Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
During the pandemic in Singapore, I was asked by my government to teach public educational panels about love and sex. My show is basically a report of everything we learned, we’ve got love languages, a virginity guessing game, and if you can believe it, a love story at the core of everything. Also, I’m giving away free condoms, so take the show as a comedy foreplay for your evening in the boudoir.
What are your hopes and dreams for the Fringe?.
I just really want to win one of those Edinburgh Comedy Awards, I really feel this year is my year! I’m sure nothing has happened to them at all, and I’m totally excited to read this article I saw about it after I finish this interview. I’m sure it’s about them increasing the prize money, for sure!
What makes you laugh?
The dumbest things. I like a great stand-up show, but you show me videos of cats falling backwards and I am ENTHRALLED for an hour. Seriously, why has no one done a Fringe show where it’s just an hour of clips of cats doing silly things? That would make so much money and sell out and have extra shows added. And then you’d learn one of the kittens is now a Nazi or something.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why.
Acceptable, HSE Approved.
I have always structured my comedy to be responsible for the encouragement, regulation and enforcement of workplace health, safety and welfare, and for research into occupational risks in Great Britain.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
I do hope they like the show, and also walk away with a better understanding of both love and sex. I’ve had multiple people tell me they still talk about their love languages with their partners even months after watching the show, which really warms my heart. Education into this is very limited, even in a world where information is but a click away, and if an hour with me gives them the resources to make a better life and love together, well I’d be so lucky to have done that.
What kind of shows – apart from your own – are you looking forward to seeing at the Edinburgh Fringe?
Grubby Little Mitts: Hello, Hi, Blood on the Clocktower Live, Alison Spittle: Soup, Cabaret Impedimenta, Michelle Brasier: Reform, and hopefully finally after many years and festivals, be able to catch the murder mystery improv show.
The cost of living is a big issue this year – will it make this Fringe more challenging?
It already has, not just for performers, but for support staff, hospitality workers and also tourists. We’ve also seen the number of performers fall from last year, and more shows doing partial runs. The Fringe has always been a place where anyone can try to make something or make it, an open door to all, but now there’s a toll at the door, and I fear this is going to make the art less diverse.
What do you predict will emerge as the big themes of this year.
Cost of living crisis, Tory bashing, improv shows that end up doing a BoJo impersonation within the first 5 minutes, performers praying for no more train strikes on the weekends. Also, a godawful number of shows with ChatGPT in it.
Who is your showbiz idol and why.
Paul F Tompkins. The man is the renaissance man of comedy, excelling in the fields of stand-up, sketch and improv comedy. Beloved by everyone in the industry, sharp dresser and still sell tickets on his Tumblr. One can only dream of selling tickets on a platform originally made for furry fan art and WhoLock slash fan fiction.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
The classic being up late, drunk off your mind in one of the artists bars, and hearing a commotion in the corner as your friend turns to you to say ‘Oh don’t mind that, that’s just XXX off the telly fighting with Emmy award winning actor XXX. They do this EVERY year’. You turn to your friend and then your realizes that he has been on Netflix three times, and you just did a show to five men and a dog before this. You don’t worry though, because you know in your heart, you’re definitely winning one of those Edinburgh Comedy Awards.
Sam See: Government Approved Sex
19:15
Laughing Horse @ The Counting House (Venue 170)
August 3-27
Free, https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/sam-see-government-approved-sex
