ThreeWeeks readers may be aware of the high esteem in which we hold the three creative, clever and funny people behind the Festival Of The Spoken Nerd shows. And if so, you can probably imagine the delight with which we responded to the news that one member of that outfit, funny mathematician Matt Parker, is in Edinburgh this summer with a solo show.
'Humble Pi' is a kind of accompaniment (he'll explain further down) to his fab-sounding book of the same name. I spoke to him to find out more about the show and the book, about what it's like to be flying solo this time, and what to expect from him in the future.
CLICK HERE to read today's Caro Meets interview.
Matt Parker performs 'Humble Pi' at Pleasance Dome from 31 Jul-26 Aug. Listing here.
Find out where to pick up a copy HERE or read it all online HERE.
This summer we are asking some of our favourite Fringe people to offer their advice - sometimes sensible, sometimes silly - for getting the most out of the Edinburgh Festival in eight steps, by answering our eight quick quiz questions. Today, it's comedian Ian Smith on hand with the tips.
CLICK HERE to read today's TW:DIY interview.
Ian Smith is performing 'Half-Life' at Underbelly from 31 Jul-25 Aug.
THREE ACTIVISTS >>
Sam Haygarth: Climate Crisis | Just The Tonic at The Mash House | 1-25 Aug
"Sam Haygarth was arrested recently. This is a show about being an activist. About melting ice caps and rising sea levels. About going to protests and not telling your parents. About the future. About the past. About why we must rebel". Yes, I know what you are all thinking. "She missed this one off the section on climate change and now she's trying to sneak it into a different one". To be fair, that is exactly the sort of thing I would do, so I honestly don't blame you for thinking it. You are wrong though. I chose Sam Haygarth for this section because Sam Haygarth is an activist. A funny one. Listing here.
DeRay McKesson | Charlotte Square Gardens | 11 Aug (pictured)
There will be quite a lot of the sort of people you might call activists over at the Edinburgh International Book Festival this August. Indeed, there is a whole strand entitled 'Power To The People'. The inspirational DeRay McKesson is the selector of that strand, as well as being the focus of his own event. Back in 2014, he quit his job and moved to Ferguson, Missouri to join protests against the police shooting of unarmed African American teenager Michael Brown Jr. He spent 400 days on the streets as an activist, and helped bring about the Black Lives Matter movement. He'll be talking to Lauretta Charlton about his book 'On The Other Side Of Freedom'. Listing here.
Sajeela Kershi: Fights Like A Girl! | The Stand's New Town Theatre | 2-12 Aug
"Multi award-winning comedian/activist, putting up her dukes and picking her battles! Trump, terrorists and everything in between. Time to call out the bullshit! What will you fight for?" Hurrah, it's Sajeela Kershi, entirely brilliant woman, who brings 'Fights Like A Girl' back to the Fringe for a short but no doubt fabulous run. She's an award winner, a fabulous raconteur, and her warm, engaging and thought-provoking stories are guaranteed to entertain. Listing here.
THREE EXHIBITIONS >>
Deer Dancer | Edinburgh Printmakers | 1-25 Aug (pictured)
Artist, composer and performer Hanna Tuulikki is behind this ambitious multi artform project, which investigates how deer imitations are used in traditional dance forms, specifically in the Yaqui Deer Dance in Mexico and Arizona, the Highland Fling in Scotland and the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance in Staffordshire, England. It seems that the use of deer behaviours in such dances has something to say about gender performance and hetero-masculinity, which is all very intriguing, if not terribly surprising. Listing here.
Prisoners Or Patients? Criminal Insanity in Victorian Scotland | National Records Of Scotland | 1-26 Aug
Well, if we're honest, this - on the face of it - might sound a bit grim. On the other hand, I think there are many out there for whom this will sound incredibly interesting. As you may have gathered by now, this exhibition tells the stories of Victorian-era prisoners who suffered from mental illness and impairment, from all backgrounds and circumstances. It's been put together by guest curator Rab Houston of the University Of St Andrews and offers an examination of the personal histories of crime, recovery and release recorded in the archives of the National Records Of Scotland. Potentially highly revealing and definitely fascinating.
Zimbabwe Sculptures | Assembly George Square | 31 Jul-26 Aug
One of the reasons I like to recommend a few exhibitions every year is because they can be quite handy to fit in between your scheduled list of performed shows, especially if they are conveniently located. This one is going to prove pretty handy in that respect because it's right at the heart of the Fringe, and you could easily squeeze it in after a show at any one of a number of prominent nearby venues. Anyway, it's a collection of brilliant stone sculptures from Zimbabwe, inspired by natural and spirit life, and created by a mixture of both young and established artists. Listing here.
THREE AMERICAN CLASSICS >>
Of Mice And Men | Gilded Balloon Teviot | 31 Jul-26 Aug (pictured)
There's always loads of brand new and edgy stuff to partake of at the Fringe, but what about the classics? Isn't there a place for them? Well, yes there is, as is evidenced by the fact that there are always well attended stagings of works by the likes of Mr Shakespeare and Mr Wilde in Edinburgh each August. But I thought that, if we're honouring some favourites, we might go with a US theme this time, not least because of this excellent telling of John Steinbeck's acclaimed story. It's back at the Festival after achieving critical acclaim here in 2015, and we are really pleased to see it again. Listing here.
The Pat Hobby Stories | Gilded Balloon Teviot | 31 Jul-26 Aug
Source material you may not necessarily have come across, but definitely a classic author. LA-born actor Paul Birchard brings to life F Scott Fitzgerald's collection of stories, published in Esquire Magazine from 1940-41, about a down and out and alcoholic Hollywood screenwriter whose heyday has passed with the advent of 'talkies'."Pat Hobby, script hack who was hot when the movies were dumb, lurches from job to job, managing by luck and low cunning to more or less avoid the abyss of unemployment and despair". Expect something funny and highly evocative of 1930s tinsel-town. Listing here.
Well That's Oz | Venue 13 | 3-24 Aug
This one, as you might have worked out from the name of the show, is somewhat related to another classic novel from a US Author, 'The Wizard Of Oz' by L Frank Baum. However, I don't anticipate this show being, um, anything like traditional in its portrayal of that story, as it's an "absurdist adaptation" describing itself as a dark comedy. But you know, I like the idea of taking 'The Wizard Of Oz' and making a dark comedy out of it: after all, Baum's original works have some pretty dark moments in them. In this version, Scarecrow, Tin Man and Lion confront their existential struggles, while Dorothy tries to help but can't rise above the "dismal truth of the land of Oz". Listing here.
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