Liam Withnail on the ups and downs of the Fringe

Liam Withnail is at the Edinburgh Fringe  performing his show Chronic Boom at Monkey Barrel at 7.10pm. Here he shares  what he can't get enough of at the festival, his most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously… 

Edinburgh binge

I live near Kurdish Best Kebab on Regent Road. It’s open every night until 3am last year I went there 12 times over the month. I think if I work really hard I can improve on that. 

Edinburgh cringe

One year, whilst doing a kids' show, I thought it would be funny to take part in Spank!’s infamous Naked Plug. You can plug your fringe show, but you have to be naked.

 The idea of doing that to plug a kids’ show was very funny to me. I stood in the wings, in the buff, ready for my big funny moment. Then a member of the crowd volunteered to do Naked Plug. And plugged their kids’ show. 

I had to come on bollock naked and do a joke that someone else had just done.

Edinburgh whinge

A capella groups on the Royal Mile, the Silent Disco walking tour, the general public, the queue for Mary’s Milk bar, the lack of awards, anyone who gives me a bad review, the crippling doubt and omnipresent imposter syndrome forcing you to question if you were ever good, and if you ever can be, ghost tours

Published: 22 Aug 2023