Written by Susan Ford
Laura Lexx is a wonderful comedian; she is feisty, funny and sharp. Lasy year’s show ‘Lovely‘ was a big hit with Punchline, and it gives me great pleasure knowing she is back again at the Edinburgh Festival with her show ‘Tyrannosaurus Lexx’. It is also very exciting that I got to speak with Laura about her new show, kicking off Punchline’s pre-festival coverage to get all us all in the good spirit of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2016.
Hello Laura, how are you
I’m very well thank you – I’ve just been out to my balcony and my tomato plant is now taller than me. It was about 4cms when I bought it so I’m feeling extremely smug.
Are you excited about performing at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year?
Yes, the performances are always brilliant fun in Edinburgh. That buzz of people having sought you ought specifically (or accidentally) and trusting an hour of their holiday over to you is incomparable for me.
What do you enjoy most about the Edinburgh Festival?
City Restaurant Maxi Breakfast. There is no finer breakfast.
Tell us more about your new show Tyrannosaurus Lexx for 2016?
You know when you behave in a certain way, in the moment, and then look back on it and think “That wasn’t me, I wouldn’t normally be like that but I reacted quickly!” because you’ve been a bit of an eejit? Well, what if that was you? What if, every time you react quickly that’s who you actually are, but when you have time to stop and decide to act reasonably, that’s you squashing up your self?
It’s been a bit of a year of big, life changing stuff for me that’s made me catch myself behaving differently so I wanted to stop and have a look at it.
Your show last year was brilliant. How do you plan on topping it?
Oh, thanks! The show and I have grown up a bit this year, I think. Last year’s show really looked at my anxiety over falling in love, this year I’m looking at the aftermath of marriage! It’s meant to be about all these big topics like social media’s effect on your mind and racism in this country, but I only really know how to write stuff using animal montages to get my points across.
How much time and preparation goes in to writing an Edinburgh show?
Years. I started writing Tyrannosaurus Lexx during August 2015 and I’ve not finished tweaking it yet. Hours and hours and months and months. It’s like a word puzzle finding the best slot for each idea and joke. It’s cool.
What are your expectations and dreams for this year’s Fringe Festival?
Survive?!
No, in all seriousness, I think it’s utterly ludicrous to have a dream bigger than “Give the people who buy tickets the best hour of their day.” Because everything other than that is out of your hands.
You owe something to the people who come and see you and that’s what Edinburgh should be about.
“Female comedian slams heckler” is just one of many recent headlines about you, tell us more about this story?
Jeepers, yeah, that really went nuts… So, I was MCing a really lovely club down in Brighton and a man right off the bat at the start of the show said he was “miserable” and then told me he was “expecting a man” and I dealt with him! I tried so hard to be upbeat but then he just wouldn’t stop heckling and chipping in so I ended up having to seriously put him in his box. It’s a pretty common story to be honest, it just happened to get filmed this time.
How much of the above Laura Lexx will you be bringing to your 2016 Edinburgh Festival performance?
I should really hope anyone having seen my poster would know they were getting a woman and not give it a second thought! There’s really nothing about my gender that affects my microphone technique.
The sass is always there, but Edinburgh is hopefully a time where you don’t have to have your heckler guard held so high!
Will you be involved in any other shows this year?
I’ll be running around being a guest on several shows like The Noise Next Door’s Lock In, Set List and Fast Fringe.
I’m heavily involved in Comedians’ Cinema Club which I’ll be appearing in most dates from 16-26.
That hour is such a blast; a bunch of comedians recreate a film, in an hour, with no budget, a lot of alcohol and a hell of a lot of enthusiasm!
What other acts do you recommend we see at this year’s Fringe?
Oh loads, I’ll keep it to a few or we’ll be here all day:
Garrett Millerick
Diane Spencer
Paul F Taylor
The Noise Next Door
Laura Lexx: Tyrannosaurus Lexx is on at 2.20pm throughout August at Just the Tonic @ The Mash House. Pay what you want. More info here
Punchline 