This month I will be talking to different acts that are taking part in the Brighton Fringe Festival. Today I speak to comedian Alex Kealy about the show The Fear.

Shows: The Fear
Location: “Artista” (The Secret Comedy Club)
Date: 23rd & 26th May
Time: 21:30
Ticket Price: £10 Concessions £5
Link: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/michael-kunze-infinity-mirror/

Hello! Tell us about your act ? 

I’m a stand-up comedian who mixes personal and political material. I’ve done themed shows about irrationality (“If you’re interested in politics, this is a must-see at the fringe” ★★★★ – Broadway Baby) and Big Tech ( “Breakneck pace with surprising turns in eloquent comic’s wonderful new hour” ★★★★ – The List ), and this year I’m looking at fear, both as a concept and with regards my own personal anxieties.

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

The Fear: does what it says on the tin and nice to have a title with the same name as my 8th favourite Pulp song.

Tell us a little bit about your style of show?

Smart quick-fire joke-dense stand-up is the hope! Feels very difficult to write this sort of thing without it sounding braggy (“I’m ever so funny and there are oh-so-many jokes!”) but, you know, critics have said that about me, so some of that is rooted in something a little more objective than my own self-serving reckoning.

What can people expect from your Brighton Fringe performance?

Some top drawer analogies and more personal stand-up than I’ve done in previous shows.

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

Ben Pope is extremely funny (smart + silly + charming) and has the additional advantage of not clashing with me, so I’d recommend him at 7.15 at The Quadrant on 5th, 12th and 26th May.

How are the rehearsals going?

Flashcards on the wall with disconnected bits of stand-up that I’m trying to knit together making me look like the Charlie Day Pepe Silva meme from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.

Have you done the fringe before? What have been some of your favourite shows to date and why?

Yes, a few times – I had a lovely couple of shows in The Quadrant in 2017 which I remember giving me a boost in the process of devising that year’s hour.

What advice would you give to others who want to perform at Brighton Fringe next year?

Get your application in on time, write a fun show and enjoy performing it.

What is the best thing about performing at the Brighton fringe?

Fun audiences, fun city, great vibes.

What are your three favourite things about Brighton?

The Lanes, the sea and the 976,438 coffee shops.

Leafleting and promotion through the streets of Brighton is a huge part of the festival – what are your tips for flyering?

Smile with the unnerving winningness of a scientologist.

Tell us about your average day on a festival show run?

Performing as many guest spots as possible to give me a chance to flaunt [/tell] my wares [/jokes] in front of prospective audience members.

Performing by the sea as well, that surely makes the fringe all that much more fun?

I don’t know, never good for live comedy – a desperate simulacrum of actual joy – to have it directly compared with the awe-inspiring majesty of nature: “What’s the deal with the exciting liminal space where sea and land meet?” etc.

Who would be your ultimate dream audience member?

Pierre de Fermat so i can ask him whether he really did have a proof for his theorem that he couldn’t fit in the margin of the page he was writing on, and then I can upload a crowd work video captioned “comedian DESTROYS deceitful dead mathematician”.

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

@alexkealy on Twitter/X

@alexkealy on instagram

@alexkealycomedy on TikTok

@alexkealycomedian on Facebook (and fair play to you actually for still using that one)

And Finally finish this sentence – ‘you should see our show at Brighton Fringe because…. 

what if a stand-up comedy work-in-progress show about Fear turns out to be the greatest thing ever created and you missed it.”