My Edinburgh: Brendon Burns

Friday 27 August 2010 12:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

My first time at Edinburgh was in 1996. I don’t think the festival has changed all that much. A lot of people complain that it’s become too commercial but I don’t think that’s the case, at its core it’s no different. The only change is that the audiences have grown – the average ‘crowd’ used to be about three people.

My best experience in Edinburgh was probably the couple of split seconds before they announced my name as the winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award in 2007. Having Phil Nichol, the previous year’s winner and one of my oldest friends in comedy, read out my name was really special.

This year I’m playing The Cow. No-one in that room is anonymous, you can see everyone. If there’s a laugh in the room you can see who it was. You can play to a particular laugh made by a particular person.

Every year I claim that I’m going to see lots of shows but then the days get so filled with interviews, late-night gigs, and trying to get a nap (even finding time to eat is a chore!) that I end up running out of time. I’d still like to see Confessions of a Smart Wrestling Fan.

There’s a beautiful mix of some of the best comedians in the world and some really shoddy chancers at the Fringe. The fact that anyone can go and stand in the corner of a pub and talk for an hour about how they used to herd goats is really appealing to me. That’s why the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is so unique - there’s nothing else like it on earth.

Brendon Burns: Y’know – Love ‘n’ God ‘n’ Metaphysics ‘n’ Shit, Udderbelly’s Pasture, to 30 Aug (08445 458 252)

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in