Well firstly, hello to all these new subscribers! There’s quite a lot of you this week, and after a bit of digging it seems that most of you are here on Richard Herring’s recommendation. That’s a little awkward, as I plan what each newsletter will be about a couple of weeks in advance, and this week’s is entitled “10 Things I Hate About Richard Herring.” I feel a bit silly sitting down to write it now he’s kindly recommended my newsletter, but I have to stick to the plan. So, here goes:

Ten Things I Hate About Richard Herring

1. His Personality – He’s so unlikeable!
2. His Podcast – It’s seriously not good!
3. His Appearance – He looks rubbish!

Hahaha, LOL, just kidding, this week’s newsletter is a debrief on this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, which I have just returned from. Welcome to all who came from Richard’s recommendation, and thanks to him for the shout-out!

Edinburgh Fringe 2024

Well, as I was saying in my last newsletter, I finally found out what it’s like to do the Edinburgh Fringe without having staked most of my emotional energy for the year on it, instead just popping up for a short work-in-progress run to see people and shows and then do my show and leave. Did I find it to be an oasis of calm and contentment where I could focus on nothing but the creative fulfilment of merely being there? No, I got stressed out of my mind and by the time I left I felt like I’d been there for a month rather than 5 days. God knows how the people who are there for a month feel. Now I think back, being there for a month does tend to feel like being there for seven years, so it makes sense that 5 days would feel long as well.

But, stress aside, I had an absolutely lovely time. It’s been an important thing for me to learn over the last 2 years that the Fringe doesn’t actually matter all that much, and the enormous importance I used to pile onto it is an illusion. I feel like this time I was able to let myself get stressed by practical things that actually exist in the world – I don’t have time to eat properly, my social battery is drained, I need to find somewhere to charge my phone and do my admin – rather than the usual spiral of “Oh God this matters, how do I turn all this hard work into tangible reward?” None of that really surfaced, though sadly my work-in-progress run went so well that I think I’ll probably be back there for a full run next year, when I’m sure all this stuff will come crashing back into my psyche.

The next outing of the show is in October at the Pleasance in London, and you can book tickets here. I’d love you to come if you haven’t seen the show yet, it’s shaping up to be something I’m really very proud of. A lot of long-time fans came to see it in Edinburgh and said it was the best show I’ve made, so the signs are really positive. It’s nice to know that I’ve already got a show that really works on my hands with a full year left to go. I’m well aware that the first stage of making something involves the enormous outlay of effort in order to make something that’s good enough, and it’s really tempting to stop there. The additional effort it takes to turn something that’s good enough into something really really good is the same amount of effort again, and it takes a lot of perseverance to push through it and not just go “But it’s good enough!” So my plan is to spend a lot of this year pushing through the resistance and really exploring this new show and how to make it into the best thing I’ve done. If you’d like to come along in October and see how I’m getting along, it would be lovely to see you there!

Anyway, here’s a quick rundown of the shows I saw while I was there. If you’re there for the last week, try your best to get along to these if you can!

1. John-Luke Roberts: John-Luke-A-Palooza! – A bit of a cheat, this, as I didn’t manage to see it in Edinburgh, I saw it in Berlin the week before the Fringe, but it’s an excellent project and worth checking out. JLR is revisiting past selves by staging all ten of his old shows in order. I saw his excellent ninth show, It Is Better, and I think you still have chances to see his fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and tenth!
2. Stevie Martin: clout – This was easily one of the funniest shows I saw. Stevie has mastered bringing the rhythms and tone of online comedy into a live space, and this show is just packed with gags and daft ideas, while its ending is a brilliant piss-take of structurally ingenious Edinburgh shows. I loved it.
3. Celya AB: Of All People – I was so pleased to finally see one of Celya’s shows, as I’ve heard so much amazing stuff about her work. This show is so personal and vulnerable, but it never loses sight of its incredible gag rate.
4. Ruby Carr: eBae – Ruby’s show is a deep dive into her obsessive eBay addiction, but for me it could have been about anything – Ruby is just an absolute delight to spend an hour with, her presence onstage is infectiously and deliriously fun and silly.
5. Late Night With Terry Wogan – Ben Alborough is hosting a few late-night chat shows as Terry Wogan, and I took part in one as Rory Stewart alongside Chris Cantrill’s Daniel Craig, Sooz Kempner’s Kate Bush, Sam Lake’s Cheryl Cole, Elf Lyons’ Tilda Swinton, Michael Brunstrom’s Damien Hirst and Alwin Solanky’s Mariah Carey. It’s utter chaos and really fun.

6. Instructions – The latest show by Subject Object, the theatre company that made work.txt, my favourite show of 2022. Instructions has a similar concept, this time being performed by a different performer each day, who has no idea what the show is. It’s a fascinating study of the nature of making art, and was the most formally inventive thing I saw, though it didn’t quite reach the heights of work.txt for me.
7. Michael Brunstrom: Copernicus Now – Of course Michael’s latest show is full of ridiculous absurdist skits and setpieces, but unusually for him, it also explicitly says something really important. It’s a plea for opening ourselves up to radical new ideas that might change the fate of the world, and it’s really beautiful. It’s finished its run, but keep an eye out for it in London.
8. Adam Riches: Jimmy – This is probably my favourite show that I saw. It’s the story of Jimmy Connors’ late-career comeback at the 1991 US Open, but Adam’s writing and performance has made the story really accessible for people who aren’t into sport (ie. me) and it has lots to say about relevance, ageing and committing to what you do.
9. Cerys Bradley: Queer Tales For Autistic Folk – I’ve been working with Cerys on this choose-your-own-adventure show for a while, and it was great to see it at the end of its run having grown so much over the week. When I saw it, several audience members had come back to play it again, so it’s great to see that it’s really striking a chord with audiences.
10. Mat Ewins: Ewins Some You Lose Some – Tied with Stevie’s for the funniest show I saw. Ewins always has one of the funniest shows. In this one he’s invented a gameshow format, but it doesn’t really matter, it’s just Ewins being Ewins.
11. Joe Kent-Walters Is Frankie Monroe: Live! – I managed to snap up a ticket for this before it sold out, and there’s a reason why it’s one of the big hits of this Fringe. Joe’s performance is electric, and he’s built a very distinctive, rich, mad world around the character. Catch this on tour.
12. Harriet Kemsley: Everything Always Works Out For Me – Harriet has long been one of my favourite stand-ups, and in this show she manages to explore a nightmarish year with all her usual charm and positivity and silliness, so it never feels heavy. Its run has also finished, but it’ll be going on tour, so keep an eye out for it.
13. Elf Lyons: Horses – This just won the Comedians’ Choice Award for Best Show (great award, that, ahem), and it’s easy to see why. It blends mime and clowning and performance art in really inventive ways, and it explores some really personal and heartfelt stuff. I was hugely impressed by it.

That was all I managed to get along to in terms of proper shows, as I was otherwise absorbed by doing my own show, a few guest spots at mixed bill shows, and trying to rest every now and again. But if you’re up there this week and looking for recommendations, all of those get a big thumbs up from me and are well worth your time! I also highly recommend Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie Of Witches In The Countie Of Himself, which I directed but which sadly started its run after I had left. Check it out, it’s great!

I realise that this newsletter is now my third in a row about the Fringe, and I started this one by saying I’ve realised the Fringe isn’t the be-all and end-all any more and there’s more to life. Next week I promise to make good on that and get on with all the other bits of life. Good luck to all those who are up there smashing their final week!

A Cool New Thing In Comedy – Miranda and I really enjoyed the first episode of Danielle Ward’s new sitcom Daddy Issues. I found it had a warmth and sense of fun that hasn’t always been present in some of the other recent comedy-drama-skewing shows, and I’m looking forward to seeing where it goes.

What’s Made Me Laugh The Most – The bit in Ewins’ show about Richard Gadd. It’s ridiculous.

Book Of The Week – I’m currently reading Philosophy And Life by A.C. Grayling, because I can’t get enough of a book about the meaning of life. I’ll let you know once I’ve figured out what it is. I met A.C. Grayling once. Plugged my comedy show to him. He didn’t show up. Wonder if he mentions that in the book, and offers his excuse.

Album Of The Week – The Beautiful Game by Vulfpeck. This is so silly! I absolutely love it. It’s just a bunch of dorks playing funk music that sounds kind of like a cross between the Jackson 5 and a Gameboy soundtrack. Utterly stupid.

Film Of The Week – I rewatched Kind Hearts And Coronets at Green Man Festival for the first time in years, and I’d forgotten how good it is. It’s still so funny. There is an unfortunate bit at the end where the two main characters use a racial slur, so that’s a shame. But otherwise, it’s aged well.

That’s all for this week! As ever, let me know what you thought, and if you wanted to send this newsletter to a friend or encourage others to subscribe, I’d hugely appreciate it. Take care of yourselves until next time, and all the best,

Joz xx

PS If you value the Therapy Tapes and enjoy what they do, and want to support my work and enable me to keep writing and creating, you can make a one-off donation to my Ko-Fi account, and it’s very gratefully appreciated.

PPS This is the Green Man. On Sunday night everyone at Green Man Festival wrote a wish and tied it to him, then they burned the prick down. Good. What’s he ever done for us? Nothing.

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