Visiting American comic gives us a status report on her first Fringe

We asked some Edinburgh Fringe debutants about their expectations of the festival before it kicked off. Now we’re midway through, we wondered how reality had matched up. Here are both sets of answers from Eden Sher:

What do you hope to get out of the Fringe?

How it started: Is it so cheesy to say the *Experience Of A Lifetime*? Don't answer that, I know it is. But that is truly all I'm hoping for. I've never done real live theatre like this before, let alone something as physically taxing as Fringe. From what I've heard, it is just non-stop motion for a month, and that is very much my energy, so I'm pumped to experience that. And of course, I do hope people enjoy the show! I'm really proud of what my directors (Sara Rejaie and Charlie McDermott) and I have made, so I'm really eager for people to see it. 

How it’s going: I’m definitely getting an insane, truly one-of-a-kind experience, that’s for sure. I was right that this is also definitely the most physically and emotionally taxing thing I’ve ever (professionally) done. (I gave birth to twins at 28 weeks during a pandemic and then had to keep two new-born infants alive during a pandemic, so that trumps this, but Fringe is a close second if I’m honest!) It is an acting boot camp no doubt, but I’m genuinely loving it. I feel like I am the best version of me when it is Absolute Chaos and I have no time to think about anything other than how I am going to handle the rest of my show after someone in the audience literally collapses at the emotional peak of the story, because it is THAT hot in the theatre.  

What's your biggest fear going into the festival?

How it started: That I pee myself on stage every night and people throw their drinks at me when they realise I have no idea what I'm actually doing. But then again, if they throw their drinks at me, at least that would make my own pee less noticeable. 

How it’s going: It is actually kind of nuts thinking about a time when I really felt that nervous to perform in front of an audience?? The learning curve has been steep, but I am at a point where I don’t even think about my show until pretty much the second I’m on stage. I’m not saying I don’t have ANY nerves at all, but there’s just no time to dwell on any given performance. Every night you have 10 minutes to set up, 5 minutes to clear out every night, and once you’ve finished, you have another show in less than 24 hours, so if you don’t shut your brain off in that time, you will absolutely collapse under the pressure. I have not peed myself once, nobody has thrown a single drink at me, and I somehow sold out my entire run after a week, so overall, so far this has been extremely surreal and exceeded all expectations of how any of this was going to go and I could not be more surprised and grateful.

How are you feeling about the state of your show?

How it started: I'm feeling okay! I undulate between ‘extremely confident’ and ‘absolutely terrified that I've forgotten what comedy is and everything I've written is not even considered English sentences.’ But I feel like that's a product of living with something in a vacuum for too long. I am at the rehearsal stage equivalent of saying a word over and over so many times it starts to lose all meaning. I'm anxious and a little terrified if I'm honest, but at the end of the day, like I said, I'm genuinely really proud of what my directors and I have done, and I'm very excited for people to see it.

How it’s going: This is a strange question to answer at this point— if this were five or six shows in, I think my answer would be ‘amazing!’ But now that I’ve done the show so many times in a row, I’m discovering a challenge I didn’t expect. Even though the feedback I’ve gotten has been overwhelmingly positive, giving me pretty solid confirmation that I’m not crazy and we really did create something special that seems to resonate with people, my new challenge is KEEPING it at the state where it still feels fresh for me. It’s tough saying the same words over and over every single night and trying to find ways to make it feel like it’s the first time you’re saying them, even if it is in front of a completely different crowd each night. I didn’t realize it was even possible to circle back to the "not knowing if what I’m saying is even English" stage, but here we are! And it is THRILLING to have to problem solve in real time!!!

What do you hope the reviewers say?

How It started: Obviously I would love for them to say something in the vein of ‘objectively the best show in all regards in the history of live theatre in any genre’ but I will be pleased with anything (even if it's bad) as long as the word ‘boring’ never appears in any review. My ideal review is ‘Not boring. Very fun. Go if you want to learn how identical twins happen, and get a play by play of what it's actually like getting a C-section.’

How it’s going: The reviews have exceeded my expectations in almost every way— so many of them seemed to *get* what I was trying to do on levels I wasn’t sure I was going to get across, and that has felt extremely gratifying and a big relief. But I will say, I had to stop reading them because even though their feedback has been overall extremely positive, once I read a single review that had even one sentence of criticism, I realised every positive thing anyone had ever said immediately went out the window and all I could think about was the one sentence that described what they didn’t think was outstanding. Which I realise is a profoundly unevolved attitude to have, but again, steep learning curve! Didn’t realise I had such thin skin, and now I know I guess I’m not a review reader! 

What do you think your average audience will be?

How it started: I assume, at least in the beginning, fans of The Middle/my character Sue Heck, but the show was very much written for any audience, and you do not need to have any knowledge of The Middle or who I am at all in order to enjoy it. Of course, if you are a fan of The Middle, or are a person who has ever been pregnant or has children, you might especially enjoy it, but I genuinely believe (or hope, at least) that it does have a broader appeal and anyone who is a person with emotion and a sense of humour will like it! 

How it’s going: I was mostly right that it has been largely people who were already fans of mine, but there has been a good chunk of people who sort of maybe generally knew who I was, but were told by a friend that it was a great show even if you never watched The Middle, and a handful of people who came just because they were intrigued by my poster. One lady told me she had no idea who I was, had never even heard of The Middle, and she came because she liked the font on my poster, (which is truly incredible), and then stayed after the show to tell me how much she loved the show. This interaction has stuck with me more than any other so far. 

What steps do you aim to take to look after your mental and physical health?

How it started: My show isn't until 8.20pm, so I am setting aside at least two hours every day to not think about my show at all, and just explore Edinburgh with my kids. My goal is to see every single kids' show during ‘daytime Fringe’ and do my best to ensure my kids come home with at least some kind of Scottish accent. 

How it’s going: I didn’t realise how little effort I was going to have to put into NOT thinking about my show during the day. Maybe it’s a survival mechanism, maybe it’s because having twin toddlers really forces you to stay in the moment, but somehow I have managed to do pretty much what I set out to do. I have spent as much time with my kids as possible, going to the park and seeing lots of kids shows, and honestly more than anything else, the kids shows have done wonders for my mental health. We saw Mog The Forgetful Cat the other day and it put me in such a delightful mood for the whole rest of the day, I almost forgot the AC unit in my venue was still broken. (Which is not to say the experience hasn’t also been hectic and stressful and chaos, but it’s been easier than I expected to compartmentalise, and keep the stress from my show separate from my personal life with my family here).

• Eden Sher: I Was On A Sitcom is on at 8.20pm at Gilded Balloon Teviot

Published: 15 Aug 2023