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!

The Society for New Cuisine

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

Dates: Aug 3rd-13th, 15th-27th

Time: 18:40

Price: £12 Concessions £11

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/society-for-new-cuisine

Hello! Tell us about yourself?

My name is Chris Fung, I left the Original West End cast of Disney’s Frozen to bring my piece to the Fringe this August.

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

I thought: what would a multinational omnipresent cult call itself? The name is a percolation of 19th century Exotic Meat tasting clubs run by Charles Darwin, and on the Buddhist teachings of Lama Thubten Yeshe, and on this idea that all religions are fundamentally about the taste of new understanding, new perspective.

Tell us all about your show!

Guided by a shadowy organisation, a rational man processes his existential crisis. In his search for satisfaction, he pursues some… unusual appetites.

Tang Ping, the great. resignation – more and more of the world are confronting the feeling that they are dissatisfied with cutting off parts of themselves to give to broken businesses and systems. We see this in the UK wide strikes for teachers and NHS workers and barristers and rail, low voter turnouts, and protests, and escalating rates of mental health crisis and self-harm, mass migration and malaise.

More and more of the world are hungry for different. They are hungry for more.

What would you eat to feel true, lasting satisfaction?

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

Tim Crouch in An Oak Tree, Bonnie He in A Terrible Show for Terrible People, Bonnie Bayou, Django at the Fringe.

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?

Nope. Never fringed! Try to take it easy. Don’t burn out. Bring earplugs if you’re in a hostel.

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

Liz Kingsman – One Woman Show – stunning. So human and everyday. Conversational. It takes work to be that casual and clever.

Jack Holden – Cruise – maybe not a laugh a minute, but it’s one of the most beautiful pieces of theatre I have seen in many years. The integration of music is stunning, also the flow between dialogue, narration, audience direct address and sound, so beautifully curated, the story is so human.

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

Shower. Eat Breakfast. Freak Out. Yell at strangers for 2 hours while flyering. Do the show. Drink things. Stay out too late. Eat not enough. Sleep. Wake. Repeat!

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

I don’t like planning. I like turning up to places and asking for recs, and moving dynamically. Try things like watching the winners of the Scotsman Fringe First awards, and then going around and meeting people.

Find the slow cooked foods.

I like finding strangers who are walking with purpose and asking them where they are going, and then joining them.

I like saying yes!

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

You work for like two years, on a script, and on a vibe, and on staging and sequencing, and the writing and the direction, and then all of that spins in the back of the head, and the only thing that matters are the 60 souls in front of you, right now here, and the question of whether or not you can find a connection in this space now.

And if you have prepared well, and if you have placed yourself in a space to succeed, you will be able to lead a group adventure into the rabbit warren of your story, where the mud comes alive, and the trees dance, and the air will get thicker, and the collective focus of the room shall come alive.

And all together, you shall breathe.

And then the show will be done, and you’ll all carry this small visceral, tangible wisp of an idea, which will either take root and meander somewhere deep inside you, or be forgotten to blow off into the wind, like a dandelion seed.

The most challenging thing about performing at the fringe?

Producing. Convincing other people to believe in you. Sleeping and Eating.

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

SOAP. CAFFIENE. SPIRIT.

What’s the secret to successful flyering?

Connecting with people in an authentic way and understanding your audience.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience?

Tim Crouch, Dennis Kelly, Cixin Liu, Neil Gaiman, Sarah Kane, Martin Crimp, Jamie Lloyd, Katie Mitchell, my dead cat Malary, my highschool music teacher Scott Copeman, that girl that didn’t say yes to being my date at the Year 10 formal Sylvia To, President Barack Obama, Lin Manuel Miranda, Jackie Chan, Stephen Yuen, Simu Liu, Albert Einstein, my soulmate.

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

@chrisbfung on insta, or @sfncplay on all platforms

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

#Buddhist #Eating #Challenge