Performer: Ben Harrington Show: Little Drummer Boy Venue Laughing Horse @ 32 Below Little Cellar Time: 5.30pm Dates: 12th-20th August Photographer: Steve Best Links: Profile and Social Media
Tell me about your 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show.
My show is called Little Drummer Boy and it’s about the trials and tribulations of growing up as the youngest child in a competitive family of six. How I showed great promise as a drummer as a child but was directed into the academic route like my siblings. It’s a tale of sibling rivalry, being aspiring middle class, growing up in the black country and finding a new love in stand up comedy.
Tell me about your previous Edinburgh experiences
I’ve been coming to Edinburgh for the last 13 years as a punter but also as a performer. I did three split bills/compilations about 10 years ago and my first solo show last year for a short run.
Who inspires you?
I obviously love and admire a lot of great comics like Frank Skinner, Sean Lock and Stewart Lee, but I’m also a keen listener of music and a big fan of jazz drumming, my poster this year is an attempt to emulate some of the album covers from Blue Note series. So, I love people like Elvin Jones, Max Roach, Mitch Mitchell (Hendrix’s drummer) to name but a few.
I think drumming and comedy have a real cross over, don’t know why there’s just something about drummers!
How hard was it to get back on stage after the pandemic lockdown?
I wrote throughout lockdown and did a number of online gigs. They were nothing like the real thing, but it did mean I had to write and perform and that kept me going, so I didn’t struggle with going back.
Finally, ask and answer a question of your own.
Would you like to interview me for real?
I’d love to record an interview with you at some point in or around the fringe,
Tickets: Little Drummer Boy
