Follow my Edinburgh progress on Twitter @JCbeermat #triangleman

Nice interview about my 2011 solo Fringe show.

http://www.thenewcurrent.com/2011/07/11/12044/

And after unleashing his first character creation at last year’s Festival, the hapless Lib Dem MP Michael Mound, James has upped the ante with his latest alter-ego – Jean… Paul! A Frenchman and a musical act, he detests the lazy British stereotype that musical comedians are charlatans who hide behind their instrument and garner applause for their musical skill rather than their wit.

More information on James’ show can be found at the end of his interview.

How are things going, you all ready for the Fringe?

Posters: approved and sent to the printers. Blurbs and press releases: written and sent to various outlets. Accommodation: my bank balance is similar to that of a small third world country. Show: Writeen, and previewed in Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Preston, and my mate Andy Watson’s front room.

The Fringe is several months planning for one month of absolute chaos, but I bloody love it and can’t envisage missing a year for the foreseeable future.

Best five words that describe your show?

If anything, too short.

Tell us a bit about your show, what can we expect?

Triangles. It’s about having more than two options, and the complications of the ‘third option’. My jokes and observations are born from this mind-set. I end by portraying Jean Paul, and new character who is a musical comic with a difference – his instrument is literally a triangle.

In the middle, there’s a true story about the one time in my life when I got stoned, when I made a herb infused spaghetti bolognese. And to top it all off, a Burlesque interlude from Trixie Passion!

How do you write your show, what inspires you?

I write continuously for my regular set. This show, like last year’s, features a brand new character act. It’s a very different and very inspiring discipline to write for a character. Last year’s character was a politician who’d lost his seat, which involved a lot of research. This year, it feels more organic – the character feels much more developed and rich.

What do you think makes the Free Fringe so worthwhile?

£16 is too much for one hour of comedy. And it’s not as if that’s even a full evening’s entertainment. The Free Fringe have venues all over town, you get to see the sights and you get to see well-established acts alongside rising stars. I’m up for the full run, and I never get to see everything I want to see in the Free Fringe brochure.

What would you want your audience to take from the show?

That’s not up to me really! I hope people let me know what they took from the show by tweeting me at #JCBeermat. I’ve tried to make it as funny as possible, I’ve tried to provide variation and something to remember. I hope it stands out from the hours and hours of straight stand-up on The Fringe.

What advice would you give someone bringing a show to the fringe?

I got some great advice last year. Mostly, my crowds were fantastic and I had a brilliant time. But one afternoon, I had a rowdy group of drunks in. They were heckling, not in a hostile way, but because they wanted to be ‘involved’ in the show. My show culminated with a character peice in which I portrayed a fallen Lib Dem MP.

It was quite conceptual and cerebral, and I was concerned it wouldn’t go down well with a gang of lagered up lads. I told the crowd I’d probably not do the character today, and someone said, ‘It’s YOUR show. Do what YOU want to do.’ So I did, and the rowdy lads noticed the change of tone and behaved very well during my character section. So that’s the advice I’d pass on – it’s YOUR show, nobody else’s.

Category: Comedy
Genres: sketch show, stand-up
Group: James Christopher / PBH’s Free Fringe
Venue: Dragonfly
Event Website:  www.freefringe.org.uk
Date: 6-27 August
Time: 21:00

Now in our third year, YorkshireComedy returns to Edinburgh bigger and better than ever – in the 250+ capacity Base venue on Cowgate! I played this venue twice last year in a similar slot (afternoon delight), and both shows had well into three figures. We’re hoping for similar!

The venue is usually a nightclub, but it transforms very effectively into a comedy club. A large stage, great PA and lighting, and row upon row of seating. An upstairs dancefloor converts to upper tier seating and has good views of the stage, for use when the downstairs floor is full. Base is ideally situated for flyering, being on the busy Cowgate, which runs parallel to The Royal Mile, and links The Pleasance with Grassmarket. Plus, it’s right next to the bottom floor tunnel entrance to The Underbelly, which has the dual advantage of being very busy, and providing shelter for flyering when it’s raining!

YorkshireComedy first went up to the Fringe three years ago, in the rather smaller but very pleasant Illicit Still pub. Myself, Dan Bland, Lee Chamberlain and Richard Scully, plus the odd guest. We only called it Yorkshire Comedians because it was the only thing we had in common. So it came as a pleasant surprise when every day, when I asked whilst compering, between a quarter and a third of the crowd were from Yorkshire. I’m not sure this trick would work for every area of the UK, or if it’s a unique trait of Yorkshire pride! A happy accident. We got good numbers, and last year, we were given the slightly larger Dragonfly venue, just off Grassmarket, and Graham Lee joined us in the last week.

This year, Lee Chamberlain is in Thailand, and unable to join us. Richard Scully has moved to Romania with work, but that hasn’t stopped him making the trip back for another stint with the Yorkshire show. Graham Lee also returns.

Aware that we had a huge venue to fill, we set about adding some sparkle to the show. So this year, we are Yorkshire Comedy Cabaret. Burlesque performer Trixie Passion joins us, to perform a Yorkshire seaside themed sketch. Plus, every day we’re joined by a variety of performers, such as hilarious pirate sketch troupe Jollyboat, and the confoundingly comedic magaician David Adlnwick. Our teasingly cheeky poster is based on The Graduate, and complements the movie poster theme of my solo show, James Christopher / Triangle Man, which is based on A Nightmare On Elm Street.

We’ve also got some large sandwich board signs with our poster on, so we’ll be hitting Cowgate, Grassmarket and The Royal Mile for our first show this Saturday.

The Yorkshire Comedy Cabaret is at 15.45 everday except Wednesdays, from Saturday 6 to Saturday 27 August inclusive. Entry is free as part of the PBH Free Fringe, there’s a voluntary colleciton at the end. The show is 1 hr. Base is on Cowgate, venue number 56, Edinburgh EH1 1JW.

Follow my Edinburgh progress on Twitter: @jcbeermat