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!

Kirsty Mann: Skeletons

Location:   Pleasance Courtyard – Pleasance Below (Venue 33)

Dates: Aug 2nd-14th, 16th-27th

Time: 17:50

Price: £11 Concessions £9.50

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/kirsty-mann-skeletons

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

I’m Kirsty

I have size 1 feet

I am living in my parents’ basement.

I was a finalist in the Funny Woman Shorts Awards with an impression of Mary Berry.

I make sketches with Dipak Patel – check them out on TikTok.

I wrote a short film called Lady Brently’s End (directed by the amazing Sam Baron), it won some lovely awards and has finally gone online after a year of festivals if you’d like to see it.

I am bringing my debut hour to the Edinburgh Fringe. 

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

I wanted a title that reflected the themes of my show and I liked the fact that it had loads of potential meanings. In my show I reveal a big secret. Skeletons is both evocative of secret-keeping and is also anatomical, or medical. Also a skeleton is the sum of loads of little bones, the building blocks of a person. No person can be defined by one thing, every person is made up of loads of little things, and that’s what the show is all about. 

Tell us all about your show!

My show is a storytelling piece about a doctor who is pretending she isn’t a doctor because she wants people to take her seriously as a comedian. It’s a true story about me, a stupid tale of subterfuge and complication, about why I did it and the pile on of events that have led to me coming clean. It’s a mixture of storytelling and characters which I’ve been working on with director Laura Corcoran from Frisky & Mannish. I first started writing it in 2020 then some world events got in the way. But here it is! Finally. I hope you like it. 

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

Sooz Kempner, Keiran Hodgson, Egg: Absolutely Fine, Kathy and & Stella solve a murder and St Doctor’s Hospital

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. 

I have! I first came with a student production of Honk! I got hooked and I’ve tried to come whenever I can since. My advice is throw the milk out before you go to Edinburgh. 

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

My favourite one liner is about an accidental dickpic – but I don’t want to give it away! I like it because it is so stupid but also based on a true event. 

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

Winner – Free Association. You never know how its gonna go with improv but I saw the most excellent show. It was so bonkers and unexpected, and delivered with such abandon. My face hurt by the end from laughing, I loved it.

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

Have a coffee

Spend an hour and a half on instagram and feel bad about myself.

Have another coffee

Speed run the show at home.

Coffee.

Go into town and do some flyering.

Go backstage and get ready. Try not to listen to how well the act is doing before me. Regret my life choices.

Start the show and remember that I actually love it.

Come off stage and feel great.

Find friends and have some drinks. 

Go and see a show!

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

Go and see other people’s shows. Make new friends. See their stuff. See stuff you wouldn’t normally see. 

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

The people you meet. I have made friends for life in Edinburgh. I met my director, Laura, doing a student production of Guys & Dolls at C venues. We became best of friends, went to the same drama school and have worked together on several things since. 

The most challenging thing about performing at the fringe?

Staying focused but also finding time to see shows.

Eating enough vegetables.

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

Someone to help you.

An umbrella.

A thick skin. 

What’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Enthusiasm and time to chat. I love flyering (sorry, I’m that person). I like to go to the seating areas where people are having coffee and looking through programmes. I really enjoy spending 5 minutes with some new people, having a natter about what they’ve seen, what kind of thing they’ve liked, what has brought them to the fringe. It’s a very time-consuming way of doing it, but at worst I always learn something and at best I’ll make a new friend and/or they’ll come to the show.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Elizabeth Banks. I love her.

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

@kurdymann on insta, twitter and TikTok. 

http://www.youtube.com/@KIRSTYMANN

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

Why f***** not!