What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

During my show I invite 2 lucky audience members on stage. I suspect each audience volunteer gets the cardio equivalent of 5 minutes running up a mountain. The laughter from the rest of the audience picks their heart rates up too – especially the family members videoing their sacrificial dad on stage! Hint: sit at the front and don’t tell the men in your group that there’s audience participation!

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

The audience ‘cool dad make-over’ volunteers will be gazing in delight at their bright red ‘Lit AF’ T shirts with me on the front! The young people will be hoping their parents concentrated hard so they too can be cool mums and dads. The grandparents will be dabbing and flossing their way into impressing their grandkids. My show will change lives!

What coffee would you/your show be, and why?

I would be a double shot oat flat white with a sprinkling of cinnamon- I’m a somewhat woke, environmentally friendly Caucasian who doubts that Earth is round – I’m a little bit spicy for my age and I pack a punch for a few hours (but then I get tired – hence a 1pm show before my morning caffeine hit wears off.)

About the show

Dr Jo Prendergast: The Cool Mum

Date(s): Jul 31 Aug 1-11, 13-25

Time(s): 13:00 (1 hour)

Location: Gilded Balloon Patter House – Coorie

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

My music is probably the obvious answer. I write songs with energy and passion that make you think and hopefully laugh. And you never know where it’s going to turn. I love keeping my audiences guessing.

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

They will wake up singing my songs. I guarantee it.

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

I like to move songs and bits in and out of the show. Florida Man changes every show because I ask for audiences birthdays and sometimes I have to make one up in the spot. But mostly I thrive off the audience. I’ll ALWAYS give 100% but if the audience is there and wants to play, I’ll play.

About the show

Sarah Hester Ross is What?

Date(s): Aug 2-4, 7, 9-11, 14, 16-18

Time(s): 14:30 (1 hour)

Location: Just the Tonic Nucleus – Just the Tonic’s Atomic Room

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

I keep it fresh by hypnotizing my audience into believing I am the greatest thing on earth every night, and it’s going swimmingly. I achieve this by staying present. When I watch a present performer, I feel like I am under a spell. It’s captivating; nothing else matters except what’s happening in that room. I’m addicted to this feeling and always work to bring myself to this place so my audience can experience it too.

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

My hope is that they will wake up feeling like they watched my open heart surgery. I’ve never had one before. But by that I mean, I want them to feel like they saw into the deepest darkest depths of my soul for approximately. Their thoughts might be like: “does she even realize what she’s done???? I mean, I saw everything!! Guts and all. That’s, wow, that’s a lot. Is that allowed?!?! Is she okay?.”

What brings a nice show like yours to a place like the Edinburgh Fringe?

Folks might think the Olympics happen every four years, and I understand that. But the true champions, the true extraordinaires are at the Fringe every year. We are the athletes of the soul, tirelessly sharing our stories on our endless journey of self-expression. It’s been my dream to bring my show here, the coveted epicenter of theater. So to anyone who booked tickets to the Paris Olympics instead: There’s still time.

About the show

NO NO NO PLEASE NO GOD NO GO, NEVERMIND I’M FINE

Date(s): Aug 2-10, 12-24

Time(s): 16:05 (50 minutes)

Location: theSpaceTriplex – Studio

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

I built my show around this question! I love performing my show because it’s modular. Since it is the First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows, I can move those beginnings around each night. There are some shows inside of it that are different each night no matter what. It was important for me to leave room for things to feel new for me in my show because that’s when I’m having the most fun on stage (and also doing the best).

If you/your show were a school subject what would you/it be and why?

If my show were a school subject it would be the Career Fair. Cuz you can walk around and see all the different stuff you could do, and think, oh yeah, that one’s great! That one’s for me! Or no thanks, thank God I have considered this for a moment now so I never have to consider it again.

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

My show is the beginnings of 17 excellent shows that exist in their entirety in my mind, so there is a lot of shifting gears throughout that is fun and surprising and weird. And sometimes there’s a buzzer! And one time a clock ticks while we play a game I invented in High School called Yeast Infection. Those things should do it, don’t you think?? I don’t know! I’m not a cardiologist!! Oh my God, should I have been a cardiologist??

About the show

The First 3 Minutes of 17 Shows

Date(s): Jul 31 Aug 1-11, 13-26

Time(s): 19:15 (1 hour)

Location: Pleasance Courtyard – Attic

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

I think they’ll have a better understanding about some of the men from the working class. And people that are from that background, I hope will feel that they’ve been understood and feel empowered to speak.

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

stories that shouldn’t make you laugh but do. Violence made to sound casual or exiting. I think that can change your heartbeat. My show does a fair bit of that. I guess watching someone realise something for the first time.

What brings a nice show like yours to a place like the Edinburgh Fringe?

the building site isn’t necessarily the subject matter most people think of when writing for theatre. Equally the men in the building trade can be the least accepting of change. I think Edinburgh fringe has the most diverse audience and most likely the find a home for my play.

About the show

RUM

Date(s): Aug 17-25

Time(s): 17:50 (1 hour)

Location: Underbelly, Cowgate – Belly Laugh

If you/your show were a school subject what would you/it be and why?

Physical Social Health Education (or PSHE when team TaleGate was at school!) Our musical is a beautiful story of making friends and that it is ok to say goodbye sometimes.

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

? The songs are ear worms! Families will ‘honking’ around Edinburgh for weeks!

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

The audiences make the show fresh every time. As the old saying goes ‘kids say the funniest things’. Goose is an interactive musical that asked children to dance, splash in muddy puddles and shout ‘honk’ as loud as they can!

About the show

Goose

Date(s): Aug 2-10

Time(s): 09:55 (45 minutes)

Location: theSpace @ Niddry St – Studio

If you/your show were a school subject what would you/it be and why?

Health class — it’s a lesson of all the do’s and don’t’s of growing up. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

I bare it all.

What coffee would you/your show be, and why?

A triple shot Americano — the show will make you sweat a little, laugh uncontrollably, and enter a daze.

About the show

Shower Chair

Date(s): Aug 2-10, 12-17, 19-24

Time(s): 20:50 (1 hour)

Location: Greenside @ George Street – Lime Studio

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

The sheer amount of characters and set-pieces that occur throughout the show lends itself to spontaneity and different takes on characters to keep us on our toes, as well as new audiences locking in to different elements of the humour each time, giving us a fresh focus to play with and build on in every show.

If you/your show were a school subject what would you/it be and why?

History. Firstly, because our heroes find themselves gallivanting through time, doing their best to avoid stepping on any butterflies or altering assassinations of any Archdukes… Secondly, because the only way to prevent the uprising of an evil Empire is to look to the past and learn from it. That, or rewatch Star Wars.

What do you/your show do to make an audience’s heart beat faster?

They will witness an epic kerfuffle through time, with the fate of all of history in Richard’s hands (which may also be trapped in the prop handcuffs they’ve lost the keys for…). Our audiences will be on the edge of their seats watching the twist and turns play out in this playful and powerful plot!

About the show

Defective Inspector: A Stitch in Time

Date(s): Aug 13, 15, 17, 20, 22, 24

Time(s): Times vary. Click ‘Dates, times and prices’ to view the calendar (50 minutes)

Location: theSpaceTriplex – Studio

What brings a nice show like yours to a place like the Edinburgh Fringe?

Half of our team already have a few Edinburgh Fringes under our belt, and the other half are being dragged smiling and laughing up there with us. We’ve had incredible experiences ther , both as performers and punters, and have always known deep down that this festival would be the spiritual home for our Defective Inspector shows. It only took the umpteenth person asking ‘Are you taking this to Edinburgh?!’ to finally bite the tartan bullet!

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

Our audience members always have their personal favourite gags, so hopefully they’ll awake with a few favourite quotes/moments rattling around in their brain (while trying to nurse the mild hangover from trying to process what they’ve witnessed). Ideally, they’ll also be in the mood to nab a ticket to our companion show, Defective Inspector: A Stitch in Time, to see where we pick up from a considerable cliff-hanger…

What coffee would you/your show be, and why?

A piping hot Americano served at a seedy diner, topped with a dash of cheap Scotch, consumed in the small hours. The perfect elixir for a brooding clueless detective.

About the show

Defective Inspector: An American Odyssey

Date(s): Aug 12, 14, 16, 19, 21, 23

Time(s): Times vary. Click ‘Dates, times and prices’ to view the calendar (50 minutes)

Location: theSpaceTriplex – Studio

How will the audience remember you the morning after?

People who come to see Mary: A Gig Theatre Show will STILL be tapping their feet the morning after! From the transcendent harmonies to the infectious drum beats, every song in the Marys sing is a HIT.

What misconceptions do you think people have about you/your show – would you like to clear them up?

We are not Six The Musical! While we love musicals (especially musicals about historical women), our show is made up of actor-musicians who play in a live folk-rock band. We use spoken word and original music to tell the story in a way more laid-back environment than in a commercial musical – dare we say… we’re way more rock and roll?

How do you keep your performances fresh every night?

Just like at a music gig, every crowd brings a different energy to the show, and during our loudest and angriest song we invite the crowd to sing with us! Will they belt with the Marys, or leave them standing awkwardly in silence? Oh, and our Mary Stuart is promising to wear differently coloured tartan tights for every performance…

About the show

Mary: A Gig Theatre Show

Date(s): Aug 12-17

Time(s): 22:25 (50 minutes)

Location: theSpace @ Symposium Hall – Annexe