Performer: Gary Tro
Photograph by: Andy Hollingworth
Show: Gary Tro: Idoit
Venue: Just The Tonic at The Mash House (Just The Snifter Room)

Tell me about your Edinburgh show.

IDOIT is my brand-new stand-up comedy show, exploring the complexity of having confidence in who we are when we have so many conflicting personality traits…

…with wank jokes.

Tell me about your first gig.

I did five minutes, it was phenomenal! My career has been trying to chase that high!

Do you have any rituals before going on stage?

Pacing.

Tell me about your best and worst review.

I once got a scathing, scathing review. It was awful. The reviewer HATED me and absolutely ripped me a new one…. but gave the show 3/5 stars. It’s like they didn’t know 1 star was an option!

My best reviews are the ones where the reviewer just gives me their honest opinion…. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ah, I’m just yanking your chain. It’s when they call me a “comedy genius”! Which they do.

During this Edinburgh run, do you plan to read reviews of your show?

Sure. It’s arrogant to think anyone else is going to.

How do you feel about reviewers generally?

I like the ones that like me.

In April 2018, YouTube comedian, Markus Meechan (aka Count Dankula) was fined £800 for training his girlfriend’s pug dog to do a Nazi salute with its paw, in response to the phrase ‘Gas the Jews’. Do you believe Meechan committed a criminal offence, and why?  

What?? Are you actually asking this question?? Is this like a fidelity test to see if the other questions were answered by a spam-bot?

Are there any subjects that are not suitable for comedy?

Anything that punches down. Either punch up or punch yourself.

Have you ever gone too far?

Yeah, of course. It’s all part of finding your voice. I’d tell you what I said but it’s cringe-worthingly embarrassing.

Looking back over your time as a comedian, tell me about the best gig of your career.

My first ever Edinburgh Fringe show in 2011. It was a 3 hander with Tez Ilyas and Kate Lucas. Best summer of my life. I feel like I remember it with a Wonder Years nostalgic voiceover.