Thom Tuck discusses his show Scaramouche Jones.

1 Tell us about your Fringe show

Scaramouche Jones is a one-man play written by Justin Butcher in which I play a one hundred year old clown coming offstage after his final performance and deciding to tell the story of his life - a story that takes place in Trinidad, Senegal, Ethiopia, Italy, Poland, Croatia and England. It's a lyrical and magical allegory about the twentieth century and an incredible part to get to play. I first performed it at the Fringe in 2005 and, as the character is one hundred, I thought it would be interesting to revisit it every ten years as I approach his age. So, come and see it, and then put a little mark in your diary by August 2025...

2 Best thing about the Fringe?

The greatest thing about the Fringe is the sheer volume of creative energy: there are more profound thoughts, silly jokes and stunning performances per square foot than anywhere at any time. It's thrilling.

3 Worst thing about the Fringe?

There's a fair amount of chancers and dross as well!

4 How many years have you been coming to the Fringe?

This is my sixteenth Fringe, and fifteenth in a row. I came to uni in Edinburgh (2:2 in Mental Philosophy, if you must know) because I knew that I simply had to be here every summer.

5 Favourite Fringe venue?

Because of the memories literally pasted onto the walls in the place, it has to be the Bedlam Theatre at the foot of George IV Bridge. It was my student theatre and there, every Friday night during term time and every night of the Fringe, I learnt how to stand on stage and be funny with the Improverts (Edinburgh's answer to the question "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"). They're still going and I can't wait to sit in the most comfortable seats at the Fringe to see the current crop.

6 Best Fringe memory?

Incredibly, my best Fringe memory is from just last year. I was doing a deliberately underground stand-up show (hand-made flyers, no entry in the Fringe Guide, a venue that had changed name twice in twelve months) called The Square Root of Minus One. On the final day of my run, it was abundantly clear that the venue thought that the final day was the previous day so I gathered the thirty or so audience members who had turned up to see it and led them down Cowgate to the corner of Candlemaker Row and an unused paved area with a gap in the fence. And, there, passing around hip flasks and naughty cigarettes I did my show (minus a sound queue or two) in the open air. The gods of the Fringe must have smiled upon me, cos it didn't rain.

7 Craziest on stage experience?

I think it was in 2005, in Scarborough, at a festival before Edinburgh. I had been asked to perform Scaramouche twice back-to-back, with only a ten-minute turnaround. It's over an hour long, and a monologue... but I did it and during the second show, I woke up. I hazed back into consciousness and I was talking... I was talking about gypsy caravans and I realised that I had been talking for forty minutes and had no recollection of it. 

8 What’s on your rider?

A dressing room with a chair and somewhere one is unlikely to get emphysema. I'm in the Underbelly, so fingers crossed.

9 How do you wind down after a show?

Generally, a pint of Deuchars and a long sit down. I'm doing three other shows this year, so it'll have to be a short sit. 

10 What do you love about Scotland?

Essentially, everything. I'll be moving back to Scotland as soon as it is professionally possible! Ideally, with a two month holiday in January and February. So... everything apart from the weather. I love the people, the booze, the breathtaking beauty of the countryside - especially the west coast - my favourite ever holiday was two weeks in an old crofter's cottage on Colonsay.

11 What do you like about Edinburgh?

That it has everything - everything - one could need and yet it's still just about small enough to walk everywhere. And, there aren't nearly enough cobbles anywhere else.

12 What’s the most Scottish thing you’ve done?

Every September, during the first café breakfast I have I will silently fume about the lack of black pudding. And what could be more Scottish than silently fuming?

 

Scaramouche Jones: Underbelly Cowgate, 12.20 (13.35), 6-30 Aug.