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Quick Quiz: Andrew Doyle

By | Published on Saturday 12 August 2017

This August the Edinburgh Festival celebrates its 70th anniversary. To mark the occasion, we have asked a plethora of performers about their personal Fringe experiences. Today Andrew Doyle, co-writer of the Jonathan Pie reports, accomplished playwright and, of course, a very fine stand-up.

TW: What was you first ever experience of the Edinburgh Fringe?
AD: My first experience of the Fringe was thanks to my then boyfriend, who thought it would be a good idea for us to spend a week at the festival. We saw a range of shows, the best of which was an absurdist physical theatre piece about Hell. As a gay Catholic, I enjoyed seeing a glimpse of what will doubtless be my eventual fate.

TW: What’s the best thing you’ve ever seen performed at the Fringe?
AD: In 2009, I met the writer, singer and actor Marsha Hunt, who performed a show called ‘Sex With Jimi Hendrix’ at the Assembly Rooms. It was an inspiring show, not least because of Marsha’s incredible passion for her subject matter. She also invited a friend of mine to smash up an electric guitar on stage, which was a bonus.

TW: What’s the worst thing you’ve ever seen performed at the Fringe – so bad it was good?
AD: I don’t remember what it was called, but it was a devised student production about a psychotic florist who was trapped in a loveless marriage. Eventually, she smashed up all her crockery and used the shards to stab her husband to death. The plot was incoherent, the acting was terrible, and I loved every minute of it.

TW: Which of the Fringe shows you performed in do you most fondly remember – and why?
AD: I have no fond memories of performing stand-up. It’s just not something I can feel ‘fondly’ about. It’s a job that draws on all my worst qualities: an odd combination of self-hatred and narcissism, neither of which ought to be encouraged.

TW: Name a Fringe performer – past or present – who you’d like to join on stage? 
AD: The ones I’d most like to appear with are no longer alive, so it seems unlikely. I’m thinking of Robin Williams, Bert Jansch, Maria Callas… I know that Callas was technically in the International Festival, but I’d like to think that, if I were on board, it would have degraded the show sufficiently to qualify as “fringe”.

TW: Other than performing and seeing shows, what is your favourite thing to do in Edinburgh during August?
AD: Casual sex with Scotsmen.

Andrew Doyle performed ‘Thought Crimes’ at The Stand at Edinburgh Festival 2017.

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