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!

Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself

Location:   Assembly George Square – The Crate (Venue 8)

Dates: Aug 18th-26th

Time: 16:20

Price: £12.50 Concessions £11.50

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/edy-hurst-s-wonderfull-discoverie-of-witches-in-the-countie-of-himself

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

I’m Edy Hurst, I’m a comedian-musicalcomedian-theatremaker-podcaster in Manchester. I was ‘the Wolf’ in my year 4 production of The Brother’s Grimm, and was described as ‘surprisingly flexible for a man of my weight’ by a Doctor.

Tell us all about your show!

Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Himself is a comedy theatre show about the Lancashire Witch Trials, Neurodivergence and the Venga Boys. The Holy Trinity. After discovering an ancestral link to the Lancashire Witches, these shocking revelations about my relations have sent reverberations and ruminations through my life, and I take audiences on a spirit quest using a loop station, some good old lofi props, and the biggest cauldron you’ve ever seen a comedian flop out of. Also the Venga Boys keep turning up.

How did you come up with the name for the show you’re taking to the fringe?

The name for the show is based on the court document of the trials of the 20 women and men accused of witchcraft, taking place in August 18 th and 19 th 1612 called, The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster. I like how they just spelt words how they fancied back then, and that the wonderful has an extra l making it even more full of wonder.

What I did from there was ingeniously add my name at the very beginning instead of doing that thing in the Fringe Brochure where comedians will put their name then a colon and then their show title. Eagle eyed readers will also notice I added the word ‘Himself’ instead of Lancaster, because I am not Lancaster. 

My last show, Edy Hurst’s Comedy Version of Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of H.G. Wells’ Literary Version (Via Orson Welles’ Radio Version and Stephen Spielberg’s Film Version) of the War of the Worlds, was a long and comprehensive title, so I’m glad I’ve been able to really streamline this one.

If you have a look at the title of the legal document by Thomas Potts, there’s about 8 lines worth of additional title, as any fan of 17th century writing knows, book titles acted like a trailer for the whole work, so you gotta outline every single main event in it, but I think it’s shown tremendous creative maturity of me to keep this fact to myself.

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

I am very excited to see Joe Kent-Waters is Frankie Monroe: LIVE! At Monkey Barrel, he’s been having an absolute smasher of a year and can’t wait to see him in the late-night grubby venue he deserves to be in. Also Hannah Platt is bringing up her debut show Defence Mechanism this year which will be fantastic. She is brilliant every time I get the chance to see her perform and this show is gonna be something special.

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 done the Fringe as both a punter and performer for several years, bringing up full and short run shows in some of the prettiest chair storage rooms in the city.

With this wealth of experience, my key advice would be to know someone, or you yourself own some property in Edinburgh city centre. That’s one of the things I didn’t do and I’m sure a lot of new performers get caught out not considering this as an easy win. Failing that, if you can have lots of money, your own or from your family or even a wealthy benefactor, I understand that’s helpful too as then you don’t have to worry about how much everything costs. I’ve heard that being really naturally talented and good at networking is useful, but definitely focus on the first two.

Also, I guess, focussing on your own show and what you can control in the here and now of the Fringe, finding the creative joy in performing something you’ve made, with the chance to see other shows that will inspire and excite you has its own charms. But if you’re not spending the whole month making yourself sick over awards and lightning strike success, what else are you going to do? Have fun? Eugh.

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

I try not to be too rigid with my schedule, but generally this is how it works:

2:30 a.m. — Wake up

2:45 a.m. — Prayer time (any of them, try my chances)

3:15 a.m. — Breakfast, Over-easy Oats

3:40 – 5:15 a.m. — Workout

5:30 a.m. — Post-workout meal, Beads and Whey

6 a.m. — Shower

7:30 a.m. — Golf

8 a.m. — Snack, Dried Cotton

9:30 a.m. — Cryo-chamber recovery

10:30 a.m. — Snack, Egg in a blanket

11 a.m — Family time, meetings, and work call, all at the same time, no compromises

1 p.m. — Lunch, Onions Dianne

2 p.m. — Meetings and work calls

3 p.m. — Pick up kids from school, put them down again.

3:30 p.m. — Snack, Protein Pellets (over 25% ash)

4 p.m. — Second workout

4.20pm — DON’T FORGET TO PERFORM THE SHOW AT THE ASSEMBLY GEORGE SQUARE AT THE CRATE FROM THE 18 th – 26 th AUGUST

5 p.m. — Shower

5:30 p.m. — Dinner and family time

7:30 p.m. — Bedtime

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

Same as anywhere, crack open a can with the gang and chug down some sloppy hoops. Go see a show!

Make new friends! But also relax, don’t push yourself. Don’t miss out on the incredible professional opportunities and limited time you have there! But also don’t forget to have fun.

Ok, where is your favourite place to eat at the Fringe? 

As you might have guessed from my routine, it’s really hard to get good quality ash when you’re out and about, but a top tip is that if you find the older pubs with antique stoves, sometimes you hit the jackpot. But don’t tell everyone, it’s a bit of a locals only secret.

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

There’s normally a stage and working microphone, sometimes even lights, and I’ve also heard that some rooms get audiences from across the world in who are specifically there to see challenging and unique work, and I can’t wait to find them.

Top tips for travelling around the Fringe and getting to shows on time?

If you can, helicopter. Dodge the crowds the smart way. Some people will say that you need a permit, but what I say is how are they going to catch you?

For getting to shows on time you’ve got two options. Plan your route appropriately and figure out how long you’ll take to travel from one place to another (yawn), or, commit to being late, walking straight into the show loudly, proudly and pretending you’re doing a bit within the show and a it’s meta-commentary on the Fringe. It works for me! (it has never worked for me).

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

1. Photo ID

2. Left Shoe

3. Right Shoe

What’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Don’t think of it like getting rid of a stack of flyers, it’s the quality of the interactions over quantity and punters only have so much patience for rude hand-shoving on the Royal Mile before they refuse every show’s attempts to engage them. So I’d say make a real connection with someone, and in the real connection wrap a fiver around the flyer, or an IOU for a fiver because, come on, we’re performing at the Fringe here baby!

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

LISTEN you leave me and my family alone, do you understand me? I will not fall for this again.

I’m @edyhurst on Instragram, X/Twitter, Bluesky and threads, and my facebook page is /edyhurst.

I’ve also got a podcast called I Pod a Spell on you which is a companion to the show, where I interview disabled and/or neurodivergent artists and help solve their problems with 17th century magic.

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

Witches, vengaboys, neurodivergence.

Wait, can I change that?