Fringe audiences love a good story and Kevin James Doyle has a great story to tell. The stand up is also an expert chess player who has been flown around the world by millionaire fans keen to improve their game. His show After Endgame, at Just the Tonic combines his love of storytelling, comedy and chess.
Tell us about your show and why should we go and see it?
I started teaching chess around the same time I started doing stand up twelve and a half years ago, I have taught more than 6500 chess lessons. This show is the culmination of everything I have learned about the game of chess and how it applies to life. Just last year I was flown by a wealthy investor to Singapore to teach millionaires and billionaires how to play chess. I went from performing a ten minute set in a basement for 15 people to a a first class flight, private yachts and million dollar business deals over expensive dinners. I love storytelling and this story was as wild a story as I have ever lived through. It is funny, it’s educational for the chess novice or expert and it was as much a rollercoaster living through it as it is to tell it each night.
There are a lot or larger than life people I met that are in this show and all I can say is I learned some big lessons…I am excited to pass them onto an audience and laugh a little about this chapter of my life
What makes you laugh?
Friends telling stories at a restaurant or a campfire or around the table during the holidays. My sisters, my mom, my friends, my uncle, I think the close people in my life are so funny, the purity of a great story told among friends and family is the best type of laughter you can’t pay to experience it. You just have to be lucky enough to have close friends and family and be close with hilarious people.
What three words best describe your performance style – and why?
Twists and Turns! I get so excited when I get to tell a true story that happened to me with all of its ups and downs. I love jokes and a good punchline but taking an audience on a journey with all its unexpected plot twists is what I love most. Getting flown first class to Singapore to teach millionaires and billionaires how to play chess doesn’t come without some drama. A lot of drama.
Do you have nerves about going on stage and how do you cope with them?
My nerves come in the weeks leading up to a show but having the show on the calendar is the only thing that makes you write it. In the 5 minutes before the show I calm down when I can peak out and see people in their seats and chatting to one another and buying drinks. Then the nerves fade away and I get excited to go out and talk to them and make them laugh.
What’s your idea of a perfect Fringe feast and where will you eat it?
Freshly fried fish and chips in a newspaper that I take over to the Meadows is the perfect Fringe Feast. It is a close tie between that and a crepe at 3:30 am after everything else is closed except for the Crepe truck in George Square but the crepes in France are better so I have to give the edge to the fish and chips.
How will your audience think/feel differently after an hour in your company?
I just had a few shows in Nashville, Tennessee and a group of guys were in the audience and after they said “I didn’t know you could learn so much at a comedy show, about chess and about my life.” I was blown away because when I saw them I was nervous they wouldn’t be into the show because it’s not JUST stand up comedy. But that is exactly what I hope people take away from this show a rollercoaster ride of a story that makes you think about what is most important in life by the end.
When did you first realise you were born to be on stage?
In eighth grade I auditioned for the school play instead of the basketball team and I got the role of Charlie Brown. I thought that was the moment I realised I wanted to be on stage and then we were going through some old home videos and there was a video of me in second grade in the talent show. I had gotten a ventriloquist dummy and wrote an entire original comedy act when I was only seven or eight years old. So it’s been in me for a while. And I have to be honest, those jokes from age seven were not bad!
Why do you think Edinburgh Fringe is so important to performers and artists around the world?
As we head into adulthood we lose the summer camp, summer break rhythm. Fringe feels like getting to do summer camp as adults, while doing something we are all incredibly passionate about. There is nothing like doing what you love, meeting new people from around the world doing the same thing. It all adds up to a completely thrilling and unique experience, that is not to say there aren’t some low moments as well, but that just adds to the thrill of it all, it’s like a month long marathon you run with artists from around the world. It’s a beautiful thing.
How do you plan to relax and enjoy the city when you’re not performing?
My routine is important, so I will write in my journal in the Meadows most days and besides that I want to see as many shows as possible. I love seeing what other people are creating, that is what makes the month so exciting is getting outside your own show and your own jokes and interests and seeing how many brilliant people are trying to make an amazing show.
Who iS your showbiz idol and why?
Tom Waits, I saw him on David Letterman when I was in middle school and I was almost scared. It wasn’t until high school a friend of mine gave me one of his albums and I remembered hearing that cookie monster voice. I have seen him live three times and I love his music, his aura, his interviews. Everything about him is completely original from his own wild mind and insane imagination. He reminds me that the coolest thing you can do is be yourself in whatever weird way it manifests itself.
What is your idea of a perfect Fringe moment?
Walking around the city at 5am after having seen three shows in a day and late drinks and dancing and seeing the sun come up with some friends you just met a few days prior. You don’t want to see the sun come up too many nights but at least once.
https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/kevin-james-doyle-after-endgame
