Elf Lyons talks about her new show, Pelican.
1 Tell us about your Fringe show
It’s a stand-up comedy show about mother daughter relationships and the question ‘Can I have it all?’ and ‘Will I turn into my mum in the process?’.
My mum complains that I talk about my dad on stage and never about her. So to prove her wrong I have decided to do a show entirely about her and how I could kill her. She said this was fine - as long as I don’t make her out to be a complete bitch and tell the audience she is thin. So there you go. Most comedians do shows about their parents AFTER they have died, but my mother is immortal. And I really want her to see the show, as I want to know what she thinks.
It’s basically a comedy mashup of Terms of Endearment and Mommie Dearest - but I’m dressed as a Horse at the same time.
2 Best thing about the Fringe?
The big ferris wheel. I love that big ferris wheel. When it all gets to much I go and sit on it and think about a time when I didn’t have 5,000 flyers of my face sitting in my bedroom.
Second to the big ferris wheel - I love discovering an incredible show that you would never have heard about or seen otherwise had you not been at the festival and then telling everyone you know about it. Also meeting new artists from around the world and making intense wonderful friendships as you all collectively try to survive the stress and intensity of the festival.
3 Worst thing about the Fringe?
I would say acapella shows but I don’t want to sound unsupportive of other art forms...
So I will go with Hecklers.
*But honestly, it’s the acapella shows. And gothic re-imaginings of Alice in Wonderland. Or Shakespeare set in the 1920s...
WHY THE 1920s?! WHY!? IT HAS BEEN DONE. SET IT IN SPACE. IMAGINE OTHELLO IN SPACE?
4 How many years have you been coming to the Fringe?
This will be my eighth Edinburgh. It has become a pilgrimage to me now. Next year I will be doing a production of Othello set in Space.
5 Favorite Fringe venue?
Voodoo Rooms obvs, followed by Bedlam Theatre and Summerhall. I’ve seen some of the best comedy of my life in the rooms at the Voodoo Rooms and I am always blown away by the shows at the Bedlam and Summerhall. Also Bedlam has very good brownies and Summerhall does great coffee.
6 Best Fringe memory?
In 2009 I remember getting my A-Level results during the festival and learning that despite getting an Unclassified in one of my English A-level papers (DAMN YOU JANE AUSTEN) I had still managed to get into university to study Drama. I was volunteering at the Forest Fringe at the time and everybody went out to celebrate. I then got drunk and kissed a Mime Artist.
A lot of my best fringe memories revolve around kissing mime artists.
7 Best heckle?
There is no such thing as a good heckle. Just an annoying / threatening/ sexist one.
8 Craziest on stage experience?
Every year since I’ve been at the Fringe I’ve taken part in the Naked Cabaret - which is one of the most unique pop up Fringe events. All the performers and audience take their clothes off to ‘The Final Countdown’ and everyone performs in the nude. Last year I MC'd it in the Underbelly circus tent on the Meadows - about 100 people rocked up and joined us getting their kit off. I got to watch Barbu and La Meute perform acrobatics completely starkers. It was a beautiful day.
9 What’s on your rider?
Mars bars, Taylor Swift on speaker and two pints of tap water.
10 How do you wind down after a show?
After a show I can’t talk to people as I am pumped full of adrenalin so I like to sit in a dark room, put Celine Dion on and have a cocktail which is normally 90% gin.
11 What do you love about Scotland?
THE COWS. OH MY GOD I LOVE HIGHLAND COWS. THEY ARE SO FLUFFY I COULD DIE.
They also really remind me of my little sister because she thinks that her spirit animal is a Highland Cow and her hair is the same colour as their fur.
12 What do you like about Edinburgh?
That it is entirely built out of steps that M.C.Escher designed.
13 What’s the most Scottish thing you’ve done?
I used to be a heroin addict, but then after accidentally falling through a fairy circle and ending up in Scotland in 1743 I fell in love with a scottish warrior, received a prophecy from three witches telling me that I would be the next James Bond and was then briefly Dr Who’s assistant before turning my mum into a Bear.
14 What kind of jokes do a Scottish crowd seem to respond to?
Good ones? I love the Scottish crowd. Especially the women - they are epic and so supportive. An Edinburgh Hen Do once chased a couple of men out of my show Being Barbarella last year when they tried to grab me on stage. GO SISTERHOOD!
15 Favourite joke?
Donald Trump.
16 Favourite Scottish food/drink?
Haggis, Neeps and Tatties. I miss it so much after Edinburgh and I get so excited to gorge on it every year. It's food for Gods.
Elf Lyons: Pelican is on at The Voodoo Rooms: French Quarter until August 29, 7.50pm. For tickets visit www.edfringe.com
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