Rhys Nicholson on the best and worst of the Edinburgh Fringe

Rhys Nicholson is at the Edinburgh Fringe performing their show Huge Big Party Congratulations! at Underbelly Bristo Square at 8.25pm.  Here they share what they can't get enough of at the festival, their most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously…

Edinburgh binge

It’s all well and good to say the best part of August in Edinburgh is the varietal smorgasbord of talent you can see on the countless stages crammed into every rat hole in the city, but for me the real shows are out on the streets. 

It’s a special time of year when every creative in town is wound up into a clusterfuck of anxiety and in turn leans wholeheartedly into their most base instincts to cope.

 You can see an Oscar-winning actor being absolutely dead-eyed drunk, pushing a savoury crepe into their head at 2am. It might be as simple as a very powerful television producer with red wine mouth being just a little too chatty with a member of the bar staff. It’s all a pleasant reminder that these people are not just like us, they may actually be more unstable. 

Enjoy.

Edinburgh cringe

Between the crippling stress and the constant parade of fried food going into our digestive systems, August is a real rollercoaster for a performer's body.

The bravest thing I have ever seen in my life is a dear friend of mine asking her own audience, mere minutes before her show as they were waiting to be seated, if anyone had any Imodium. I won’t go into details, but just know that 95 over cent of people you’re watching on stage are seconds away from literally shitting their pants for their art.

Edinburgh whinge

For the love of Christ, if you’re going to put a flyer in the bin, at least have the common decency to make sure you are out of sight of the performer whose face is on it. 

Published: 8 Aug 2024