofie Hagen and many more. We discuss the role of a director in a show, about drawing out ideas and gettin...
Jan 15, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 34
"I was in hospital listening to this country album, going, ah, life's too short for me to be listening to country music every other week" On this episode is comedian and podcaster Liam Withnail. Off the back of a sell-out run of his show 'Chronic Boom' at the Edinburgh Fringe. I talk to Liam about his experiences at the Festival in August, what he did to promote the show, the challenges he faced putting the show together and how he’s now taking it nationwide with a tour starting March 2024. We a...
Dec 18, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 33
“It used to be you'd focus on one thing and you'd focus to do it to the best of your degree, but I think now everyone has to be really multidisciplinary” - This episode's guest Elf Lyons who has a broad range of talents that we discuss in the podcast. We talk about her Edinburgh show this year ‘Heist’ with Duffy and how audience response turned a two week run into a whole month and how it impacted her approach to being in Edinburgh compared to previous years and her experience this year directin...
Oct 25, 2023•36 min•Season 1Ep. 32
This episode is the second of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan, the previous episode discusses Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe. In this episode we discuss the Edinburgh Fringe, the role a reviewer plays in a show getting noticed and the balance for performers between getting their work seen and balancing the financial and mental pressures o...
Oct 01, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 31
This episode is the first of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan. In this episode we discuss Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe. We also discuss Fergus' own Newsletter The Crush Bar, the differences of being your own boss as a Newsletter producer compared for writing for others as well the current state and future direction of journalism. The sec...
Sep 22, 2023•29 min•Season 1Ep. 30
"Flyering is like a one-on-one direct intense experience of rejection, constant little micro bits of rejection and that can really suck" This episode is with Laura Thurlow whose show " A Preoccupation with Romantic Love" is on between 19-27th August as part of the Free Fringe. She discusses flyering, the importance of the Free Fringe, the impact of Social Media and lots more. Details: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/preoccupation-with-romantic-love Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurelbrae...
Aug 19, 2023•16 min•Season 1Ep. 29
"Always have your flyers on you...you gotta be flyering all the time here" - Latest Fringe episode is with Lisa Verlo talking about her show Hollywoodn't which details her experiences of Hollywood in the 80s. We talk about flyering, Social Media and impact of time of day of her show drives the whole flow of a day when you're at Edinburgh. Tickets: tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:4935 https://edinburghfestival.datathistle.com/event/2126585-hollywoodnt/ https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/h...
Aug 15, 2023•7 min•Season 1Ep. 28
Any Digital Marketing or promotion can be incredibly cost-effective or a time sink depending on how well you do it. In this episode I talk to Charlotte and Ellie of Award-Winning Digital Marketing Agency Wagada Digital about how individuals and businesses can make the most of digital Marketing. Areas we cover include: Paid vs. Organic Social Media Picking the right Social Media to match both your personality and where you potential fans/customers are Digital PR SEO AI and developments in Marketi...
Aug 15, 2023•26 min•Season 1Ep. 27
