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!

Lulu Popplewell: Love Love 

Location:   Buttercup – Underbelly, George Square (Venue 300)

Dates:  Jul 30th -10th, 12th-24th

Time: 18:45

Price: £12 Concessions £11

Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/lulu-popplewell-love-love

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

Hello also! I’m Lulu, I started doing comedy in 2016 and I think the main thing people think of when they hear my name is my dog Dotty. This is fair – she’s very fit. I have a number of physical and mental health problems which I insist I mustn’t be defined by, but then I do talk about them a very great deal on stage, so it’s unclear what you’re meant to do with that. Take a guess – best of luck. 

I’m so much more than a sick woman with a dog though. At my core I’m a grubby little boy trapped in a 34 year old’s body.

Tell us all about your show!

This show is about the overlap between being in love and being insane. There’s a lot of mental illness stuff that is specific to me (though I insist you do not define me by this), but interweaved between routines that hopefully everyone can relate to about raccoons, Noel Fielding and bad dates. 

I know the phrase ‘mental illness’ can be a bit of a turnoff in the context of comedy. ‘Hasn’t that been done to death?’ And I agree, perhaps there’s been a surplus of shows talking about this, but let me assure you this isn’t the typical ‘slightly mad lady’ show – it covers more obscure things I’ve seen very little of in my own comedy watching experience. Most audience members will be hearing about something completely new AND they’ll be laughing about it. 

The dog is also involved in the show.  As is a piano keyboard. But I really have to stress that this isn’t a musical comedy show. It’s my emotional support piano. You will enjoy it a lot more if you think of the piano as something from which to expect no musical skill.

Anyway the show is very funny and I’m extremely proud of it – come!

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

This is a horrible question because there are so many, gah! Off the top of my head: Sam Nicoresti, Lorna Rose Treen, Andy Barr, Katie Norris, Ben Pope and Chloe Petts. Oh and Joz Norris who is brilliant and also directing my show! 

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 did my debut in 2023 at Pleasance and had such a nice time, for which I feel very lucky. I think there’s sometimes this feeling between newcomers that there’s some unspoken rivalry and that it’s all going to be so competitive. That definitely wasn’t my experience – it felt like we were all in the same boat, cheering each other on. 

Don’t put pressure on yourself to ‘break through’ or ‘stand out’ – you won’t have any fun. I had a sell out run and (mostly) great audiences – but I didn’t ‘break through’ or change my comedy career in any drastic way. But it did make me a better comedian and I did have a nice time doing it. I have always loved the fringe; I first came up as a punter when I was 14, and it’s the thing that inspired me to become a comedian. So I was lucky because my attitude was always that being allowed to join in and take a seat at the table was enough. Try to think of it as just one show of potentially many and take the pressure off!

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

Get up at 2pm and blame it on chronic fatigue so I don’t have to admit to being lazy.

Tinker with some routines / listen to recording of night before (first week)

Walk the dog / go for a swim / see if the dog can swim

Do show (musn’t forget this bit)

Find trusted circle of lovely people who won’t make me feel yuck about myself and sit about in venue bar spaces braiding each other’s hair and whispering encouraging aphorisms into each other’s mouths. (I don’t drink and do suffer from the aforementioned chronic fatigue syndrome, so I have to do this instead of going wild every night. And honestly it’s great.)

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

From my lap

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

A lot of my favourite people are in the same small section of a city for a month. It’s so easy to find them. They can’t pretend they didn’t just see me waving. It’s much harder for them to escape. They cannot not avoid my damp hugs.
 

What is the hardest part about performing at the Fringe?

Not being able to see all of the shows I want to, particularly if we time clash. I always want to see as much stuff as possible. 

Do you bring anything special from home to make it feel more special whilst you are away?

Clothes. Although it might feel more special if I left them behind. 

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

I do feel like I have a cheat code by being sober. If this doesn’t apply to you though, I recommend stealing from people you hate. 

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

Clothes, shoes, necklace containing any patron saint of your choosing. 

This year I’m taking a Uniqlo tshirt, sandals and St Barnabas (patron saint of Cyprus and Antioch, also invoked for hailstorms and peacekeeping missions)

what’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Get someone else to do it. Yes I know this is a very privileged answer, but last fringe was the first time going with a production company (Impatient, who I’m also with this year) and they sorted flyerers and Christ, what a relief LET ME TELL YOU. 

But failing that, scream / get your norks out/ a combo of these, and hopefully you’ll get more attention than the others. Sorry if you don’t have norks. 

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

They can and should follow me on instagram @lulubirdpopplewell (real name)

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

Dog! Piano! Jokes!

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