Charlie Vero-Martin's Edinburgh Fringe binge, cringe and whinge...

Charlie Vero-Martin is at the Edinburgh Fringe performing her show Picnic at Underbelly Cowgate at 6.55pm.  Here she shares what she can't get enough of at the festival, her most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously…

Edinburgh Binge

It’s always amazing to be part of such a big swell of creativity. Every time I go I find shows from all over the world that blow my mind and I continue to think of hem years later. And while it’s exhausting, I love getting to perform every day. A whole month of performing your own show and meeting incredible people is such a dream. 

Edinburgh Cringe

When I was 18 and there with my student improv group, I did a Late Night Improv Fight (run by the people who went on to make The Play That Goes Wrong). I was really nervous and really wanted to impress them.

 I had to do a game where an audience member comes up and finishes my sentences but the drunk guy who came up couldn’t stop saying the word ‘dildo’. 

In fact, he started to get embarrassed that he couldn’t think of another word and had a bit of a dildo-fuelled meltdown. I can see why people get put off improv. 

I also lose count of the number of times I’ve handed someone a flyer and they’ve stopped in their tracks to hold it up to my tired visage and say, ‘No way is that a photo of you.’ Really great for the self-esteem before you face an audience

Edinburgh Whinge

It can be really demoralising when you’re out flyering every day and promoting your show in every way you can think of and still end up performing to an empty room. When it comes to big names and marketing budgets at the Fringe, it feels like you’re farting against thunder.

That said, when you do look out and see someone in the audience that you’ve flyered, it’s a really lovely feeling. 

Published: 20 Aug 2023