Live from EdFringe '23: Street Interviews, TV Hot Takes & Festival Highlights

Hey, Screen Rats, Couch Potatoes, Watchers of the Screen, I'm back.

I'm back from Edinburgh.

I was up there at The Fringe just for about five or six days, checking out some shows and doing some podcast recordings.

It was fantastic.

It was so good to go to a different place and feel a completely different energy.

And I love The Fringe.

The first show I saw, let's run through them quickly.

So I got off the train, got a taxi.

My wife gave me that great little tip to just get my bags there because I had flyers and books and all kinds of stuff with me.

It was very, very heavy.

Went to my digs, which are about an hour south by bus and dropped all my stuff off.

After I dropped all my stuff off, I went straight into the city and I went to see my first show.

I was gonna see someone else, but while I was queuing up for that someone else, which I will not mention, I bumped into a guy called Ben Clover who was flying his show.

He is a comedian I knew nothing about.

So I took a punt and he said he was the underdog.

And he will, I mean, he said he was the underdog, but he fucking commanded the room.

As soon as I went in that room, it was just this energy, that sort of Edinburgh energy, you know, everyone laughing, everyone up for it, people from Australia, people from all over, you know, it was great.

And he really ran around the room.

I can't remember a single joke.

He did a little bit of crowd work, but he really, really ran it and it was so much fun.

It was such a great first show to see, you know, absolutely brilliant.

After that, I went to see Fast Fringe, which was a lot of fun.

I saw a lot of different comedians there, which gave me some connections.

And I've talked to a few of those people since then.

And even the great Ralph Coley was on there.

So that was a good Bill.

Saw Drew Michael, the American standup.

He was very different to everything else I saw.

That's all I can say.

I enjoyed it, but it was endurance and enjoyment.

I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but it wasn't like laugh out loud comedy.

And also I didn't feel like it was connected to anything else I saw.

So it stood out, you know, in that way, which was brilliant.

That same night I went to see Jack Doherty do his show about himself and Bowie when he had his talk show in the 1990s.

That was really great.

And I sat in the front row.

I tried to sit in the front row for as many things as I could.

I know it's kind of like, I don't know if it's frowned upon or not, because when I was just an average punter out in the world, I never wanted to sit in the front row because I didn't want to be sort of picked on.

And not that I want to be picked on, but I don't want to be scared of the front row either.

You know what I mean?

So I sat in the front row as many times as I possibly could, just to sort of shake that kind of fear off as well, you know, the fear of being picked on.

And I'm not really worried about that anymore.

I got picked on a few times and it was fine.

So after Jack Daugherty, I met up with a friend of mine called Chadders, who I hadn't seen really.

I was meeting once since college 25 years ago.

And we had a couple of drinks and then we went to see Simon Amstel's Work in Progress, which was quite short actually, but it was around 11 o'clock at night, midnight.

So it made the first day quite late.

So I got back to my digs at some unearthly hour and then bundled myself straight out again for the second day.

The second day was full of great shows, absolutely brilliant shows.

Started with Stuart Lee.

I went from Stuart Lee.

I went to see JJ Whitehead's show.

He was fantastic.

Stuart Lee had the fucking room, like it was just on point.

You know what I mean?

That guy, I've seen him so many times now.

And I have to say, this was probably my favorite show of his I'd ever seen because he was just sort of having fun with it in a way he sort of used to do before the BBC TV show sort of thing.

The comedy vehicle.

It just felt like old Stuart Lee a little bit.

Like not that he was ever angry, but you know, it just felt more fun.

Definitely more fun and less, if it's possible to say in the nicest way, less intellectual.

It was just, well, it was still intellectual, but it was just more fun.

It was an afternoon show.

He usually does those at The Fringe anyway.

So I saw Stuart Lee.

Then I saw JJ.

Well, I had in a very small room.

There wasn't many of us in there.

And he pointed something out to me that I'd never realized before.

But it was along the lines of, you know, knowing famous people that were born on your birthday.

Brilliant bit of observation.

I didn't realize I was such a weirdo until I put my hand up and said I knew such things.

I think after that, I went to see J.

Lafferty, Berhucke, where she does this one-woman comedy show about how she learned to pole dance.

Not just about that, but that's the premise of it.

It's a very strong show, very good.

In Sportsman's in my old hood, which I used to love, hanging around in, and putting my socks in the fridge, as I've mentioned before.

So after I saw J.

Lafferty, I headed over to The Pleasance to see Mark Watson.

And I'd seen him knocking about anyway, I'm trying to get him on the pod, to be honest with you, and straight with you.

He's a friend of a friend, and I have approached him, and he's always buzzing around, and I always feel like, oh man, I'm just hassling him, aren't I, all at the wrong times.

So we said hello a couple of times, he's seen a couple of flyers.

We'll get him on at some point, I'm absolutely sure of that.

I just don't know when it would be.

I was hoping to do it at The Fringe, but it was not meant to be.

Now the next day I got up, I missed the first show that I was supposed to see because of buses.

I was just too far away, and I couldn't get in for the first show, but I did get in for Luke Kempner's gritty police drama was easily the most work I've seen put into anything in any real life I've ever seen.

And the man's just like a fucking machine.

I mean, the amount of comedy, the amount of talent, the singing, the dialogue, all the accents, all the impressions.

I mean, I didn't really think it was gonna be my cup of tea because I've worked in musical theater and it's not really my bag.

Now I know Luke from way back when, when he was in a panto, I haven't really kept in contact much apart from on social media.

I wouldn't say we're friends, but acquaintances.

I hope he saw me sitting in the front row laughing.

And he has agreed to do the podcast at some point, so we'll get him on.

He's got his own podcast as well.

Brilliant.

If you get to see him doing that show anywhere else after The Fringe, just go, just go.

It's absolutely phenomenal and very, very funny.

It's so perfect.

Such a good show.

What I forgot to mention was before Luke, I actually went to see Frankie Boyle.

I got a last minute ticket to see his afternoon extra show on the Wednesday, and that was exactly what you would expect.

Some of the best jokes I've ever heard.

Just absolutely brilliant.

Even though, you know, Stuart Lee sort of referenced him the day before, I was having too many writers.

I don't care if it's true.

The jokes are fucking bang on and it was very funny.

And that day ended with me going to see Olga Koch at Monkey Barrel.

Monkey Barrel is a lovely little venue.

And what I noticed about the female comedians, I don't know if this is normal, but they're just around.

Like Olga was just handing out glasses of water.

There was none of this hiding behind the curtain and announcing yourself.

She was just in the room before the gig.

And her performance was just so slick and just brilliant.

Absolutely brilliant.

Any standup I'm doing, I just looked at her and thought, well, why am I bothering?

Why would I bother when there's people like this doing it this well?

I mean, I can't do that.

You know, she's just, and she's young, she's great.

And she's, she's got everything.

You know, she's just a stage presence.

Just brilliant.

Absolutely bang on.

It was really, really well done.

I loved it.

So that was the last show I saw that day.

Now that's when I went out and met up with my mate.

And we went out really, really late that night.

I was trying to sort of go to underbelly and stuff like that, but he didn't finish work till 11.

We had a couple of drinks, hung out in the fancy bars, saw the usual faces like Mark Steele and Hal Cruttenden, kind of wanted to go up and say hello, but didn't want to fucking, you know, hassle them while they're having a beer with their mates.

I mean, it's a bit, you know, awkward.

So we didn't do any of that.

We just sat out on the patio, had a couple of beers.

Before you know it was two, three in the morning.

So I had a very late night that night, got back about five in full knowledge that the next morning I had to get up and see Rose Matafeo at 11 o'clock.

And Rose was absolutely brilliant.

Again, in the room, you know, hanging out, giving people little flyers that she made, little black and white foldy things.

And she was fantastic.

I was just so tired that morning, though, that I felt like I was having a panic attack because it was a different monkey barrel venue and it was underground.

And I felt claustrophobic and I knew it was tiredness, but I just felt really claustrophobic in that room.

And yeah, so I was like, you know, I want to get out of here, but I was loving her jokes and her performance.

I'm sorry, sorry, Rose.

I was just fucking feeling like shit when I was watching that.

And it really annoyed me because I really like her and I like what she did in the room.

And it was brilliant because at the end, she sort of, you know, pretends to sort of put a coat on and leave and all that.

And everyone's thinking, oh, she's just putting a...

But no, she's fucking putting a coat on, putting a bag on, she's out of there.

She is gone, gone, London.

Just like I used to be when I was a sound engineer.

I fucking, I'd be gone before, while the music's playing, I'd be out the door, coat on, motorbike helmet on, zum, zum, zum, gone.

I loved it, I loved that.

That same day, I saw Jeff Norcutt, sat in the front row.

He asked me my name, even though we've actually met before, he won't remember that.

He said, what's your name?

I went, Steve.

Steve, Steve, good solid single syllable name.

And, you know, I enjoyed all that, of course, not that I was sitting there for that reason.

And I know he skews right wing, his audience, which was interesting to me because I want to see, I want to look in the eyes of my enemy, not my enemy.

But you know what I mean.

I want to see who these people are.

But he's great, Jeff, brilliant, absolutely brilliant.

I know he skews right wing and everyone says, oh, he's a right wing community.

But you know, he's a lot more centrist than he lets on, isn't he?

Come on, let's be honest.

And the audience really got it.

And there was a lot of anti-Tory stuff and a lot of Tory bashing going on in there anyway.

That, you know, some self-inflicted stuff.

So that was a lot of fun.

And he really commands that fucking stage.

And he's great.

He's great.

I won't have a word said against him.

And then I went to see Rosie Holt that night doing her show.

I don't know much about Rosie.

I've only seen the clips online like everybody else.

And she gave a brilliant fucking performance.

Really, really good.

The only thing I was thinking though, the whole time was, when can I get these fucking shoes off my feet?

Because I've been dragging around my podcast equipment.

It was very heavy, extremely heavy, so heavy that the wheels fell off on this kind of old doctor's bag that my wife found in the lanes.

So I was trying to really focus again.

I think I just was doing too much, you know?

I was watching Rosie, trying to really focus in on the humor.

And all I was thinking was, my feet are killing me, man.

My feet are killing me and the leg room's doing my head in.

So I guess that's what happens in Edinburgh sometimes.

You're having fun, but you're also really aware that maybe you might be slightly overdoing it.

And it's like sitting in a hotel and watching eight films.

You know, it's that kind of vibe.

The next day I was really annoyed, really annoyed, because I had to miss Dane Baptiste, who I had a ticket for.

Again, probably many different reasons for missing that.

And I really wanted to see him.

It was mostly because of travel and also podcast recordings that got in the way and I couldn't move in time.

But I did get to see Ivo Graham that evening doing his organized fun.

And he was great.

He really, you know, he really leans into that whole taskmaster period of his life.

And, you know, he references people going to the toilet and stuff during the show, but in a really funny way, I got myself caught in that situation.

And yeah, really, really great, fun, fun show.

Loved Ivo.

Met him afterwards, gave him a flyer for the podcast.

I said, I'd love to get him on.

And my name's really small on that flyer, really small.

And it was really dark and dim.

And he took it and within a 10th of a second, he went, oh, thanks, Steve.

I was like, fucking hell, he's read that name already.

It was impressive, impressive guy.

Very, very, very funny.

And that was the penultimate show I saw.

The last show I saw was Frank Skinner.

Someone I don't, I never used to like his comedy and I don't know if I actually really do.

I know friends who really, really don't, but I just wanted to see him.

I haven't seen him.

I enjoyed, you know, Room 101 when it was on in all its incarnations.

I know people have a problem with the version that he did after Paul Merton's brilliant version, but you know, I like him.

I think he's all right.

He was a bit bluer than I would have thought.

And some of the jokes are a little bit 90s and dated, but you know, he knows his audience.

His audience were, you know, there for him.

It was a nice one to end on actually.

So, you know, I think it all worked out.

And that's the last show I saw.

So this being the Edinburgh special, I should probably explain what it contains.

Now I wandered around the Royal Mile between shows.

And on the first day I had a little recorder with one mic.

The next day I had two mics, so you could actually hear what I was saying.

And on the third day, I set up a lovely little recording section outside Gilded Balloon on a picnic table where I had booked in some podcast guests.

But we also had some drive-bys.

Some people who were flyering, who I got chatting to, and then I brought them on the pod too.

So it's a sort of a mix of all of that.

And hopefully you get a sense of the festival, especially if you've never been.

Now, if you don't like this episode, please don't worry.

This is not the normal situation.

We'll be back to our single guest episodes as of next week.

This is just a kind of fun episode to kind of give off the vibe of what it's like to be at Edinburgh.

And those who have been in Edinburgh probably won't want to listen to it anyway, because it's all over by the time this comes out.

Just, just.

It's all over, guys, until next year.

So here we are.

This is the Television Times Podcast, Edinburgh Fringe Special 2023.

Welcome to Television Times, a weekly podcast with your host, me, Steve Otis Gunn.

We'll be discussing television in all its glorious forms.

From my childhood, your childhood, the last 10 years, even what's on right now.

So join me as I talk to people you do know and people you don't about what scared them, what inspired them and what made them laugh and cry here on Television Times.

Right, let's head straight to the Royal Mile in Edinburgh during The Fringe where I was accosting tourists, other acts and just generally asking people questions about television.

Let's start with these two guys.

What's your favourite TV show right now?

Avatar of the Last Airbender.

What's the amount?

It's about a 12 year old that has to save the world.

And he's given a very short time frame to do it in.

It's a cartoon.

What channel is that on?

It used to be on Nickelodeon.

It's popular about 10 years ago.

10 years ago.

I'm out of the loop with that one.

Can I ask you a proper podcast question from the podcast?

Television Times.

Either of you can answer this.

Who's the first person on television that you found attractive?

England.

Wasn't it the Queen of England?

The Queen of England.

Oh, that I found attractive.

You found attractive?

I think the last person to say that was the Beatles.

For some reason, I thought the Queen of England was on the TV first.

You lost that question.

The first person on TV that I found attractive, I would say Greg Grunberg from the TV show Heroes.

The short-lived TV show Heroes.

Killed by the writers, yeah, yeah, yeah, famous one.

But it was really good at the beginning.

It was awesome at the beginning.

One of the first kind of multinational American TV shows, wasn't it?

Did it come to England, too?

Oh, well, I think I was in Japan when I was watching it.

It was all over the world, wasn't it?

It was JJ Abrams, yeah?

Very good.

That's a great TV show.

Mark.

And Kevin.

Thank you, Mark and Kevin.

Boston.

Boston.

Boston.

Great.

Excellent.

Boston.

I'll go buy you both a tea to give you the refund.

Next up was the comedian, Matt Hutchinson, who I met unsuspectingly on the Royal Mile, carrying his small child in his arms.

I had no idea who he was.

I apologize for that.

And Matt is going to come on and do a full episode at some point in the future.

So thank you, Matt.

And here's the awkward first meeting.

You may have your hands full, but I want to ask you a question.

Is that all right?

What's your favorite show right now?

What is my favorite show right now?

I've just started.

I'm late to it, but only Murders in the Building.

Yeah, I started watching it.

Very mainstream, but you know, nothing.

It's not bad.

It's not bad.

I started watching it.

It's a light-hearted, gentle kind of, with a weird kind of overlay of murder.

I mean, some of it's a bit on the nose, and there's quite a lot of exposition at certain times.

Are you an artist yourself?

I'm a comedian, yes.

So, I'm Matt Hutchinson.

Matt Hutchinson, nice to meet you.

Good to meet you as well.

So, it's Assembly Studios.

So, Studio 4, every day at 2.30.

Although, today's my day off.

That's your day off with you, baby.

I'll ask you one more question, as you're an artist.

I'll ask you a proper one from the pod.

Okay, what's the first thing you saw on TV that scared you?

The first thing I saw?

Maybe I can remember Nightmare.

You know that TV show where kids...

It's like a game show for kids where they would put on a helmet and basically it was like a series of games.

One of the team was basically blindfolded but with a helmet that they had like a Viking helmet and their friends had to guide them through a maze, but they'd often get killed by...

It's quite long if you Google it.

There's a whole YouTube rabbit hole.

You can go down to children being terrified of Nightmare, the TV show.

It's kind of like a kid's version of Crystal Maze, but darker?

Yeah, exactly.

It's scarier than the Crystal Maze.

It was on CITV, I think, in the early 90s.

That's why I don't watch ITV.

It's a terrible channel.

That's the one thing I can remember giving me nightmares, honestly, as a child.

It's a great answer.

It's spelled K, I think.

So I think it's spelled nightmare with a K, like nightmare, as in like night.

Night.

Oh, like a nightmare.

I've got like Martin Lawrence in my head for something.

No, it's Dark Knight.

Is that Dark Knight?

A Black Knight or something.

Yeah, when he gets sent back to time.

And there's a Black Knight.

It's one of those things where they just thought of a premise and stretched it out tonight.

It's like a sketch that is a film.

Films, Matt, come on.

We're doing telly.

He didn't know.

I haven't told him that particular aspect.

And I wasn't carrying my horn.

Let's now chat to a man from Buffalo, who weirdly shares the exact same answer for this question as me and my friend Jeff Greenway.

No, I haven't watched TV in about 45 years.

Yeah.

Can I give you a proper question?

Sure.

What's the first thing you saw on TV that made you very, very scared?

Probably as a child.

Yes, it was a Stephen King made for television thing with David Saul.

I'm looking at her because...

It's the same answer I give.

It's Salem's Lot.

Salem's Lot.

1979.

Yeah, that scared the shit out of me.

Yes.

It's a 1979 miniseries and it was shown on terrestrial television as a six parter.

I thought it was a movie.

Yeah, no, it was.

I remember it on TV and our neighbor had died during that time.

And so I was so fucking afraid that she was going to be floating in the window.

Yeah, the window.

Freaked me.

That's an excellent answer.

What's your name?

Firefly.

Now, do you think his name really was Firefly?

If so, Firefly, get in touch and let us know.

Because that was quite confusing.

Now, Firefly was from Buffalo in upstate New York, or as he says, Buffalo, New York, because everyone has to be from somewhere.

But I live in Italy.

Of course you do.

You live in Italy, Firefly.

Don't live in Buffalo.

There's nothing there.

Although if anyone listening from Buffalo is listening to this, well, he listens to this one, as I walked under the arches, I then bumped into this comedian guy called Moe Singleton from New York.

And he came on mic and chatted a lot about Seinfeld.

I think we might have even covered this in a previous episode.

But hey, to ask you a question about television.

Sure.

Yeah.

What's your favorite TV show right now?

My favorite TV show right now?

I don't have one, honestly.

I watch reruns, man.

The rotation, Seinfeld, Frasier.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know.

Yeah, yeah, no, for sure.

I love Seinfeld.

I re-watched it all in the pandemic.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a good background noise, you know?

Favorite episode.

That's tough.

Damn, that's a tough one.

So it's either between the episode when Kramer gets the...

What was the TV show?

When he gets the TV show out the dumpster.

That's my favorite.

The one where he gets the talk show and he has a talk show in his house.

I can't think of the name of the show.

We have covered this before.

It is Merv Griffin.

That's one of my favorites.

The one when he can't figure out Dolores's name, it rhymes with the...

Her name was Dolores.

They were trying to figure it out because it was like Clitoris.

You know what I'm talking about?

There's so many.

There's so many good ones.

Yeah, for sure.

Did you ever watch Kirby Enthusiasm when they did that season?

I didn't watch that episode, but yeah, I watched Kirby, though.

The whole season where they kind of get the whole set back together.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I know, for sure.

Yeah, it is.

I can ask you a proper podcast question that I would ask other comedians that come on the show.

Who was your first TV crush, basically?

First TV crush?

Topanga from Boy Meets World.

She's fucking hot.

Yeah, she's still hot to this day, but yeah.

Right, it is.

You see her, you're like, oh wow.

But yeah, she was definitely the first TV crush.

Moe, Moe Singleton.

Yeah, I'm a comedian, yeah, yeah, out of New York.

Well, you call a pen and I call a badge.

Word.

So those were the recordings from day one when I was walking around with a single microphone, trying to kind of put it in their face, put it in mine.

It's a little bit hard to hear what I'm saying.

Now day two, I learned from that, and I went out with two mics.

So let's see who I bump into then.

Okay, what's your name?

John.

John, so what are you up to?

I'm flyering right now for our show.

Is it your own show?

Yes.

What's the show about?

Photon, Star Blaster and the Suicidal Spaceship.

Do you watch much TV?

Yes, I do.

You do, good.

So those people did not.

Um, what's your favorite show right now?

Right now, I'm watching with my wife Colin from Accounts.

Which is really fun.

Yeah, yeah, that's great.

Australian.

Yeah, uh-huh.

And also, we're just about to start The Bear.

The Bear is good.

Series one?

Series two.

Series two, yeah.

Yes, more intense than series one.

Also, After Party on Apple TV is really, really amazing.

Yeah, I've seen, I saw season one.

Season two's out now, right?

Yeah, and it's good.

Season one's brilliant, cause like, you pick the perfect genres.

Season two, it's like, okay, trying to find more genres.

But still brilliant, really good.

I'll watch it, cause I like the people in it.

My wife did not, she sort of started bailing on it and I felt like I was torturing her by the end.

Cause it wasn't a cup of tea.

Yeah.

So I'll ask you a proper podcast question.

Okay.

If you don't mind.

What's the first thing you saw on TV that terrified you?

Vampire changing into a vampire on Buffy.

The makeup and the face that they have.

Terrifying, and also I was weirdly very scared of WWF when I was younger.

Really?

Yeah.

Because the sort of clownness of it or?

No, the wildlife charity.

I'm joking, that was terrible joke.

But no, because they just freaked me out.

Like the makeup and everything, yeah.

So yeah.

I'll ask you one more question.

Something inappropriate you saw on TV as a child that you shouldn't have?

Uh, I mean just in general, boobs?

Like I don't know.

In general boobs.

I don't know specifically which one, but I'm very prude and there is far too many, I don't know, I sound, yeah.

Too many boobs?

Yeah.

To be honest, I get it, because like I've only recently tried to watch Game of Thrones.

In the first episode, I was like, it's nice and everything, but why are they making them take their clothes off all the time?

Yeah.

Seems a bit weird.

Yeah, and I don't want to be against the boobs, but it's like a channel five after 8 p.m.

and suddenly, you know what, at a friend's house watching Euro Trash and just being like, what the heck is going on?

Yeah.

At the time you're too young to have watched it at the time.

Yeah, I was like, I must have been like eight.

I mean, I found it hilarious, because they did the dubbing in the sort of, which I guess was taking the piss out of accents, because it was always like a Northern accent, it was like some Belgian naked woman at a swinger's party or something.

Yeah, Antoine Descarnes, it's fantastic.

It probably dates terribly.

Yeah, I think so, but it's like Jean-Paul Gaultier or something was one of the presenters, it's nuts.

I love the 90s, I miss all that.

I know, it was simpler back then, wasn't it?

Yeah, nice to meet you.

Thanks for having me.

Your name again?

John, John McEwan-Whyte.

John McEwan-Whyte, now that's a strong name.

Thank you so much.

Can I take a player?

Yeah, yeah.

There's John McEwan-Whyte there, easily the best street guest so far, I think you'll agree.

He was up at the top of the Royal Mail, flyering with his director when we bumped into each other.

For that, we chat.

Now, the next person I bumped into was Aimee.

She was performing with 60 Minutes of Mood Swings and On the Nose production at the Edinburgh Fringe.

We had a little chat while I was getting a bit disheartened with the people I was attempting to talk to and she ended up being a bit of a gem.

So let's hear what she has to say.

Should we talk to each other for a second?

Do you know much about TV?

I do.

Yeah, what's your favorite TV show on right now?

On right now, does it have to be like Curran?

No, no, or something you watch right now?

Something I'm watching is Sherlock.

Like the Benedict Cumberbatch one.

Yeah, Benedict Cumberbund.

Yeah, I watched one of them at the time but then I kind of lost track.

Does it get a bit silly or is that okay?

It is, it's silly, it's interesting.

It's just so much depth and it makes you think, but also you don't think because he's doing on thinking.

Yeah, oh, you made me want to do a re-watch actually.

There's got a lot of people in there that came through that show, isn't there, that made it onto other things like The Fit Priest fellow and all that from, yeah, yeah, yeah.

What's his name?

Do you know his name?

As he's Scott.

Whatever his name is, that was on Fleabag.

Can I ask you another question?

Yeah, sure.

What's a show you know is terrible, but you still watch it anyway?

Well, I'm quite old, so I'm 21, but I watch a lot of CBBC, okay, not that, okay.

I'm old to watch CBBC shows.

I still watch them because they're just, they're absolutely terrible.

They make no sense.

But I'm like, it's a comfort show, so I'm like, yeah, I'll watch it.

Which shows are you watching on CBBC?

There's like Four O'Clock Club, The Dumping Ground, surely you know all of these, right?

But the best show is Bluey.

I love watching Bluey, it's the best one.

I think it's more for the adults, do you know what I mean?

Yeah, well, they keep something in there, it's like a panto, in that way.

Did you know that they sold it, well, they sold it to Disney, but they distributed it through Disney now, the new season of it, and the Americans wanted them to change all the accents to American.

But they said, no, you can't have the show unless we keep the exact same actors.

So they stuck to their guns and they got the deal.

Good, plus Australian accent is the best accent.

It is the best accent.

Apart from Scottish, obviously.

Well, of course, yeah, I do love anything Australian.

Australian comedians are like my favorite people to interview.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, they're really good fun.

Anyway, what's your name?

Aimee.

You doing a show here?

I am, I'm doing 60 Minutes of Moose Things, which is a comedy musical about women.

We sing about Andrew Tate, it's very ironic, satirical comedy and it's relatable.

That's it.

It's relatable.

I didn't know who he was till very recently, and then when I looked, he was just like some reality TV twat, right?

No, no, honestly, he's just, I don't even know how he has a following.

He's, he's crazy.

Anyway, nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Steve, nice to meet you.

After chatting with Aimee, I headed away from the Royal Mile and up to Bristow Square.

I think I went to see a show, but afterwards I bumped into the guys putting on Bill's 44th, a puppet show, and had a little chat with them about all kinds of stuff, including how-to with John Wilson.

Who do I speak to here?

Well, Bill doesn't talk.

He doesn't talk.

So I'm Andy.

Andy, hi.

Yeah, hi.

Do you know a lot about television?

A fair amount.

Yeah, what's your favorite show at the moment?

Favorite show ever, probably The Wire.

The Wire, David Simon.

Yeah, I really love David Simon.

Have you watched all of his shows?

No, I didn't watch the one about Louisiana.

Treme, Treme, I didn't watch Treme.

Treme.

The fucking shampoo.

Oh, no, I didn't watch Treme.

I'm not a big fan of jazz, and when I looked at that one, it was all...

I actually do love jazz, and I'm really surprised.

I kind of fell off TV for a little while.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And I started only watching old stuff, like Twin Peaks and, but you know, then that came back, and I loved that.

And The Juice, have you seen The Juice?

I was in The Juice.

You were in The Juice?

Yeah.

I got a man from The Juice.

I was an extra at an opening of one of like the porn openings.

Oh really, really?

So I got to dress fancy and also gross.

Yeah.

We're puppeteers, so, well, he's throwing a birthday party.

Is he?

For what reason?

It's his 44th.

And he really wants everybody to come.

A bit of a comedy, I suppose.

A tragic comedy, maybe.

What are you doing after Fringe?

Taking me where I stand?

Doing more puppets.

We're building more puppets, puppet shows.

We're on a TV show that'll hopefully get picked back up for puppets.

It's called Hello Tomorrow.

Hello Tomorrow.

It's on Apple TV.

It's like Billy Crudup and it's all about the future.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

All those puppets and all those robots.

Wow.

Our friend, all the people in the show actually puppeteer them and some other people.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They can't tie their own shoes, but they can say paracetalosaurus.

Exactly, and all the renamed dinosaurs I found out.

Like when I was a kid.

Hi, John.

Hi.

Hi, John.

A brontosaurus as a kid is now a brachiosaurus, things like that.

But they brought back the brontosaurus.

Oh, is it different?

So they realized that brachiosauruses and brontosaurus were actually the same.

Yeah, yeah.

And then they found another dinosaur and called that a brontosaurus.

Right.

Is it not the original brontosaurus?

No, the original brontosaurus was a brachiosaurus.

They just thought it was a different species.

I know.

So is Pluto back then?

Pluto, I think, is back in certain circles.

I know.

Which circles are those?

Not the Flat Earthers.

The pro-Pluto ones, I suppose.

Pro-Pluto.

Oh my gosh, I saw this very funny thing about Flat Earthers.

And they were like, we have dozens of followers all over the globe.

I was like, nice.

I've gone that way as far as I can.

And I came back that way.

So I know it's not flat.

It's not Discworld.

No, it isn't Discworld.

I was going to do a check about a CD and a Discman.

I haven't got anything.

It's not there.

Or Four Elephants and a Sea Turtle.

Exactly.

Come on.

I'll ask you one actual podcast question.

Sure.

I'll ask you one of the new ones.

Oh, you'll be good at this one.

This will be one you'll like.

If you could take...

You might take a puppet.

If you could take something from a TV show and make it real, like bring it into real life, an invention, what would that be?

I mean, probably The TARDIS, right?

Like, that would be fucking sweet.

Or maybe just a sonic screwdriver.

I've been watching a lot of like Doctor Who lately.

My girlfriend's very into Doctor Who.

I never was growing up.

But that...

Something that's just like...

Maybe not The TARDIS.

Maybe just a sonic screwdriver.

Something that wouldn't like totally irrevocably screw up the world.

But like, get you in anywhere.

No, I like it.

Kind of nice.

Yeah, I grew up in Doctor Who.

Make any computer do what you want.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's pretty sweet.

That is.

That's pretty nice.

And it just makes a dumb noise.

And that's how it works.

Or whatever the fuck.

It's fucking Black and Decker.

So where are you guys from?

New York.

New York?

Yeah, we're all based in Brooklyn and Queens.

Cool.

Nice.

I love New York.

Love your screechy trains.

Yeah, they're so loud.

Oh, I know John.

John's great.

I love that show.

He's a wonderful man.

He makes New York look insane.

Yeah.

Well, it is.

I mean, it's an accurate...

The one about toilets.

Did you watch the one that he did?

I think it never was on the HBO show, but he did a How To with bedbugs.

It was like an older one.

Oh, right.

Maybe not.

Check it out.

I think it's just online, but it's like how to survive with bedbugs.

Yeah.

It's totally the same format, but I know there's not much of a production budget for that show, but like no production budget and just him.

I love the way he just hits, even for me, like I've been to New York about five times, I guess.

And for me, I've nearly shot myself in New York, not been out of fun, and that fucking scaffolding episode was spot on.

Oh my God.

It's like, when are they finished?

Yeah, he's a genius.

When is this finished?

He's a genius.

The damn genius.

No other country has fucking scaffolding like that.

I mean, maybe at The Fringe.

Everywhere.

It's got to be a scam, is it?

Well, that's what we say.

I mean, it's like, have you ever seen the Michael Douglas movie where, what is it called?

It's not the game.

It's Falling Down.

I love Falling Down.

But you know what I mean with like the construction workers where it's like, this is all bullshit.

This is all bullshit.

Exactly.

And it's like, maybe actually it is.

Like, he is unhinged, but maybe he's right.

I live in Newcastle, fun time, and every other fucking week, they're digging up the road.

And I want to go out there and go, what's wrong with the fucking road?

No one talks because they dig it up and then they pull the cable out.

And then they say, oh, it's a multi-fiber broadband.

You're like, whatever.

And then it's like the gas or whatever.

It's like, no, it's not.

And then they just replace all the paving stones.

And then they just put the fucking things out and then they don't do any work.

And then you're like, what is happening here?

Is this just a tax scam?

It feels like it, right?

It is a tax scam.

So you're based in Newcastle?

Yeah, yeah.

There's a puppet festival there.

I think it's called Moving Parts.

And I think this might be speaking out of turn.

Moving Parts.

But we might be invited to it in spring of next year.

So Bill might be there.

We might bring our puppets.

I'll keep an eye out.

That'd be great.

Yeah.

That's a good way to end.

Thank you so much.

So, on day three of the podcast records, I set myself up on a picnic bench outside Gilded Balloon, as I mentioned before, and I recorded a couple of episodes which you will hear this autumn.

Now, while I was doing those, and before and after, I was flyered and I met some people in some different acts.

And I decided to record a few mini episodes of the people that I got on with, and the first of which you will hear now.

This is Stefania Licari.

Most productive flyering I've done so far today.

So, introduce yourself.

Hi, hi, my name is Stefania Licari.

I'm an actor, a comedian and an NHS doctor.

That's the triple whammy.

Oh, stop it, it's nothing.

It's just seven years of medical school.

It is kind of like, I've spoken to a lot of comedians and there's three typical jobs that comedians seem to have.

Teacher, some kind of NHS doctor.

Some kind.

Or they've studied law.

These are the three that I keep spotting.

Everybody seems to be.

What do you think is the reason?

Well, they're quite academic, aren't they?

And I think that when you do something...

You mean smart and intelligent.

Very smart and intelligent.

Because they're so heavily academic, I think it sounds exhausting.

So what they then do is go, what's the opposite of that?

And then go and do something.

Now, I'm not saying it's not fun, but it's, I mean, obviously, if you've been working in NHS, you've done how many years of school?

Seven years of medical school.

The same as a postgraduate training.

Yeah, yeah.

And then I did the two drama schools.

I went for two years studying traditional acting in London and two years of studying comedy and clown with Philippe Collier in Paris.

Clowning in Paris?

You don't play, you've been alive not enough to do all those things.

Everything is like compensating.

A month for me is like a year.

But yes, thank you so much for these opportunities.

I don't know the answer.

I mean, the other day, somebody I was flattering to said, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, you must have a sense of humor to be a doctor.

I was like, I don't know.

I think doctors are quite boring.

I think you have to have a sense of humor to be a comedian because otherwise people don't come and see you.

But I guess the truth is, I always wanted to be an actress since I was a kid.

So medicine for me was a bit of backup plan.

Very nice, very good plan.

I love saving people lives and it's been a really, really nice, I love it.

It's a great part-time job to have on a weekend.

Just turn the mic off, this is absolutely, this is helping no one.

But yeah, I guess my heart has always been with acting and comedy and so I'm kind of transitioning.

So it's a great opportunity to be here.

My show is a medical comedy show.

I talk about to be a female immigrant doctor in UK and some hot topics about the NHS.

But it's a stand-up comedy, we laugh.

We laugh.

It's a good time to be here to take the piss out of all those things.

I suppose.

You see, it's a very personal show because I talk about sexism and racism and experiences that I encountered.

And you wouldn't really expect in places like hospitals, especially when you're a doctor.

But actually, there are these situations.

And I think in a way, it's not just about me expressing just for the sake of it.

That's how I want to inspire, maybe have an impact and tell people, hey, this still happens.

As a female doctor, we still get a lot of this from the little part on the shoulder to grabbing the lower back to get you out of the way.

I once had this laugh on the ass.

In modern times.

In modern times, yeah, yeah, I'm not that ancient.

And I was told, but you do have a good ass.

I was like, well, okay, well, what's the problem?

And then, and then I was told, well, next time I just wear more buggy scrubs so we don't see the curves.

I know, it's my mom's fault.

It's your mom's fault.

I do have a good ass.

Your show is called Medico.

Correct.

The Fringe will have ended by the time this goes out, but you're gonna put this show on, you said, in Manchester?

Yes, so I'm gonna carry on touring.

I'm gonna go to the Women Comedy Festival in Manchester on the 7th of October, and then I'm gonna be around the country.

I'm gonna go to the Leicester Comedy Festival, and et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

But I think I haven't decided the whole tour yet.

But yes, I'm gonna be around a lot.

So you can look forward to some slightly cheaper accommodation in these other festivals, I'm assuming.

Absolutely, yes.

I mean, I'm blessed because I'm on a student accommodation, and I'm next to absolutely gorgeous little hill at the mountain, the outer seat.

So I go running in the morning, but it's like, oh my God, it's so expensive.

And they call it the studio flat, and it's basically a room with a microwave.

It's a bed-sit.

That's awful.

But I love Edinburgh, so it's a pleasure to be here.

So can I ask you a couple of questions about television?

Oh, yeah, please, am I not on your house?

We'll have to do one or two.

It was about having a TV license.

No, no.

No, no, she has a TV license.

We've just purchased it online.

I watched her pay her £155 to watch BBC Medical Drama.

This is going to hurt.

It's her favourite TV show.

I'm blessed.

From an Italian perspective, you'll hopefully be able to give us some clues about some excellent TV that we may not have seen here.

Like, I'm about to start.

My next TV show I'm about to start is actually Gomorrah, which I've not seen yet, which is apparently very good, yeah?

It's a thriller.

No, I heard about it.

It's apparently very good.

It's very, very cliché about the Mafia in Italy.

I heard it's really good.

I heard it's very gritty and it's like...

We're still associated with the Mafia as Italians.

I didn't even think about that, really.

It was because I finished The Sopranos and everyone said, oh, you must watch Gomorrah next.

And I do watch a lot of what English people call foreign television.

So can I ask you, what's your favorite TV show that you're watching right now?

Oh, right now.

I absolutely love sitcoms.

I love sitcoms.

So recently I watched, maybe I'm a little bit late on that, but I watched The IT Crowd, British.

I love it.

I absolutely adore it.

Sometimes I watch some French sitcoms.

I like to think I speak French.

I don't.

I just read the subtitles.

It might make me feel more continental, educate us with some French sitcoms, because we don't probably know much about French comedy, really, generally, apart from, say, 10 percent.

Well, recently I watched something, it's more like a drama comedy.

So there's actually when it's drama is really drama is quite strong, but it's a really nice and sweet comedy.

It's called Montendu, which means basically means Can you hear me?

Yeah, very beautiful, very moving.

It's like I think it was a two or three series.

I watched on the first week of The Fringe here.

So that was very beautiful.

I know you're pushed for time because you're flying for your show.

I'll ask you one other television question.

What's the first thing you saw on TV that scared you?

That scared me?

Oh my God.

Oh, wow.

I'm still traumatized.

That was my genuine response.

Yes, I don't want to think about this.

Please.

I've taken a year.

So therapy to get out of this.

No, no, no.

But I know Twin Peaks.

I don't know.

Why was so scary?

I don't even remember what it was about, but I have the image of this dead girl on the beach.

She looked really dead.

I mean, considering I became a doctor and I saw a lot of dead people.

Yeah, nobody was as terrifying as that girl.

And then there was, I don't know, somebody with long hair, as like ghostly coming into her life.

I had nightmares before.

But I'm such a freak, Steve.

Seriously, because I actually did recently a horror movie as an actress.

I was, I was, yeah, it's a feature film, but I had a very small part, but.

Which film is it?

It's called The Sweet Brothers by Lake Anderson.

It's an independent movie.

It will come out like I think next year.

But I was so terrified.

I was so scared.

I was like jumping out.

Oh, it's just the cameraman.

That's why I made such a great part.

I was so literally freaked out.

That's great.

Great casting.

Get the person who's most scared of horror films to be in the horror film.

But if there is any casting director to listen to this, please know I can do good acting.

I can put myself together.

I promise.

Well, I know you got to go.

Stefania, thank you so much for coming on Television Times and for being in your show and answering a couple of questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Steve.

It's been a pleasure.

Absolutely lovely surprise.

I loved it.

Thank you.

All the best for the rest.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Stefania Licari there.

Really fun woman to meet.

Really easy to chat to.

Very, very fun, up, bubbly kind of personality.

Her show sold out as far as I can see.

After that, I followed her on social media.

And I think she stormed it, as they say.

So definitely go check her out at those comedy festivals that she mentioned.

I will definitely do my best to see her next year.

Next up, I chatted to Kristina DeGiovanni.

Now, she was actually flyering earlier in the day.

And she said she was interested in having a little chat.

And I thought we could maybe squeeze her in somewhere.

And she was luckily just next door when I texted her in the afternoon to say, hey, I've got a little window.

Do you want to come and chat to us?

So here she is sitting down with me at the big picnic bench.

Time is really, doesn't make sense out here, does it?

Are you looking at my bio?

I was like, that's good.

Because I was like, what's the premise of this podcast?

You talk about TV.

We'll get to that.

We'll get to that.

Let's talk about you first.

So tell me about your show.

And is your show going to be on The Fringe?

Have I asked you that before?

Yeah, wait, is this on?

Yeah, yeah, so is ours.

We're live.

Is it going to be on The Fringe?

The hope is, yeah.

The hope is we take it back to New York and do more of a run.

We've done it in New York already.

We did some workshops and then we did it at East 59 Theater and The Tank.

And then now that it's better now, since we've been here doing it for a month, we're like, hell yeah, we'll see what we can get.

But nothing confirmed, but look out for it.

How was it today?

You know, we had some great audiences that loved it.

And they didn't come today.

Today, we had some people who were super involved and we had one woman in the second row who, as soon as I got on stage, immediately started audibly sleeping.

Like, and when I say audibly sleeping, I mean, she was sighing.

Is that American for snoring?

No.

I know you like to rename things audibly sleeping.

I don't know how else to describe it.

Very visibly, like she was like putting her head between her legs and like looking away and like sighing.

And my theater is 40 people.

So she was two feet from my face.

I was like about to get down as fast as I could.

You're doing that classic thing of focusing on the one person.

I know, right?

Because I look straight when I perform, I look straight in the audience's eyes.

Like that's what I like to do.

Like I really, and I try to play off them.

And like most of the people in the crowd were great.

But then just one person, I was like, why are you here?

I was like, did you come here?

I was a little bit amiss.

But I've seen it happen to all of my friends who've done shows here.

You know, no matter how great their show is, I'm trying not to take it, you know.

It's okay that it started as soon as I got on stage.

You know, so it's like, I know it wasn't me.

Obviously, you never know what's going on in someone's head or what their day's been like.

Like last night, I went to see Rosie Holt, right?

I don't know her very well, but I've seen a few of her things and I know she's kind of leans my political...

And I thought it would be good.

And I want to see more female led stuff while I'm here this time, which I've actively been trying to do.

But by the time I went to the theater, I had four hours sleep the night before.

I'd seen about five shows.

My feet were killing me.

I felt like there were fucking clamps on my feet.

And all I could think was, when will this end so I can get these shoes off?

So you never know.

You never know.

Doesn't mean they don't like it.

Yeah, and listen, if anyone has sympathy for falling asleep, I am a literal diagnosed narcoleptic.

So I understand, but I just wouldn't go if I'm tired to a 4DC theater where...

Yeah, yeah.

But I feel you.

It's quite warm in there as well.

It is quite warm.

We do have an AC though.

We have an AC unit, which means I have to scream.

I love challenges.

That's tricky.

And I'm loud.

I don't know if you can tell, but I'm loud enough.

No, you're not too loud on here.

I guess I can see your waveform.

So we haven't even asked you your name properly for the audience to check you out and stuff like that.

Yeah, plug time.

Well, you don't have to plug, but I just want you to say your name, the way it's supposed to be said so I don't say it wrong.

Cause I say Kristina DeGiovanni.

But I said that wrong, haven't I?

That's fine.

I can fucking tell I've said it wrong.

It's just the Englishness of it.

It's not even, that's not even wrong.

I wouldn't even say that's wrong.

Kristina DeGiovanni.

Day, day, not D.

I said D.

Yeah, that is the thing.

And you know, my family in Italy would say the DI is for plebs and the DE is for royalties, so.

Or just anyone called Deshawn.

Which also in a way makes them royalty.

So this is a podcast about television.

So can I ask you a couple of questions?

Yeah.

Or I will ask you for a number between one and, I don't know how many questions I've got now because I've got, I'd say there's 20 there maybe.

And then you can pick your own question.

Love it.

Go on then.

Another question I wanted to ask.

Does everyone pick 13?

Probably not.

13.

What was the first late night TV show you were allowed to stay up to see when you were a kid?

Oh, I was never allowed to stay up to see TV.

But can I say, I have an answer though.

I used to come home from school and watch Ellen, which I am ashamed of now, but What time style would that be?

It was on at like three.

And I really was engaged with that show.

I felt very powerfully towards it.

Even though now we know Ellen is kind of a menace, but.

Let's do a different one then.

What TV show would you erase from history?

Meaning that no one remembers it.

You met him in Black It.

Everyone's forgotten it, it never existed.

And which one would you bring back from the dead?

When you say bring back from the dead, it did exist at one point and people just don't know about it.

So like it could be a show that's canceled, a show that was on 20 years ago, I don't know.

Okay, so what show would I erase?

I mean, listen, I'm tempted to say Friends because it's made New York annoying to live in and because people, you know, tourists like to reference it.

The tiny buildings in there.

You know why?

It's because I feel like Friends is the show that every person from Europe or a different country uses to learn English.

And then it makes it easier for them to learn English and I feel embarrassed.

And so I think they shouldn't have that to fall upon.

They should have to learn English the same way I learned their language, which is badly from really bad public school teachers, even though teachers are amazing.

So what TV show would you rather they learn English from?

They should learn English from...

I'll say Staff Let's Flats because it's really wrong.

And I think that would be hilarious if a bunch of Italians and Greeks and Spanish people are going around saying things like, why is the floor made of wet?

Just in that kind of stumbling sort of English Greek way.

But also the English is, you know.

It's interesting that you didn't pick an American show because that most people learn, because obviously English is the dominant language of the word, but it's not because of us.

Before you start writing in, I'm not saying it's not colonial, the reason that people speak English in the world, I'm literally just talking about during this televisual era of the last 60 or so years.

It's kind of because of you guys, because America, it's the television era that everyone learned English by.

That's why you go to Singapore and everyone sounds American and they speak English.

It's very strange.

You go to Denmark, they don't.

They sound cockney.

They're like, hello, mate, look, what's going on?

Really?

Because they watch British TV.

It's very, it's very different.

But what I love about American English, is that a thing that people call it that?

Yeah, is that a thing?

Yeah, American English, yeah.

American English, yeah.

Unless you're in Arizona and the stickers are slightly different.

Yeah, but it's the new words for everything.

I'm not necessarily against it, but I'm always fascinated by it.

Like the sort of, you know, the old ones like portion control or whatever.

Don't be greedy, Captain.

There's like, you have these sort of new phrases for everything.

And I'm always fascinated when a new one comes around.

Is there any new ones on the way that we haven't got yet?

I mean, I feel like every language that, what's a phrase, I mean, American phrase that you like.

Well, it's not necessarily that I like them, but they sort of turn up, don't they?

Like, I just heard that suicide is now something like, it's not undead, that's the fucking law.

Oh, okay.

So we're talking kind of social media language.

So that's more of a kind of circumventing social media.

When I heard that, that made me laugh.

And then I was like, it's sad.

Yeah, that's a stupid one.

That's the, don't give the right wing ammunition to battle us all.

Stop saying stupid shit, you know, because they're so woke and then they get mad, gets involved.

But you have to give it to the Gen Z for coming up with these things to circumvent the censors, you know?

Yeah, that's clever.

That's clever.

I didn't realize that.

So there you go.

I've been educated.

I mean, I've learned so much language since coming here that I thought, I thought because I watch British TV, I'd be like, I know everything about what people are saying.

And then someone will come around and be like, oh, have you seen a punta?

And I'm like, what the punta?

Punta what?

And then I sound a fool, but...

You should come to where I live.

I live in Newcastle.

I think it's Philadelphia and somewhere in Canada, where they say use, use guys.

Yeah.

That comes from there.

They will say, how are you doing?

How are you doing?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, that's a definitely use in Philadelphia.

Can I squeeze one more question in, do you think?

I haven't been good faithful to the prompts at all.

And I'm sure they're really good questions.

Oh, no, don't you worry.

And also, I love, first of all, can I just say, I'm on TV podcast, something I say all the time to everyone is that TV is my hobby, TV is my passion.

Never been on it, but like, listen, I think that people think TV is a guilty pleasure, but I think it's the best art form we have as a society.

And that is not a podcast now.

No, I think that is absolutely right.

And I often say, if I was born in any other time, imagine being born when there's no TV.

No.

Imagine being born in like 1880.

I mean, here's the thing, I would just say the same exact thing about theater.

Well, I worked at theater for a very long time.

I worked on plays for about seven years.

I never worked on musicals.

I did work on musicals eventually, but plays on my bag, plays on my jam.

That's what I did.

And now I don't see any plays.

That's what happens.

I worked on opera.

I don't go to operas.

That's just how it works.

I'll give you one more question.

So now that you've said that, we will hit some bad TV.

So what is the worst TV program that you'll still let yourself watch?

Well, I mean, if it's a really bad TV program, I wouldn't be watching it, but I watch a lot of quote unquote bad TV.

I mean, I watch all the reality.

I'll watch Vanderpump Rules, but I think those shows are good if people are watching them.

You know what show is bad though that I put on sometimes that is awful?

Suits is terrible.

I might watch it for a bit.

And I can, I pride myself as someone who can watch almost anything.

I can derive enjoyment from the biggest piece of shit on TV.

I put this on and I was like, this was written by fifth graders.

This was written by five year olds.

Who like realized how to, it's just like all tropes mashed together into like one show.

It was so distressing to me.

It made me depressed.

I started watching it and I realized everyone was way too attractive.

Where they're all just, the TV shows, everyone's too attractive in American TV.

Everyone's fucking beautiful.

It's ridiculous.

And it's in Toronto pretending it's not Toronto.

Already annoying.

It's got a future Oprah's friend in it.

What bothers me about it, they're saying everything with the right inflection that if it was dramatic content, it would be good.

They're saying words that are meaningless and stupid in a way, in a dramatic, heartfelt, important way.

And then when you actually tune in and you listen to the words, you're like, wait, I don't even know anything about law.

No, no, no, it's actually a British show, isn't it?

Of course it is.

It's all written by Brits, directed by Brits, made with American money.

Okay, what about Yellow Jackets?

I did like Yellow Jackets, yeah, it was pretty good.

Lord of the Flies.

I couldn't finish it, that's the problem.

I was so obsessed with it, I was recommending to everyone, and then two episodes left, and I'm like, I...

It's just over-saturation, and there's so many things to see, and I want to be gripped by something.

I want to see something that definitely, I don't want it to feel like work, right?

I've done that with things in my life, like I love Tom Waits, but there's certain albums of his I don't like.

I'm never gonna like them, and I have to just be okay with that now.

Yeah.

I'm watching a show, and I'm already going, how many of these, or a new show comes out?

It's kind of all right, but it's not brilliant, and you think, I know these fuckers are gonna make five seasons of this.

Is this my life now, till 2030?

And it makes you feel like a quitter, and then how are you supposed to comment on it in polite society and talk about a show intelligently if you haven't finished it, and finished it, but it's-

I think they should bring a law in after the writer's strike, that all shows need to be a mini-series.

You get it, all the information, convey everything and fuck off.

Enough with this.

I think that would free a lot of people up.

And then they would move on to new ideas, yeah.

Okay, I like that.

Cause you went from your sort of friends, 26 episodes a year, you know, when we were doing six and everyone's like, oh, that's weird, the British model's strange, why did they only do six?

Quality did, quality.

Okay, but I will say one show that was actually quality to the end, that is underrated and people say it's cheesy, but it's actually brilliant is New Girl.

It's a show that I didn't watch when I was on TV cause I was like, lame.

But the writing is actually excellent and the acting of a couple of those actors is so good.

Like comedically, they are throwing out these little expressions and tics and just ways they say things.

And I'm like, this is a master class.

And there's so many episodes of that goddamn show.

I think I was watching Girls at the time and compared to that, it just seemed like a joke.

It looked like Disney, right?

And I don't usually get drawn to shows that are like, you know, also Zoe Duchenneau just bows in her hair.

I was like, I can't.

Yeah.

But I watched it, you know, for comfort.

And then I was like, brilliant.

I like it, weirdly.

I like all the people in it, but I've never seen it.

Yeah.

That's a little shined on.

Yeah, well, that's a treat.

You can treat yourself too.

Okay, thank you.

I'll try.

So do you live in New York?

You live in Brooklyn?

I do.

I live in Brooklyn.

I lived in Brooklyn for five years.

I lived in Bushwick first and then Prospect Heights.

Currently, I'm getting kicked off my lease in a month, so.

So I don't need to give you your address.

You don't want to get burgled.

Honestly, yeah.

I mean, I'm probably still going to be Brooklyn based, but who knows?

You know, I'm seeing the whole world around me now, and I don't know.

What I love about Brooklyn is even when you're in the nicest part of it, and you go down into the subway, it immediately looks like you're gonna get murdered.

Like it looks exactly the same as any other part of New York.

Yeah, it's all about the highs and lows.

I just figure if I watch Queer Eye with him, and Is It Cake, he'll get the message that everything's fine.

Yeah, absolutely.

Although I guess Queer Eye is the Disney version of Gays as well.

I know, yeah.

I finally see Karamo do another twerk and I fucking lose my shit.

That's why when I watch that show, you think about things that are gonna age badly, just those little bits in between.

It's gonna look so dated and very soon.

I know.

I know, but also it's just the exact kind of camp.

You know, it's like, it's so, so close to camp that I treat it that way and I love it.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Let's hear the name of your play one more time.

Yes, can I plug it?

So it's called The Temp.

The Temp, it's a play.

We're calling it Fleabag Meets the Office for the post-Great Resignation era.

This is a play that I wrote.

I'm trained in playwriting, but I'm mostly a sketch comic and writer in New York.

I wrote this play while working in advertising.

And basically, it's a story told by a campy actor type who's hired out one of these modern, cool millennial agencies to be a fake employee, to dress up the office who's all bummed out after the pandemic.

And basically, it's just about work.

Anyone who's ever had a job can relate to it, because it's just kind of about how jobs morph into our identity and how we're forced to care about them.

And it's a requirement now to have our job be our passion, and that sucks, and we're playing parts, and there's a lot of depth.

There's a lot of depth, but there's also a lot of jokes.

This is the longest ever I've pitched it, and I'm gonna keep going.

There's a lot of jokes.

It's packed with jokes, baby.

It's packed with jokes, but it's also got some hefty, gut-punchy little lines that make you think.

And you should come.

You should come if you love that pitch.

You should come if you hate that pitch, because it wasn't my best, and I'm working on it.

Sounds great.

I'm not gonna lie and say I've seen it, because I can't, because I'm leaving tomorrow before your next show, which is annoying.

But I'll definitely try and catch it at some other point.

It'll live on in your mind as the best show you've ever seen.

Thank you for coming on Television Times.

We barely talked about television, but that's all so fine.

And that's what I expected, and that's what I hoped, and that's amazing.

That's Kristina DeGiovanni there.

She was a real good fan to chat to, really easy.

I enjoyed that one, really good laugh.

And I really wish I got to see her play, actually.

I think it would be really neat, and I'm not interpaced, but she pitched it, and now I wanna see it, so there we are.

So that was the Edinburgh Fringe special.

I hope you enjoyed that.

Now, I'm not gonna talk much longer, because this one was quite long, eh?

So we're just gonna do an outro track now.

So for this one, I've picked the shortest song I have, and this is called Forever Dead, written in the late 90s.

This is the reprise.

So you get an idea, you get a flavor of the song.

It's quite theatrical, and I thought it would fit the Edinburgh Fringe special, because a lot of those people I spoke to were very theatrical.

So here we are, Forever Dead.

That was Forever Dead.

Thank you for listening to this Edinburgh special.

Next week, we'll be back to normal with just the one guest.

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All the links are available at the bottom of this podcast.

See you next week.