Show: Emily Wilson: Fixed Venue Pleasance Courtyard Time: 10.25pm Dates: 3rd to 29th August (not 17th) Photographer: Dylan Woodley
Hi Emily. Tell me about your 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show, Fixed.
Hello! Fixed is my one-woman comedy show about my journey on the singing competition show The X Factor when I was 15. I auditioned for the show in a duo with my best friend Austin (who was deep in the closet, and I was tragically in love with). We went in confident as ever, sure that we would be the next big thing, but it turned out the judges loved Austin and hated me. Are you jealous? Yeah, not surprised. It was a really cool thing to experience, especially at an age when I didn’t even have my first period yet. I know what you’re thinking: No period? But Emily, you were fifteen… and to that I say: I know, right? Like truly, what took so long?
Despite this, the judges still sent us through to Hollywood as a duo. And the rest, well… you’ll have to come see the show to find out. The story actually only gets more ridiculous, if you can believe it.
Fixed is an ode to my younger self, and all of our younger, cringier selves who are painful to look back on. It is also a bouncy little trip back to early 2010s entertainment culture via stand-up, music and archival footage.
After sold out runs in New York and L.A, Fixed is your Edinburgh Festival Fringe debut. Have you visited Edinburgh before? What have you heard about the city? What are your expectations of the Fringe?
I visited Edinburgh when I was a 19-year-old NYU student spending a semester in Italy, constantly on the hunt for booze and long weekends in nearby countries. I absolutely loved my 72-hours in Edinburgh, and I cannot wait to be back & have more haggis! I’ve heard the most exciting and intense things about the Fringe – that it is incredibly fun, nonstop, exhausting, thrilling and memorable. I expect to learn a lot, make new friends and see as many other shows as physically possible, all while remaining in good health. Although I am doubtful about that last one. I’ve already begun overdosing on Vitamin C in preparation.
You talk a lot of your personal life on stage. How easy is it to share so much with strangers?
Honestly, I’ve always been an open book. But creating this show was a new and vulnerable experience. This story is so genuinely embarrassing for me, and was something I never spoke about or alluded to ever, essentially up until writing this show. Even now, after months of performing the show, I internally shiver at some of the footage that plays during it. But, in my opinion, the vulnerability that comes with sharing this story is what makes it funny, real and so sincerely my own, and what (hopefully) allows people to connect to and laugh at it. I also am used to exposure because I am a nude model on the side, which is of course not true. I have always wanted to try that though.
You’re huge on both Instagram and TikTok. Tell me about that.
This is generous! I love making videos and making people laugh and feel good. The process is super fun too: it’s exciting to think of a character or situation, write out a bunch of jokes, shoot them on my phone and cut it all together. And call me basic, but I also love a good ol’ face-to-camera Instagram story rant. During COVID lockdown I’d go on morning walks every day and yap about something or other on my Instagram story. To this day people DM me “I miss your walks” and I’m like really? That’s the thing we’ve latched onto? Come to my damn show if you really “miss my walks.” Just kidding. I love everyone and I should honestly get more steps in every day.
Finally, ask and answer a question of your own.
Emily, what is your greatest fear about doing this show?
Great question, Emily! I actually don’t have any. Not a single bone in my body is nervous about presenting my life story to strangers in a different country for 25 nights in a row. In fact, I was actually born without fear – the doctors called me “the fearless miracle.” They ran tests and everything, and the results came back that I am 100% fearless. It’s a really cool trait, and a lot of people are jealous of me for it.
Tickets: Emily Wilson: Fixed
