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!

Nick Hornedo: Watch This When You Get Home  

Location:   Clover – Underbelly, Bristo Square (Venue 302)

Dates:  Jul 30th -10th, 12th-24th

Time: 14:25

Price: £13 Concessions £12

Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/nick-hornedo-watch-this-when-you-get-home

Hello! Tell us about yourself?

I’m an American stand-up comedian based in New York City. My comedy has been featured on PBS, which is like the BBC but poorly funded and less impressive. Before pursuing comedy, I was part of the Biden-Harris administration. I don’t want to overestimate my contributions. That said, not long after I left, the United States became a fascist country. So who knows!

Tell us all about your show!

When I was a senior in high school, I was so obsessed with treating my life like some sort of coming-of-age film that I made my girlfriend a breakup video. I thought it’d be cute, but it came off more psychotic. The show centers on that moment, using jokes and stories about love to answer the question: Can you make art out of life without losing something in the process?

It’s funny and heartfelt and extraordinarily cringe. The show climaxes with a screening of the breakup video. It’s humiliating but also very, very fun. If you like stand up comedy that is sincere, meta, and occasionally embarrassing, this show is for you!

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

Rima Parikh, a friend from the New York comedy scene, has a very funny show called Death Threat about the American healthcare system. The U.S. has an incomprehensible health care system run by human parasites, and I’m so excited to see how folks in the UK respond.

Britt Miggs, another New York friend, has a hysterical solo show, Dolphin Mode, about getting divorced and coming out of the closet at the same time as me. So I won’t be able to attend. But she’s amazing and I recommend everybody see her 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 visited last summer for a few days in anticipation of applying this year. That was an amazing piece of advice from Gabe Mollica, who had a great run here.

Now that I’m spending the month performing, I have to remind myself that any personal success from the fringe is out of my control. The only thing that is 100 percent in my control is my commitment to delivering a good show. As long as I do that, I don’t care if the audience doesn’t laugh or if the reviews are bad. (That’s not true, of course. I care SO MUCH. But this is what I tell myself.)

If this is your first time – what are you looking forward to?

Chatting with people after the show. I’ve been performing this show for a year in the states and the most rewarding part is often the conversations with patrons. Plenty of people have told me they relate to the themes and the version of myself that I present onstage. I think good comedy, and good art finds the universal in the specific. And so I’m so excited to see how this plays with the Fringe’s audience.

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

Morning: Breakfast. Flyering. Psyching myself out with music.

5 minutes before the show: I anticipate getting super in my head and muttering things like “This is stupid. This is so stupid. Nobody wants to see this.”

5 seconds before I walk onstage: I’ll say something like “Actually I’m amazing and brilliant and a gift to the world.”

After the show: Late lunch with my producer as we talk through how to improve for the next day. Seeing other shows. Networking. Hanging out late into the night.

Somewhere in the day: Journaling so I remember everything about this month.

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

I stopped by The Mosque Kitchen last time I was here and I think I blacked out from sheer elation. Honestly nothing is more nourishing in this world than chicken, rice, and a spicy sauce.

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

At the moment, I feel incredibly privileged to be taking part in Fringe. For as much emphasis is put on the stress and high hopes to get famous (both of which I’m fully indulging) I think there’s something genuinely beautiful about thousands of artists meeting in one place and offering something original. I’ve never been to Burning Man, but I believe they do something similar where they sacrifice objects to a great, big fire. Only here, instead of being surrounded by tech bros and perverts, you’re surrounded by comedians, theater-makers, clowns, and perverts.

What is the hardest part about performing at the Fringe?

Managing self-doubt. Fringe is such an investment, financially and emotionally. I like my comedy. And I’m proud of my show. But I’ll occasionally convince myself that I’m just not worth the investment. Like who am I to be putting my face on a poster in a foreign country? What kind of narcissist does that?!

That kind of self-doubt is unavoidable if you want to have a career in art. You have to put yourself out there, out in the spaces where you’re not comfortable. If you can get the funds, then you gotta bet on yourself

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

I have these pair of Doc Martin loafers that I wear exclusively during shows. Putting them on before I leave the apartment is always a great feeling. I think of them almost like a piece of armour. Definitely excited to be taking them across the Atlantic Ocean and wearing them every day for Fringe.

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

Honestly I have no idea. Do you know? Will you please tell me??

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

Water bottle. Cliche, I know. And that’s going to be hard for me because I am one of those people who only drinks water at 4am because that’s when it tastes the best.

A good book. One you can throw into your bag when a show starts! If the front cover isn’t falling off by the end, you’re doing it wrong. 

A special playlist. Years later, these songs will take you back to the Fringe.

what’s the secret to successful flyering?

Desperation. And not your typical “I’m an artist and I need this” desperation. I mean something much darker. Your pitch should be short and incomprehensible. And your eyes should indicate a personal relationship to the abyss so troubling that patrons will find it their moral duty to take a flyer.

Either that or persistence. We’ll see which strategy works for me.

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

My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nick.hornedo/

And my Twitter (I refuse to call it X): https://x.com/nickhornedo

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

Nostalgia and Laughs

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