ED2022 Comedy ED2022 Interviews ED2022 Preview Edition

Alice Brine: Brinestorm

By | Published on Friday 17 June 2022

Here at ThreeWeeks we look forward with anticipation to the arrival at edfringe of new companies and artists each year, and to seeing their early works. That being the case, we always have our eye out for new blood.

One act making her first edfringe appearance this year rather caught my eye because of the theme she’ll be covering in her debut hour. That comedian is New Zealand export Alice Brine and her show ‘Brinestorm’ is partly focused on her own experiences of having ADHD.

I spoke to her to find out more about the show, about how ADHD affects her, and what to expect from her in the future.

CM: Let’s start with what to expect from the show – what sort of stuff do you talk about in it?
AB: It’s a mixture of wild observational comedy and true storytelling. Because I’ve got ADHD, a lot of the stories seem so ridiculous that they can’t possibly be real, but they are, I’m just that fucked.

I don’t think people fully understand how insanely impactful ADHD is on daily life, so I’m shedding some light on that.

CM: What made you decide to cover these themes in a Fringe show?
AB: They say write what you know, and I know I have full blown ADHD, so we went with that.

CM: How does it feel to make these life stories public like this? Are they all entirely autobiographical?
AB: Fifty percent of the show is observational and the other half is true autobiographical stories about situations I’ve got myself into. One of the main ADHD symptoms is chronic oversharing, so I’m extremely comfortable talking about this, I dgaf.

CM: I know through personal experience that ADHD can be a really difficult thing to live with. How do you cope with its impact day to day?
AB: Two words: prescription drugs.

CM: Does ADHD affect your performance style?
AB: Yes it does and I love it. I’m very much an on-the-spot comedian. I’ve found myself in situations where I’ve got the light to get off stage and I haven’t even started my set yet because I’ve been too distracted having fun, chatting shit with the crowd.

I have a show called ‘Peak Davidson’ where I literally just spin a wheel of subjects suggested to me by the audience and riff off that. It’s my favourite way of doing stand-up. Once this hour in Edinburgh is done I’m hoping to only do riff-comedy until I die.

CM: This is your debut show at the Fringe, but have you been to the festival before?
AB: I am an absolute Edinburgh martian. I’ve done the New Zealand and Australian festivals but then I moved over to London and was hit with a pandemic so never got the chance to do Edinburgh until now.

I have no idea what to expect from the festival but I am really excited about hanging out with my comedy friends and getting five star reviews and back to back sold out crowds.

CM: What made you decide to bring this show to the Fringe?
AB: Basically it seems to be this thing I need to tick off a list in order to book TV spots. So I’m hoping to get on ‘QI’ or at least ‘Strictly’ once this is done.

CM: What are you most looking forward to about your time in the Scottish capital this summer?
AB: Snogging international comedians.

CM: Tell us a bit about your past now: how have you ended up becoming a performer? Was this always what you wanted to do?
AB: Since I was just wee I’ve been writing and performing. I used to write speeches for fun and I’d write stories all weekend. On my eighth birthday I asked for a stapler so I could turn my stories into books and I was beyond thrilled with it. From there it just escalated.

I would arrive at my school principal’s office every time there was an assembly and beg her to let me put on a one woman show in front of the whole school. I did this multiple times before I even turned eleven.

I just knew I loved making a crowd of people laugh. I was born without the stage fright gene. I’ve just never been nervous talking to a crowd. It just doesn’t register in my brain as something to fear.

Eventually I did a theatre degree and immediately started working in an insurance call centre. After two years of that my best friend Emily slapped me across the face and said “Bitch, go and do an open mic spot or else”, so I did, and the rest is history.

CM: You’ve already won awards – do you think they’ve had an impact on the progression of your career?
AB: Definitely not.

CM: What hopes and ambitions do you have for the future?
AB: Netflix special, heaps of money, dying peacefully before the world burns from climate change.

CM: What’s coming up next for you after this?
AB: Fingers crossed ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, if not I’m gonna start an OnlyFans, stay tuned.

Alice Brine performed ‘Brinestorm’ at Gilded Balloon Teviot at Edinburgh Festival 2022.

LINKS: twitter.com/AliceBrine

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