Tackling the Q&A today is Katie Pritchard

^{Picture: Karla Gowlett}

What’s the best bit of advice you’ve been ever been given from a seasoned comic? 

‘Never compare yourself to others.’ Such a useful piece of advice! You can then celebrate other people’s wonderful successes without feeling sad about your own journey being on a different route. Sometimes, it's not very easy to do, but that's probably why the advice is so bloody useful! 

And what has proved to be the least useful?

Come and see my show for this answer… OMG I am such a tease! You love it! I love you x

Is there one thing that keeps cropping up when people talk to you about Edinburgh in August? 

The only conversations I’ve been having about Edinburgh in August is a lot of people saying stuff like ‘anything could happen!!’ After the last two years, I guess none of us know exactly what it’ll be like, but that does feel exciting! 

What’s your favourite word that begins in ‘e’? 

It’s got to be ‘enigmatic’! I’ve never used it in a sentence before, but when I read it I’m like ‘wow, how did this person know how to use it in a sentence?’ 

Is there one act you absolutely HAVE to see in August? And why? 

Look, I’m going to really struggle to answer this question because there are so many shows that I want to see! I cannot wait to see everyone else doing their debut hour shows this year: there are so many talented and amazing comedians doing theirs and I hope to catch as many as possible.

One of those debut shows I am so excited to see is Sikisa with Life Of The Party because she is just so fantastic to watch onstage! I am also looking forward to seeing Jordan Gray’s Is It A Bird? Jordan is so so talented and hilarious, and I just love watching her perform!! I’ll definitely be off to watch Joz Norris’ Blink because I think he is such an incredible performer, and I cannot wait to see what he’s done this year. His show also co-stars Ben Target (who is directing my show) and the last show they worked on together was mind-blowingly wonderful. I also can’t wait to see Siân Davies’ About Time as well as Best In Class which Siân creates and curates as well. The line-up for Best In Class is absolutely fantastic!

And my final thing I will do here is list a few more people I can’t wait to go and see. You’ve asked for one, I’m saying that wasn’t enough for me! This list is by no means exhaustive, just a tiny tip of one giant iceberg of shows I’m excited to see, but here goes: Bilal Zafar, Elf Lyons, Leo Reich, Thanyia Moore, Sooz Kempner, Christian Brighty, Yuriko Kotani, Rosie Holt, Aaron Simmonds, Esther Manito, Jamie D’Souza, John Robertson, Huge Davies and Janine Harouni. If we bump into each other in the street, I’ll tell you some more recs! 

 Usually I prance around banging on about silly stuff like lettuce

Picture yourself in early September: what would constitute a successful Fringe for you? 

To be honest, I would just love to get on that sold-out board once, and to not have a cry by myself on a street corner in the middle of the third week. And if I can do both of those things, then I'm making myself a bloody badge! I get to perform at a venue I've been obsessed with for ages, working with a great team, and being directed by one of my favourites: Ben Target. I'm proper chuffed already. 

What percentage of your early stand-up performances is likely to appear in your Fringe debut? 

It’s a new show, written almost entirely over the last few years while we’ve not had too many festivals. Anyone who saw my 2019 show (it was a little 45-minute show called Storm Stud), you may recognize one song as that was the starting seed of the idea for this show; but that’s it! I’ve never written such a personal show before, usually I prance around banging on about really silly stuff like lettuce: I’m still doing the prancing and the silliness (obviously), but this year the silly stuff is a little bit more about me and a little bit less about the vegetable aisle at Tesco. I’m really excited that I get to perform this show for the Festival this year and that I get to work with such an amazing and dreamy team.

^{Picture Karla Gowlett}

Which other new comedian do you feel a special kinship with? And do you reckon it’s reciprocated? 

Rosie Holt is doing her show upstairs from me in the Attic at 6pm, which is directly above my Cellar venue. So, I’ve already let her know that I’ll be giving her a big thumbs-up before we go in to perform and giving her a double thumbs-up as we come out of our shows after. I’m not too sure how she feels about me and my aggressively positive thumbs being wafted at her twice a day, but I’m hoping that she’s into it? Aside from being obsessed with thumbs-upping Rosie each day, I think all of us doing our debuts should form a sort of cuddle club during the month. I don’t know if any of them are big fans of cuddling, or if they’ve already organised their hugs for the month, but I think it would be nice to have a little hug from the rest of the gang. We could cheer each other on and give high fives and go and cry in a corner together on Niddry Street. Perfect! 

Which side of your family do you get your funny bones from? 

I cannot answer this without getting in trouble from the other side because the other side of the family are proper scary, so I’m going to have to just say . . . all sides? I’m taking the odd metatarsal from my maternal grandparents, two tibias from my fraternal grandparents, a rib or four from my mum, and some elbows from my dad. Any other leftover bones that I didn’t mention I got from my sister and niece. There, I’m sure no one can possibly get mad. 

What will you do to keep fit and healthy (relatively speaking) during August? 

I’m training for a marathon in October (LOL) so, I’ll be out doing my cardio runs and strength training. And to be honest, Edinburgh is going to be great for that because of all those hills! (Sneaky donation plug because I’m running the marathon for the amazing charity Mind: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/katie-pritchard-run) 

Which word of six letters or more will crop up the most in your Edinburgh show?

‘Bonkers’? Wait, is this a word that I say, or a word that people call me after they’ve seen my show? If it’s the latter, it’s ‘bonkers’.

Katie Pritchard: Disco Ball, Pleasance Courtyard, 3–29 August, 6.05pm.