A former winner of the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality Michael Brunström is known for mind bendingly brilliant comedy shows on the most obscure topics.
Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
It’s a comedy show about the sixteenth-century astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who proposed a heliocentric model of the solar system. You should go out of natural human curiosity as to why I think this subject is funny.
What makes you laugh?
Anything unexpected or unscriptable that transforms a comic idea into a charged experience unique to a particular performance.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
Baffled. More often than not, I have no idea why I have made any particular creative choice, or why the people are laughing at me.
Solicitous. I will never ask anyone what they do for a living and then mock their job.
Overambitious. A disappointed reviewer wrote recently that I reach too quickly for ‘the sublime’.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
Their minds will soar like mighty condors borne aloft on wings of hope.
Do you have nerves about going on stage and how do you cope with them.
I am always nervous before performing. To focus the nerves, I like to examine the faces of the audience while they’re taking their seats, and try to gauge how curious, excited and amused they want to be.
What’s your idea of a perfect Fringe feast and where will you eat it?
I don’t mind what the cuisine is, but to be in with a chance of being perfect, it must be home-cooked and shared with Fringe friends.
When did you first realise you were born to be on stage?
The older I get, the clearer it becomes that I lack the patience and discipline to make anything tangible or lasting, and that curating ephemeral moments of joy on stage is the only viable sluice I have for my creativity.
Why do you think Edinburgh Fringe is so important to performers and artists around the world?
For me personally, it’s the chance to delight in creative freedom by performing daily in front of the keen kind of audience that is both discerning and open-minded. But the true importance of the Edinburgh Fringe can only be calculated in terms of the number of different answers to that question.
How do you plan to relax and enjoy the city when you’re not performing.
I’m staying in Trinity, overlooking the Firth of Forth. I plan to gaze at water, listening to the cries of seagulls and feeling all weird and tearful.
Who is your showbiz idol and why.
To be honest, I don’t idolize showbusiness or its people. I’m just happy to have the opportunity to do this, whatever the hell this is.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
Arriving just in time for the start of a show, out of breath, sweaty and soaked, having dashed between venues in the rain.
Michael Brunstrom: Copernicus Now, 15:00, Hoots@Potterow Big Yurt
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/michael-brunstrom-copernicus-now
Michael Brunström is a past winner of the Malcolm Hardee Award for Comic Originality
