The Edinburgh Fringe Show started in 2005, and as Fringe 2025 appears on the horizon, we're going to get started on our 21st season covering the largest arts festival in the world. We have a few traditions in these parts. One of those is our prologue podcast—a chance to ensure the website, podcast feed, and all the other digital components are ready to go. We'll have weekly preview interviews through July to help set the scene, before a rush of recordings in August. As always, we have the music ...
Jul 04, 2025•9 min•Season 21Ep. 1
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 be...
Aug 26, 2024•12 min•Season 20Ep. 20
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 pr...
Aug 23, 2024•33 min•Season 20Ep. 19
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.
Aug 22, 2024•24 min•Season 20Ep. 18
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?
Aug 21, 2024•24 min•Season 20Ep. 17
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...
Aug 20, 2024•25 min•Season 20Ep. 16
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.
Aug 19, 2024•21 min•Season 20Ep. 15
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?
Aug 16, 2024•20 min•Season 20Ep. 14
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?
Aug 15, 2024•22 min•Season 20Ep. 13
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 t...
Aug 14, 2024•21 min•Season 20Ep. 12
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 f...
Aug 13, 2024•22 min•Season 20Ep. 11
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, ...
Aug 12, 2024•22 min•Season 20Ep. 10
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 H...
Aug 09, 2024•22 min•Season 20Ep. 9
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.
Aug 08, 2024•21 min•Season 20Ep. 8
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 supp...
Aug 07, 2024•27 min•Season 20Ep. 7
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.
Aug 06, 2024•20 min•Season 20Ep. 6
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.
Aug 05, 2024•23 min•Season 20Ep. 5
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.
Aug 02, 2024•26 min•Season 20Ep. 4
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.
Jul 26, 2024•25 min•Season 20Ep. 3
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.
Jul 19, 2024•26 min•Season 20Ep. 2
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.
Jul 12, 2024•9 min•Season 20Ep. 1
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 ...
Sep 18, 2023•31 min•Season 20Ep. 1
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.
Sep 01, 2023•24 min•Season 19Ep. 21
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 ar...
Aug 25, 2023•24 min•Season 19Ep. 20
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 ...
Aug 24, 2023•22 min•Season 19Ep. 19
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.
Aug 23, 2023•20 min•Season 19Ep. 18
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 whim...
Aug 22, 2023•17 min•Season 19Ep. 17
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 ...
Aug 21, 2023•18 min•Season 19Ep. 16
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 and choosing to do a musical for a show about queer identity; and why life never fits in a nice three-act structure.
Aug 18, 2023•24 min•Season 19Ep. 15
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 a...
Aug 17, 2023•24 min•Season 19Ep. 14
