Performer: The Establishment
Photograph by: David Pickens
Show: Fool Britannia
Venue: Heroes @ Boteco
Promoter: Mad Etiquette

Tell me about your Edinburgh show.

You’re all on detention at Britain’s worst school, taunt the nervous supply teacher, bunk off PE and get caught smoking behind the bike sheds. We take you back to school where you will meet all the unusual teachers at this very progressive and archaic institution.

Tell me about your first gig.

Our first gig as the Establishment came from a germ of an idea we had, to go on stage in bowler hats and say ‘I know where I’m going’ and from there we just improvised. Surprisingly it went went well and now we can’t stop.

Do you have any rituals before going on stage?

We have a few games we play if we have time, but to be honest we are just panicking, and trying to find props we’ve lost.

Tell me about your best and worst review.

Best review, hard to say, we had a lovely one from Kate Kopstick last year. Worst review, theres a few bad ones out there, can’t think of a specific one. I’m probably in denial.

How do you feel about reviewers generally?

I think feedback is important and useful if its constructive.

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?  

I don’t think politicians, or the authorities should be deciding what is funny or not. I haven’t seen this video, but comedy material taken out of context is often misunderstood.

Are there any subjects that are not suitable for comedy?

I don’t think so. Comedy is hard, I think often when it is good it exists on the brink of what is and what isn’t acceptable socially, so its easy to cross the line.

Have you ever gone too far?

I fell asleep on the Piccadilly line and ended up a Cockfosters. Never again.

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

We have a show we regularly do on a canal boat in London called the Butty, this is possible one the most fun shows we do, maximum capacity about 25 people.