Words: Caroline Whitham
Feral is your debut solo show at the fringe but you’ve shared bills here before. How does it feel to be doing your first hour on your own?
I’m swinging between absolutely fine and abject terror on an hourly basis. Na it is actually not as daunting as I expected I’m glad I got a taste for Ed Fringe before I did a full hour cos it’s the pace of the festival and the busyness of everything that I’m mentally preparing for. But I’m ready to do an hour for sure!
Can you tell us a bit about the show and what the creative process was like?
My show ‘Feral’ is autobiographical and about ‘class, chaos and coming out’. It will also include other elements of my life experience: coming out as gay, mental illness, Turkish culture through a Geordie lens and a number of chaotic life experiences. It will also go into chaos and how dysfunction can spiral quickly in deprived areas. This sounds horribly depressing, but luckily chaos and dysfunction can be hilarious. Creatively I sort of used the stuff I usually do on stage as a jumping off point for the material in the show so naturally it’s a lot of introducing the audience to who I am and my style of comedy.
You’ve talked a bit about being ‘the unpalatable’ type of working class. Does your background give you a unique perspective into comedy?
I suppose I’ve not seen anyone with my specific perspective in comedy but there’s a definite gap between a working class experience that’s quite functional and fine and then working class that’s dysfunctional, defined by poverty and often vilified. I think what I talk about in this show are experiences more akin to the latter.
What should the audience expect from the show?
I think I’ve made it sound quite heavy but I don’t think I like going 30 seconds without a joke, so I reckon expect to laugh … although I had a preview last week where a woman started knitting on the front row so who knows…
Is there anything particular you look forward to whenever you’re planning your Edinburgh stay? Any city highlights?
Edinburgh is one of my favorite cities in the UK but I don’t like a lot of people so I’ll come back to Edinburgh in the winter and do all the ghost / history tours like the absolute goth I am.
Are they any other shows you’re looking forward to seeing?
This is where I should have a comprehensive list at the ready, but there’s plenty of them so I’ll keep it easy and say Josh Jones’ second hour Show, Lindsey Santoro’s Debut and Harriet Dyer’s show
‘Mother’.
Any advice for first time visitors?
It’s hilly, Edinburgh, so start building calf stamina.
Louise Young: Feral
Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker One
2 nd -27 th (not 14 th ) August at 7.25pm
