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!

Sam Williams: Touch Me Not

Location:   Below at Pleasance Courtyard (Venue 33)

Dates:  Jul 30th -10th, 12th-24th

Time: 17:50

Price: £13 Concessions £12

Ticket Link: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/sam-williams-touch-me-not

Hello! Tell us about yourself? 

Nice to meet you! My name is Sam Williams, I’m a comedian based in London. Most people who are aware of me from my online stuff either know me for being bisexual or for an infamous string of cat food adverts. My preferred method of dying would be to drown in a sea of double espresso (room temp). 

Tell us all about your show!

My show is called Touch Me Not. It is about love, queerness, coming to faith, and Christianity. Like any debut hour it is a coming of age show. This is a joyous affair – about learning to love and to love my queerness through the experience of coming to faith in my mid 20s.

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

Sharon Wanjohi, Ayoade Bamgboye, Hasan Al-Habib, Rohan Sharma, Marjolein Robertson – there are just so many more though. The amount of incredible artists in that one place for a whole month is staggering. Like Florence in the 1500s but for jokes about farts etc.

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 will be my fourth Fringe, but my first time doing a full and finished hour, so it feels more like a full participation in it. My advice to new people performing at the Fringe would be to get the train to North Berwick to see the gannets and seals around Bass Rock. And to look at Velazquez’s painting of an old woman frying eggs in the Scottish National gallery. And to remember that the month can feel like eternity but it will be over before you know it. So just live it. 

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

Midday wake up eat nutella run around the meadows

2PM Mosque Kitchen breakfast/lunch

3PM Visit Scottish National Gallery

4PM Pray a little bit somewhere quiet

5-7PM Show prep/perform

Rest of night: see shows eat more nutella probably some tinned fish or another Mosque Kitchen and walk down Cowgate feeling wet or warm depending on if it’s raining or not

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

Mosque Kitchen and £2 Pizza Slice have both had a greater effect on my mental health than cognitive behavioural therapy.

Best thing about performing at the fringe?

The fact that you are risking it all for absolutely nothing. Being part of ‘something’ even when 1 person comes to your show.

What is the hardest part about performing at the Fringe?

The money. I despair at the quality of acts who don’t get to perform there because it is prohibitively expensive. I have done some very degrading jobs to save enough to go up but have also been lucky with the work I’ve got too. Far better people cannot access this particular arena. It is still far too exclusionary.

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

Postcards from art galleries that I pin on the felt notice board in my bedroom, a book by Annie Ernaux, and my kneeling stool for prayer.

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

£2 pizza slice and tinned fish diet

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

A laundry bin, good shoes, and something to remind you that the dreamworld of the Fringe is not real life.

what’s the secret to successful flyering? 

Do it for someone else. If it is for your own show be delusional about it – I have never achieved this.

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

Insta/TikTok @samwilliamscomedy

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

To love and be loved in return.

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)