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!

My Grandmother’s Eyepatch

Location:  ZOO Playground – Playground 1 (Venue 186)

Dates: Aug 2nd-11th, 13th-18th, 20th-25th

Time: 12:45

Price: £12.00 Concessions £10.00

Ticket Link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/my-grandmother-s-eyepatch

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

Hello! I am from the south in the United States. I grew up in a church-going family and got my degree in Music Theatre. Since moving to New York city a decade ago, I found clown and physical comedy and fell deeply in love with it. Since then, my work has evolved from more traditional book musicals to devising and I focus on challenging female roles, and the traditional concepts of what it means to be feminine, in a playful way.

Tell us all about your show!

My show is a memorial service for my long dead grandmother. I missed her actual service almost two decades ago as I was in London studying Shakespeare and now I am trying to make up for it.

This service is also a ruse to get the audience to prompt me to do some of my most beloved roles since high school, because I want to remind everyone what a wonderful actor I am, especially as I am nearing the end of my 30s.

The show is irreverent, playful, very dumb at times, and also honoring my grandmother, who I admired very much.

I’ve always had a bit of a preoccupation with the time limit we have on this planet. My Grandmother’s Eyepatch explores our limited time in a playful way through connection with the audience and physical comedy.

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

My grandmother had an eyepatch late in life because she was diagnosed with an aneurysm. I thought it was such a funny image: a grandmother with an eyepatch, and it is also a very vulnerable image that evokes humanity.

My hope is that the title draws the audience in, and makes them want to know more.

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

Ahh there is so much clown at the fringe! I want to see it all.

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. 

This is my first time! I’ve taken my show around the circuit in the US and Canada, but I am so excited to take it to Edinburgh.

So far, I think the best piece of advice I’ve gotten mirrors an artist’s existence very well: you have to be a little bit delusional to think all your dreams will come true at Fringe. We only live once. I think we must do those things that are calling out to us to be done.

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

I have a lunchtime show, so I definitely need to be up and moving, coffee in hand 4 hours at minimum before the show. I will get myself ready: makeup, hair, any props that need fixing, and then hit the streets and start flyering!

Then I will perform to a packed house of course, clean up, take a little break, have lunch, see other shows and network.

Rinse, wash, repeat.

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

Staying present. I think that’s the key to life really. It’s so much lead up, so much admin, so much fundraising. When I’m there, I really want to enjoy myself as much as possible. I get to perform my show every day!

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

I can’t wait to find out! Do you have recommendations? I eat everything.

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

Making all my American friends jealous. JK. Maybe.

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

A cheerleader person if possible, lotion and nice socks for my feet, my journal.

What’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Be yourself. I haven’t done it there, but I’ve flyered other big festivals and I was so nervous at first, but I actually really liked it. I really like meeting people, especially theatre people. I like talking to them.

Also keeping it fun and playful for myself, which sometimes means switching it up.

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

insta: julesvandie

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

playful grief, humanity