It is festival season and that means that in the next month there is so many great comedy festivals to look forward to! This month we are looking at some of the great shows that you can see at the Edinburgh Fringe. So take note because we are going to give you all the information you need for just a handful of some of the great shows happening this year!

Drag Queens vs Vampires

Location:   Underbelly, Cowgate – Belly Button (Venue 61)

Dates: Aug 3rd-13th, 15th-20th, 22nd-27th

Time: 22:10

Price: £12 Concessions £11

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/drag-queens-vs-vampires

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

Hiya! I’m Crudi Dench, like Judi Dench but with a beard and I haven’t been in a film about cats. Not yet anyway. I’m a drag queen who started out in York but now live in sunny Brighton where all the other gays are. I’m also dead good at reading out bingo, I won Dabbers Next Top Bingo caller in 2022, beating out Viggo Venn, and where is he now eh? …Oh fair enough. 

How did you come up with the name of your show that your taking to the fringe?

We wanted something catchy that made you understand what it was straight away, plus ‘Van Helsing’s Big Booty Bitches’ was already taken. 

Tell us all about your show!

It’s a bloody camp comedy horror! Award-winning drag stars Kate Butch and Crudi Dench (that’s me!) head to Transylvania to represent the UK at Eurovision, but our sexy AirBNB host Dracula has other plans and tries to tear us about (oh no!). It’s got original songs by our lovely songwriter Nick Upton, stupid jokes and our signature audience interaction which make every show unique and different! 

What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?

Ooo I do love me improv I do, so those lovely space bois of Any Suggestions Doctor, and The Silliad! Our old Uni pals Lewis Dunn (as Stanley Brooks), Ali Woods and Mary O’Connell are all doing a turn too and it’s lovely seeing them do so well! 

Have you done the fringe before? What are the key pieces of advice you have been given or would give to new groups or people performing at the fringe. 

Ooo yeah! Our show last year Drag Queens vs Zombies was an absolute hit! So much so we’re bringing it back again for two nights at the end of August! Double Whammy! We’ve also brought up our cabaret clubbing mash-up Lip Sync Lollapalooza back in 2018 and have been involved in shows one way or another since 2013 (absolute gluttons for punishment we are I tell ye!)

Favourite one liner you have done in a show and why?

‘I’ve never needed shakras, moonwater or crystals to see who I am inside, I’ve just used a floor length mirror and a speculum.’ One of 3 absolutely disgusting lines in Vampires, for the other 2 you’ll have to come along and find out! (Sick bags not provided)

What have been some of the most unique and different comedy shows you have seen this year and why?

Lorna Rose Treen is an absolute bloody marvel I tell ye, her character comedy is so delicious and fresh! Ooo and Luke Rollason, I’ve never seen a more handsome lamp.

Talk us through your daily routine for a day at the Fringe

Well I tumble out of bed and stumble to the kitchen, pour myself a cup of ambition, oh wait no that’s Dolly. Normally get up at about 10:00am, wipe the remnants of cheesy chips off me gob and slap some make-up on. We’ll go flyer on the mile for a bit, have some scran and then either do another show we’re involved in or go see a show before dazzling audiences at 22:10 in Underbelly Cowgate. Then we’ll head and get a bev at a very exclusive fringe bar and try and convince some famous comedians to come back to our flat to play some boggle or Twister if we can be bothered getting the mat out. We’ll get our next batch of cheesy chips and inevitably fall asleep before the cheddars had a chance to melt. 

What is the best way to enjoy yourself at the fringe?

Don’t do a show. Hahaha! Oh but if you must do a show then don’t take it so seriously and don’t set high expectations for yourself, particularly if it’s your first few fringes, go out and see stuff and get inspired! Get a fringe husband/wife! Projectile vomit in the Jazz Club! Go wild! Be free! 

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

 Ooo them tattie dogs at Pie Maker, oh my god I just don’t know how they do it? How d’ya get potato to stick to a hot dog sausage like that? It’s witchcraft but I’ll put my Christian beliefs aside for a bit of the Devil’s log (Cockney rhyming slang for Tattie Dog)

The most challenging thing about performing at the fringe?

Finding accommodation that isn’t owned by Scrooge McDuck himself. 

What would be your top three items every performer must take to the fringe?

1. A coat or an umbrella, it will rain, you will need it. 

2. A small gift or trinket to give to Phoebe Waller Bridge so she will bless you with good Fringe fortune.

3. A big stick to beat away all the boys because they all fancy you because they’ve seen you in your show and you were fabulous.

What’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Being unique! Have a USP, everybody’s a stand-up or a reimagining of Alice in Wonderland, what makes you different? Be visually interesting on the mile, bring a big prop or wear something distinctive to get people’s attention. DON’T lie down on the floor in a tableau, honest to God if I see one more University theatre group do this on the mile this year I’m stepping on them I don’t care. 

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Cilla Black, reckon she would have loved our show. 

If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?

It’s all @hausofdench on the socials! 

And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show? 

Silly Drag Nonsense!