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!

Liam Withnail: Big Strong Boy

Location:   Monkey Barrel Comedy – Monkey Barrel 1 (Venue 515)

Dates:  Jul 29th -12th, 14th-24th

Time: 18:10

Price: £13 Concessions £12

Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/liam-withnail-big-strong-boy

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

Hello! I’m a stand up comedian, originally from essex but now living in Edinburgh. Thats right, I actually live here, all the time. I do shows about “big” topics like alcoholism, mental health and chronic illness (read: shitting yourself). My last show was one of the best reviewed shows of 2023, which is pretty good isnt it.

Tell us all about your show!

This year I’m telling a story that I’ve been sitting on for some time, 18 years in fact. Its the story of how i left home and moved to Edinburgh.. It was a pretty dramatic and eventful ideal and most of my close friends dont even know the whole thing.

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

Christopher Macarthur Boyd, Stuart Macpherson, Marc Jennings, Krystal Evans, Stephen Buchanan, Jay Lafferty, Susan Riddell – all Scottish based acts that absolutely rip

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. 

Eat exclusively chips. Stay awake until 7am. Allow your mental health to be dictated by what a student reviewer thinks. Constantly compare yourself to more successful, richer and frankly more beautiful acts than you. You got this!

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

One of my many servants wakes me up at 7am, and carrys me to the nearest plunge pool. They then take a plunge on my behalf, I like watching them scream as cold water hits them – it sets me up for the day. 

My team of writers then look over my show for 3 hours, whilst I look an instagram / watch stand up on netflix and steal jokes

Then its show time! If I cant be bothered I send in my stand in, Barry. He doesnt look like me but no complaints yet.

Post show I like to wind down by eating a kebab. Two kebabs if Barry did well.

Then I hang upside down in my chamber until sleep becomes me.

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

£2 pizza slice. The pizza is £2. Which is just about cheap enough that the poor quality cant annoy you too much.

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

Normally gigs are at 8PM. If you’re hosting you finish about 10.30. My show this year is at 6. So I’ll be done by 7. That’s the best thing about the fringe. 

What is the hardest part about performing at the Fringe?

Sometimes when I’m at my job where I say stupid words in exchange for money, people occasionally talk and don’t listen. That’s really hard. My dad was a postman for 35 years, carrying heavy bags up and down flats in east london. When I tell him someone spoke during a gig, he cant believe the challenges I have to face on a daily basis. 

What are your best hacks to save money whilst at the Fringe?

I’m renting out my dog to sad performers that have had bad reviews.

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

Egg x 3

what’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Subterfuge. You want to flyer someone without them even realising. Strike up conversation, become their friend, go for dinner together, get invited to their parents 60th wedding anniversary, watch their children. Then BAM, hey have you heard about this show? Works every time.

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

Egg x 3

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