The legendary Edinburgh Festival is upon us. The biggest arts festival in the whole entire world has been running for over 70 years and attracts around two million punters during the month of August. Every type of art form is available; comedy, circus performers, jazz bands, drag acts, mime and a quite a lot of student performances of Shakespeare. Its a paradise for fans of the arts, just as long as they can afford it.
RGM asked a host of comedians making their way to the festival this summer to let us know what music they listen to pre show. This is what they said…
Nerine Skinner
My show’s all about how I started doing parodies of Liz Truss, which went viral and then my career ended 49 days later! However, I’m now still compared to Liz and I need to move on. There’s lots of characters, stand up and a live exorcism!
My go to song before a show is “Freedom”, by George Michael. It lifts my spirits and gives me perspective that this moment isn’t the be all and end all. I also love anything by Vulfpeck for before and after shows. And Joss Stone and Nina Simone for an after show relax. Their lyrics and tone of voice really calm me down!
Nerine Skinner: The Exorcism of Liz Truss
Just The Tonic, The Caves, 2:40pm, 1st – 25th Aug (not 12th)
@nerineskinner
Alfie Packham
My show is called ‘My Gift to You’, because I think you deserve a little something. It’s about gifts, my mum, a skydive (and life and death). As for pre-show music – I like fun songs. Some comedians are in the habit of talking about comedy like it’s a kind of martial art that requires being hyped up and ready to down someone’s rosé and throw a chair. But in order for me to tell whimsical anecdotes, I really just need to be in a quite-good mood. At the moment my first choice is Young Fathers. Before that it was William Onyeobor, but I went off his stuff when I started hearing it on adverts.
Underbelly Bristo Square (Dexter), 2.45pm, 31st July – 26th August (not 12th)
@alfiepackham
Alex Kealy
My show is about anxiety and it’s called ‘The Fear’. Obviously, if I wanted to be extremely on the nose I could have gone with ‘The Fear’ by Lily Allen (‘00s throwback from the days when singles could sell a million units), ‘The Fear’ by Pulp (haunting ‘90s album opener, potentially causing genuine dread in my audience if played) and ‘There Goes The Fear’ by Doves (opens with a gorgeous woozy looping riff that the song then builds around).
Instead, it’ll be a mix of ‘Cold Reactor’ by Everything Everything (best song of the last 12 months, I can’t wait to shout “I believe in life and terror, you believe in killing time” to myself at the back of the room), ‘Welcome To My Island’ by Caroline Polachek (the video of this song partially inspired my skeleton hand poster) and ‘Bad Day’ by R.E.M. (an absolute banger and I’m always a fan of a live version with good crowd noise to pavlovianly get the audience going, like a restaurant surreptitiously pumping delicious kitchen odours into the dining area).
Hive @ Monkey Barrel, 4.15pm, 29th July – 25th August (not 13th)
@alexkealy
Chelsea Birkby
On one level, my show is about desire and the body over the mind. On another level, it’s about overcoming despair, roflcopter!!! So pre-show, we’re talking ‘Doctor Jones’ by Aqua (If you sing it acapella, ‘Please, please cure me’ really cuts deep), Caroline Polachek’s ‘Welcome to my Island’ about turning in to desire (it’s vulnerable, ethereal and a bit silly) and a little bit of Megan-the-stallion’s ‘Body’ (ody-ody). Thematically, they’re on point, but most importantly, they get the party started! Post-show, well, it depends how it’s gone… Like after one preview, I listened to Papa Roach’s ‘Last Resort’ arguably too many times.
Chelsea Birkby: This Is Life, Cheeky Cheeky
Just The Tonic – Just Out of the Box, 9.20pm,1st – 25th August (not 12th)
@chelseabirkby
Stuart Laws
2023 I got a real fixation on the song ‘Barbaric’ by Blur, something about the rhythm of it made me want to put it on, then walk to my venue, noise-cancelling AirPods really narrowing my focus. It has a drive and build to it that just moved my brain into gear and I listened before every show and on tour too. This year it’s gonna be Chappell Roan because it’s now almost uncool to like her so it’s time for me to promote my fandom. I toy every year with bleak soundscapes, believing myself to be motivated by a nihilism about my narcissism, but as soon as ‘Claws In Your Back’ by Julien Baker kicks in it’s obvious that if I keep listening I’ll deliver an underpowered and depressing show.
Stuart Laws: Stuart Laws Has To Be Joking?
Monkey Barrel Hive 2, 4.45pm, 1st – 25th Aug (not 14th)
@stuartlawscomedy
Mustafa Algiyadi
The show is about how it was for me to grow up in Libya and my motivation to move to Europe, the cultural differences that I observe personally and those which I feel are imposed on me. It has themes of belonging, identity and quest for a better passport.
Before going on stage I listen to the Italian intro cover of my favourite cartoon – Dragon Ball – sung by Giorgio Vanni. It gives me that childish excitement to bring on stage. My therapist is going to be excited about this.
Mustafa Algiyadi: Almost Legal Alien
Just The Tonic – Nucleus – Just the Sub-Atomic Room, 4.30pm,1st – 25th August (not 12th)
@mustafa_algiyadi
Carl Donnelly
My playlist for my show this year is a weird mix of old tunes that i’ve heard randomly over the last couple of months and as they were playing i’ve thought “That would suit the mood of the show”. It has then gone onto a playlist called ‘Edinburgh 24’ and the night before my soundcheck I put them in some rudimentary order. Some of the tracks on the pre show playlist include ‘Your Love’ by The Outfield, ’This must be the place’ by Talking Heads, ‘Gercha’ by Chas and Dave and ‘Groovin’ by The Young Rascals. My intro track is ’Sweet Emotion’ by Aerosmith as I wanted something quite long winded and atmospheric and my walk off track is currently a toss up between ‘Let the mystery be’ by Iris Lement or ‘It ain’t over til it’s over’ by Lenny Kravitz (cheesy I know). My show is mostly about my feelings on returning to Edinburgh so different to how i used to feel there. I used to treat it as a month long party but now i’m up there with my wife and 4 year old and it’s a work trip.
Pleasance Courtyard- Beneath, 9pm,1st-25th August (not 14th)
@carldonnelly