We did a show to three people – it was one of the best nights of the run
Paddy Young on the best and worst of the Edinburgh Fringe
Paddy Young is at the Edinburgh Fringe performing his show If I Told You I’d Have To Kiss You at Monkey Barrel at 7.50pm from today. 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
Having ramen and gossiping with my best friends every single day!
The festival runs on gossip and I’d say my crew are frontline workers. No one gets to the story before us and no one has a more withering takedown of events as they unfold. As we drink in our ramen and I hear about who’s having a bad run or a breakdown, my legs are swinging under the table like I’m in love.
Edinburgh cringe
I was gonna say when Dan Tiernan and I did our 2018 split-bill show to three people, but that might have been one of the best nights of the run. There were some really bad ones where people showed up and completely ruined it for us, but thankfully that was only a handful in an otherwise enjoyable and empty run.
That same year I was flyering for a more successful comedian’s show and he caught me hiding in the toilet. That will stay with me for a while I reckon.
Edinburgh whinge
I don’t think comedians should have to chat with every other comedian they bump into on the street. They should be kept apart for the entire month, like boxers before a fight.
You get to see your friends, maybe five or six maximum. But other than that it’s a strictly ‘no catching up on the streets’ policy.
Comedy is tragedy plus time: I want to hear about your breakdown, I don’t want to see it.
Published: 30 Jul 2024
