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!
Mark Vigeant: OUT THERE
Location: Downstairs at Assembly Roxy (Venue 139)
Dates: Aug 5th-18th, 20th-30th
Time: 17:20
Price: £14 Concessions £13
Ticket Link:https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/mark-vigeant-out-there
Hello! Tell us all about your show!
OUT THERE is a one man character comedy about a guy who goes deep into the wilderness to make a YouTube video about survival, where the audience plays the wilderness. I play a burnt-out engineer named Larry who’s so fixated on making a viral video that he makes increasingly poor choices – from pursuing a moose around the theatre to getting into a fight with a bear to lighting the woods on fire. All the while I have a camera strapped to my chest that’s projecting everything I see. It’s a dark, hilarious, chaotic exploration of ambition, delusion, and the desperate things we do to prove our lives matter.
What other acts are you looking forward to seeing at the fringe?
Call me biased but I think Assembly has the most exciting programming in the festival. Daniel Nodler in Only Bones 20:20 at Assembly Roxy is a fantastic physical clown and I’m so excited to see how this show has evolved. Underground Monk Show 22:15 at Assembly George Square has been in development the last 2 years at Banshee Labyrinth and I’m sooo excited to see it on a big stage. In Pour Taste is always a riot, although we’re conflicting this year tragically. I love the Canadian storyteller Johnnie McNamara Walker, and I’m so excited to see his show The Heterosexuals at 20:00 at Gilded Balloon Patter House. I’m a huge fan of Chris Grace, so I’m excited to see what he’s working on. Last year my show conflicted with “Be Good!” with Paulette at Underbelly, so I’m definitely going to head to that right away! Also shoutout to my friend Gregory Nussen performing their brilliant piece QFWFQ at Summerhall at 11:40
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 have! This will be my fourth consecutive year at Fringe. My biggest piece of advice is to remember why you’re here. It can get so easy to get sucked into the whirlwind of Fringe – the reviews, the crowds, the flyering, the showcases – and before you know it, all you’re doing is comparing yourself to what everyone else has going on, rather than thinking about what you set out to do. Compare and despair is very real here. And it comes for us all. And when it does? Get some chocolate. This is especially true for my fellow Americans who are used to eating terrible chocolate – the chocolate here is outstanding. By the final week of August I expect to be eating a bag of crunchie rocks or a mars bar every single day.
Talk us through your daily routine for a day at the Fringe
I will not be setting an alarm. But since my show is at a “normal,” evening time this year, I’ll probably be up around 9am. I’ll work out, go to a coffee shop (I’m very particular about coffee so I’ll spend the first week before things start seeking out my spot) and do my morning pages while drinking a cold brew. I’ll likely have a second cold brew to go back to my flat where I’ll attend to probably an hour or two of various admin work on my laptop. Then I’ll head into old town and start flyering. Especially early on in the month, I’ll be putting in several hours a day flyering, and I’ll also try to film a lot of it so I can post videos. I’m trying to be better about social media content this year!
Depending on the level of flyering I’m doing, I’ll either see a show, or just work up until it’s show time. Around 4:20 I’ll stop to get in the zone. Do my show. Clean up, go back to my flat to shower and eat dinner. I’m lucky, my partner is an incredible cook and likes to make healthy delicious meals while we’re at Fringe, which makes a huge difference. Then we’ll go back out and see at least one show, but hopefully 2 or 3, and then head to the Assembly Bar until I’m tired. At night, my partner and I will cozy up on the couch watching Bakeoff until it’s time for bed. Always a very nice peaceful way to end the day.
Ok, where is your favourite place to eat at the Fringe?
Nile Valley Cafe on Potterrow hands down. It’s just insane. The Thuri Best sandwich is so good, and so inexpensive. I could eat these once a day.
Best thing about performing at the fringe?
There’s nowhere else in the world you can get up onstage and do an hour of the kind of experimental, weird, ridiculous theatre I do and expect any amount of audience to show up, let alone do so with enthusiasm. I grow exponentially as a performer every year I come. The show I start the run doing is not the show I return home with. I’m a better performer, a better artist, and a more fulfilled human being because of it.
Do you bring anything special from home to make it feel more special whilst you are away?
Well okay so this is kind of cheating because I bring the love of my life Ana with me. She is my secret weapon and makes me feel safe and sane and happy while all the chaos is going on. If she wasn’t there, I’d probably bring pictures or something and cry myself to sleep holding them, but her presence is enough to make me feel at home wherever I am.
What are your best hacks to save money whilst at the Fringe?
Cook your own food. Pack sandwiches for lunch, and eat breakfast and dinner at your flat. That not only saves money, but it’s wayyyy healthier. I have a bunch of random food allergies and when I am guaranteed of avoiding them I sleep better and my energy is higher. And I gotta be high energy for all the flyering and performing I’m doing!!!
If people want to find out more about you where can they follow you on social media?
Instagram @mark_vigeant, TikTok @markvigeant.
And Finally in three words – Why should people come and see the show?
Innovative Technology, Clowning
Moose, Bear, Fish
It f******* rocks
I get naked
Hilarious and emotional
Welcome to The Phoenix Remix 
Leave a comment