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!

Fan/Girl

Location:  Summerhall – Demonstration Room (Venue 26)

Dates: Aug 1st-11th, 13th-18th, 20th-26th

Time: 12:10

Price: £17.00 Concessions £14.50

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/fan-girl

Hello! Tell us about yourself?

Hello! My name’s Bryony Byrne and I like making people laugh. I make work around ideas of communal acts, playfulness and feminism. When I was ten my girls’ football team won the District Championship and we were in the paper! I’ve been chasing fame ever since.

Tell us all about your show!

It’s an absurd, tongue-in-cheek ride through British adolescence set against a backdrop of 90s football and pop. It’s packed to the brim with playful audience interaction, 90s bangers, clown comedy and me as Eric Cantona. It’s directed by last year’s Fringe First winner, Ben Target, and it follows my realisation in my 30s that I used to love football but hadn’t played it since primary school.

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

I find the word ‘fangirl’ really intriguing – it’s definitely been somewhat reclaimed but it still carries with it the stigma and misogyny that’s historically been directed at young female supporters of pop. Female fans are seen as ‘obsessive’ or ‘hysterical’ and their interests are dismissed. Contrast this with football fandom, which is often perceived as a more legitimate form of obsession or hysteria. Since the show is about gender expectations and exclusion from football – I wanted a title that combined all of these contradictions and gendered meanings as well as capturing some of the fun that comes with obsessive fandom. 

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

There are so many artists that I love coming up to the fringe this year! I can’t wait to see Katie Greenall, Bert & Nasi and Anna Morris, all the clowns – Steffen Hånes, Paulina Lenoir, John-Luke Roberts, some great dance acts – Simone Mousset with The Passion of Andrea 2 and Lewys Holt with their hilarious improvised dances.  It’s gonna be a great year!

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. And if you haven’t, how are you gearing up for it? 

I have done it before and I think the best piece of advice I was given was by my director, Ben Target. He said that it’s important to establish why you’re doing it and to keep that bar relatively achievable and honest. So not ‘I’m doing it to get a TV show’ (although that would be great, call me Channel 4?) but more, ‘I’m doing it to see if I enjoy doing solo shows’. Or, ‘to see if this story resonates with anyone’. Or ‘to see if this is the way I want to express it’. I think it’s really helpful because the Fringe is such an uncertain entity that if you can hang on to achievable personal and artistic goals, then you’ll come away feeling good, despite anything else that may or may not happen.

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

My show’s at 12.10pm at Summerhall and I’m staying nearby so I’ll probably wake up around 9, have a slow breakfast and get to Summerhall around 11am so I’ve got time to prep ahead of the show. Then after the show I like to spend a bit of time talking with people before I go and get lunch. After lunch, I’ll go for a swim to unwind and re-calibrate then I’ll spend the rest of the day seeing other shows or friends.

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

Watch one other show a day. See friends. Get outside, even if it’s raining (see rain suit below). Remember, it’s only theatre/comedy/circus/magic/dance/insert discipline here. Don’t forget to sleep.

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

Obviously Mosque Kitchen is a Fringe favourite. I also like Mums for some hearty comfort food and the food vans at Summerhall are usually great, but my absolute top place to eat at the Fringe is at the Scottish Storytelling Centre. It’s so wholesome!

Best thing about performing at the Fringe?

The audiences. It’s such a privilege to be able to share the show with people from all over the world, people who might just take a chance on a show about football and discover that it does actually speak to them and their childhood/adolescent experiences. I’ve had people come up to me after the show and tell me their own stories about exclusion from sport, or how at the school they currently teach they are fighting the policy (THAT STILL EXISTS) not to let girls do the triple jump until they’re 14 in case they break their hymen!  So people sharing their stories with me. And also, enjoying the show together – there’s a bit in Fan/Girl where the audience do my make-up and it’s honestly my favourite thing to do – it’s such a joy!

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

I swear by a bicycle. My friend who lives in Edinburgh has one that I usually borrow but I know people who buy cheap ones on Gumtree and sell them at the end of the month. Edinburgh’s not huge but walking around from show to show can take a while, especially if you’re going from one end to the other and a bike just makes it so much easier.  It also means you can get out of the city a bit on your day off – there’s great cycle paths out to Portobello Beach and up the canal.

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

A swimsuit – swimming is like meditation for me and it’s also something totally un-fringe related. Now that I no longer play football (come to the show to find out why), swimming is the sport for me and it helps keep my body strong, as my show can be quite physical!

My friend Tara Boland has a ceramic steamer that she uses, which I think is super helpful to keep your vocal chords in good condition. A month of shows is no joke and can really take its toll on your voice. The last thing you want to do is have to cancel a show because you can’t talk.

A raincoat. Or an all in one rain suit if you want to look really cool.

What’s the secret to successful flyering?

Having real conversations. No-one likes having a flyer shoved in their face as they walk past and not everybody is the right audience for your show. I find it’s much better to actually chat with people where you can and see if they’re interested in your work. Sometimes this means you hand out less flyers but if you hand out ten flyers to people who turn up, that’s better than handing out 100 that end up on the floor!

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

Instagram’s the best place to follow me (@brybo87) and I’ll post updates about the show as well as occasional snippets from my actual life, which at the moment includes a LOT of DIY if that’s your thing!

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

It’s really good.