Q&A with Fringe performer Rachel E Thorn

Meet actress and writer Rachel E Thorn, who is bringing her 1990s-themed show Lovefool to the Fringe this year…

What have you learnt about yourself and your comedy during lockdown? Has it changed anything?

I started submitting sketches to Making An Impression, a podcast featuring the likes of Alistair McGowan, Rory Bremner and Christina Bianco, and ended up as script editor. I learned that writing for impressionists is a very niche skill - but so much fun when it comes off! 

Did you do any Zoom or drive-in gigs? How did you feel about them?

We did Skype versions of Sex, Lies & Improvisation for Online@TheSpace and Chicago’s Dramatic Improv Festival. We got glowing reviews from audiences and the British Theatre Guide. I think the lesson was that you can’t just chuck your stage show online - you have to work with the available medium and turn the limitations into a positive. 

What does the Edinburgh Fringe mean to you? 

Edinburgh Fringe is the finest exploration of live performance in Europe. From the sublime to the ridiculous, anything goes. I love it! 

What would your perfect Fringe day be, in a normal festival year?

A perfect Fringe day is totally unplannable! I’d bump into an old friend, catch a random physical theatre piece that touches the depths of my soul, go to Abattoir with a mime artist, and finish the day eating mac n cheese at an open mic night where the acts are so dreadful that we laugh about it for the next three years. 

What's the best experience you've ever had doing comedy?

Making people literally yelp with laughter is just magical. 

What does your show reveal about you?

Watch Lovefool and you’ll learn an awful lot about what it was like being a teenager in the 1990s! Plenty of Sugar magazine, Mad Dog 2020 and Home & Away. You’ll also see why my latest eBay purchases are mostly trolls and Ken dolls…

If you have special walk-in music for this show, what is it, and why did you choose it?

The Lovefool playlist is made up of absolute 1990s classics whose lyrics tie in very nicely with my punchlines. And the observant among you will notice all the singers are female. Girl power! 

Describe your show in the form: 'the bastard child of X and Y on (drug Z)'

The bastard child of Fleabag and Avenue Q.

• Lovefool is on at 8pm at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House until August 28.

Published: 19 Aug 2021