Nina Gilligan’s brilliant show Goldfish challenges expectations of older women and lays bare some of the exploitation that happens within the comedy industry. Don’t worry -it’s also very funny with a lot of cracking jokes
Tell us about your show. Why should we go and see it?
Goldfish is a show about memory loss – about things I can remember and things I wish I could forget.
I suffer from memory loss from a chronic health condition, but the show is more about why women are not believed either when it comes to their health or in the criminal justice system and I have had experience of both. I think this show will resonate with anyone who has ever felt not taken seriously or felt gaslighted.
It’s funny, relatable, self-deprecating with plenty of laughs but has a serious message.
What makes you laugh?
Real life. Ordinary conversations crack me up. My Mum is my muse; the stuff she says makes me howl. Northern working-class women and their mix of banality, turn of phrase and self-deprecation is the chef’s kiss for me.
I was out in a garden centre with my Mum a couple of months ago, she talks to strangers all the time and, she got into a conversation with another woman and they were talking about how she wasn’t getting the vaccine as her friends husband got it and ‘His feet stopped working, she asked him to go to Tesco’s and his feet stopped working’ This still makes me laugh every time I think about it, you couldn’t write that.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
Demonstrative, Observational, Acerbic
I move a lot. I remember a promoter in the early days saying you should stand still but I find that hard. I make a lot of facial expressions; my body likes to act out. I get giddy.
I make a lot of observations, but they can get very gritty and real; a comedian friend said I had an ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’ and I took that as a huge compliment.
Do you have nerves about going on stage and how do you cope with them.
I do get nervous, but it depends on the gig. If it is a club, I know and love then less so. I will be nervous for this show as it is very new work. I am not at all scared of being on stage, I am scared that the material will not be well received. I try to remind myself that I am there to entertain the audience and that they want to be there. I have a little ritual where I peak at the audience before I go on and silently, I say in my head ‘I love you’. I want to set up a dynamic of love and respect before I perform rather than conflict. It is so important to try and connect with an audience as stand up is a two-way street.
What’s your idea of a perfect Fringe feast and where will you eat it?
I really love a home cooked meal as I end up living on street food if I am not careful. My son lives in Edinburgh and is a brilliant cook and stages interventions with healthy meals. A bowl of his pho soup is my ideal meal with noodles and fresh veg. If I do eat street food than a pancake in Teviot square.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
I think they will think about how women’s memory is perceived when it comes to health and criminal justice.
When did you first realise you were born to be on stage?
I was watching ‘An Inspector Calls’ I was 11 years old and I was at high school. My brain lit up and I knew I wanted to be on stage and do what they were doing, I later found out this was called acting. I had an incredible mentor called Mrs Thomas who had been a catholic missionary, but she was passionate about the arts, and she took us to the most avant-garde events you can imagine; groups of kids from a working-class suburb in Manchester watching Brecht and performance art at age 14. She died this year; she was 90 and I can honestly say she changed the course of my life and many others.
Why do you think Edinburgh Fringe is so important to performers and artists around the world?
It’s the biggest trades show on earth for the arts. There isn’t anywhere else quite like it. There are no guarantees at Edinburgh that you will win an award or receive any industry recognition at all but the audiences if you can get them in are fantastic and an opportunity to do a run of that length can really improve you as a performer.
How do you plan to relax and enjoy the city when you’re not performing.
I will go and watch some theatre away from comedy to switch off and spend time with my son. I love shopping and they have great little secondhand shops and independent boutiques in Edinburgh, I generally come home with more than I went with.
Who is your showbiz idol and why?
This is such a hard question as I have so many, now I am obsessed with Dolly Parton. I am a woman of a certain age. Her career, how prolific she is, single-minded, working class…I could go on. I believe she is an incredible role model for the over 40’s woman.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
A packed room, every joke lands…you walk back to your digs and in a quiet moment of reflection you smile and feel satisfied…it was worth it.
Nina Gilligan: Goldfish: 20.40, Just the Tonic Sub-Atomic at the Nucleus
