Edinburgh Festival blog – the shows I want to see

June 17th, 2012

I’m assuming you already have tickets for my show at the Edinburgh Festival. No? Well sort that out quick smart and buy them here! https://www.underbelly.co.uk/node/470974

Now that awkwardness is over lets get on to the other stuff. It’s traditional for me to sit with the Edinburgh Fringe brochure and book tickets for the shows I fancy seeing at the Festival. This list is entirely my own opinion, I haven’t been prodded or poked (I wish) to recommend any of these shows. They just happen to be comics I’ve seen or heard about that pique my interest. So you can take my recommendations or not. That’s what free will is. And you should totally take advantage of the fact we still have it.

Before the specifics let me start with some general tips.

The brochure has hundreds of comedians in it. Take a chance. If you’ve seen someone on the TV by all means go and see them but for every person you know about go and see someone you haven’t. By taking a chance you support a comic who may well be the star of the future. And you can say you saw them in a damp basement that smelled of sewage. That’s the joy of the festival.
In the same vein as above – don’t be lazy. It’s easy to hang around the Pleasance Courtyard but there’s magic stuff happening all over the city in August. Go and find a venue that’s not on the main drag.
Book in advance if you can. Seeing some pre-sales can calm the nerves of a comedian before August begins.
Be sober, or at least be respectful. If you go and see a 1am show that’s advertised as “the perfect show to vomit at” then fine. But if you’re going to a show that’s at 5pm don’t show up pissed. It’s costing me about 15 grand this year to do this vanity project and if you’re drunk and ruin the show I will take you down. Well I won’t. But I will stare a lot.
Try some free festival/fringe shows. There’s some good stuff on. But if you go and you enjoy please put some money in the bucket at the end. Then maybe the comic can eat that week.

Anyway – these are the shows I’m looking forward to seeing this festival in no particular order. Oh and these are all comedy shows. I haven’t made it through theatre yet! I’ve put the fringe brochure page numbers on to help you.

Anything at the BBC venue. The tickets are free and you can see some fabulous stuff. Most of the shows are listed on pages 39 to 41 of the Fringe brochure
Sara Pascoe page 154
Danielle Ward page 62
Diane Spencer page 68
Do the Right Thing page 71
Eleanor Tiernan page 74
Felicity Ward page 76
Sally-Anne Hayward page 152
Shappi Khorsandi page 156
Hanks and Conran page 90
Hannah Gadsby page 90
Helen Arney page 91
Jo Caulfield page 104
Juliet Myers page 107
Josie Long page 107
Leads and Stern page 113
Loretta Maine page 117
Lucy Porter page 118
Mary Bourke page 123
Nina Conti page 133
Jen Brister page 101
Roisin Conaty page 150
Sandi Toksvig page 153
Suzi Ruffell page 167
Barbara Nice page 38
Celia Pacquola page 54
Tiff Stevenson page 170

There you go. There are loads more but I’m going to try and see these people.

What? What do you mean they’re almost all women? But women aren’t funny!

Someone should really write an article about that. We don’t hear that topic discussed enough these days

Ha!