list.co.uk/festival Alex Edelman | FESTIVAL COMEDY
Clockwise, from top left: Bec Hill, Darren Walsh, Milton Jones, Leo Kearse, Richard Pulsford, Stewart Francis ‘People who hate puns are basically stupid idiots’
ridiculous about me sitting dressed-up in an operating theatre, like a spare part, which i red the creative juices.’ He also demurs at the suggestion that a pun-based show is, by its very nature, either a good or a bad thing. ‘If you said “come and see people performing puns for two hours”, my immediate reaction would probably be negative. But if you said “come and see Milton Jones or Stewart Francis”, I would jump at the chance. So I think it’s all about expectations.’ While all the above acts are on various steps of the contemporary comedy ladder, the trajectory of Fringe superstars Milton Jones and Stewart Francis shows that you can become hugely successful acts with a national proi le on the basis of little wordplays. So, here’s a sample of the kind of thing that those two minds created for this feature. First, Milton Jones on his favourite punning shop-name: ‘someone mentioned to me the other day about a butcher’s shop called “Halal: Is it Meat You’re Looking For?”.’ And Stewart Francis lets rip on the best pun he’s ever witnessed on a sea-faring vehicle: ‘recently, whilst my wife was out on a day pass, we saw a great pun on the back of a yacht. The yacht was called “Anchor Management”. BOOM: that’s what I’m talking aboat.’ With craic like that kicking about the Fringe, you can keep your storytellers.
See full event details plus pun-laden Q&As with each comic at list.co.uk/festival
SLIGHT RETURN PHOTO © WILL BREMRIDGE
Kirstyn Smith talks to 2014’s Best Newcomer Alex Edelman about winning, infl uences
and being neurotic
Alex Edelman is just happy he’s allowed to come back. ‘The thing that was great about the award is that it gave me the chance to maybe come and do a second show. I’m thrilled that people came last year and that people might come again this year.’
Last year’s show, Millennial, earned Edelman the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. This year, however, he might feel some pressure to bring it just as hard with his new hour, Everything Handed to You. He’s smart enough to stick to a winning formula. ‘Every show is going to be about young people until I’m not a young person,’ he says. ‘But it’s also about travel and family and what it’s like to be a person who does an unusual job for a living.’ Far from resting on his laurels, it’s clear Edelman is keen to hone his craft. Opening for Eddie Izzard was ‘very special’, and he’s no slouch when it comes to learning from the best: ‘You get to see the same show again and again and you get to see the way that they change it and work it.’
Also inl uenced by Simon Amstell (who he regularly tours with) and Louis CK, Edelman is working the neurotic young person corner, with self-deprecation and worldly bewilderment very much in his arsenal. It makes perfect sense to him: ‘a neurotic person is quite conducive to stand-up comedy and stand-up comedy is a good outlet for a neurotic person. Being self- aware is a really important key to comedy.’ ■ Alex Edelman: Everything Handed to You, Pleasance Courtyard, 556 6550, 8–30 Aug, 8.30pm, £9–£12 (£8–£10.50). Previews 5–7 Aug, £6.
6–13 Aug 2015 THE LIST FESTIVAL 39