Show: Michelle Kalt: God Hates You Venue: Just the Tonic at the Caves – Just up the Stairs Time: 1.05pm Dates: 4th-28th August (not 15th) Photographer: Tim Hughes Links: Profile and Social Media
Please tell me about your 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show.
The show is about the time I went through a very Swiss (= obnoxiously peaceful) break-up and, specifically, about what happened afterwards. You see, my boyfriend of seven years and I broke up in 2019 at Christmas time, and my plan was to spend the spring of 2020 backpacking and doing yoga in a faraway exotic place (think Sri Lanka, Laos, or Coventry) in order to “find myself” – and find myself I did indeed, just in my living room. So instead of practising headstands and having an affair with a ukulele-playing hippie, I helped my ex set up this Tinder profile and started dating an accountant. And that was just the beginning of the story.
What is the attraction of performing at the Edinburgh Fringe? What do you think of Edinburgh?
I consider the Edinburgh Fringe the ultimate “comedy bootcamp” – there is no better way of learning how to write, produce and perform a solo show than by writing, producing, and performing a solo show every day, for an entire month! I’ve attended the Edinburgh Fringe twice as very, very new comedian and both times attended a dizzying number of solo shows. I watched some of the most incredible comedy I’ve ever seen in Edinburgh, and the quality, especially in some debut hours, was dazzling. It was clear that I wanted to bring my own show there as soon as I would be able to do so. I absolutely cannot wait to be part of the festival and to experience the full range of emotions that come with being an artist at the festival (both good and bad 😊).
Who inspires you?
My friend and fellow comedian Chris Darwa (also doing his first solo show this year!) for his incredible work ethic, his undying love of comedy, and his endless sense of adventure, Fern Brady because of her distinct voice and how she uses it, and Rhys Nicholson for his insane, insane, INSANE joke writing.
Are there other shows you want to check out during the Fringe? What are they?
Too many to mention but – Fern Brady: Autistic Bikini Queen, Rhys Nicholson: Rhys! Rhys! Rhys!, Joe Wells: I Am Autistic, Sarah Keyworth: Lost Boy, Ania Magliano: Absolutely No Worries if Not, Helen Bauer: Madam Good Tit, Lara Ricote: GRL/LATNX/DEF, Abigoliah Schamaun: Legally Cheeky, Lauren Pattison: It Is What It Is, Sophie Duker: Hag, Sara Barron: Hard Feelings, Maisie Adam: Buzzed, and Tom Houghton’s WIP.
Finally, ask and answer a question of your own.
What’s your most embarrassing personality trait?
The fact that I get to live in a progressive society in 2022 where no one judges my sexual preferences, and yet my biggest “kink” is… when someone wears a well-fitting FFP2 mask. Ugh.
Tickets: Michelle Kalt: God Hates You
