2015 Edinburgh Fringe

Blind Mirth answers 10 Edinburgh Fringe Questions

Blind Mirth

Blind Mirth are a comedy group from St Andrews University. Their show is improvised, which admittedly makes it hard for them to answer the 'what will your show be about' question.

1. Tell us about your career so far. Are you happy with where you're at?

Blind Mirth have done hundreds of years of comedy; we started in 1998, and - well, yes that is less than a hundred. Normally our producers deal with the numbers. But we HAVE done hundreds of years of comedy if you combine all the years put in by the different members in the last 17 years. Probably.

Our comedy career has taken us all over the globe - from St Andrews, on the East Coast of Scotland, all the way to Edinburgh, on the East Coast of Scotland. It's our dream to perform at a wedding, so if we're using that as the benchmark for how our career is going, it's going terribly. If we're using having-snazzy-varsity-jackets as the benchmark, then the mark on that bench is off the charts! - thanks for asking.

2. Describe your show in exactly 23 words.

It's hard to describe a show when you don't know what's going to happen. Seriously. Might feature Batman. Or the Queen. Or Jesus.

3. Why are you putting yourself through this famously stressful experience?

Sophocles once said that "There is no success without hardship". Obviously he never ever went to the Fringe, in which case he would probably have revised the statement to: "There is no success". With this in mind, Blind Mirth go to Edinburgh not to pursue comedic fame, but to engage in a sort of Darwinian trial by stress. The sheer anxiety caused by a toxic cocktail of near constant rejection, tiny venues and prohibitively expensive housing means that by the end of August a divide has occurred in the group between the weak and the strong. By the beginning of September, those who were unable to cope are thrown out. Of a hot air balloon. It's tough but fair.

4. Any cunning plans to get more punters in?

We have many punning plans to get more...wait, can we have another go?

5. How much money do you think you'll lose/make this year?

£3.25

Blind Mirth

6. What's your weirdest past Fringe experience?

A few past Fringe highlights include: Creating a cocoon amidst the flyers stuck to the pillars on the mile, waking up in the Mirth flat and seeing Chris (a past Mirther) sitting up awake and watching over us all like a well-tanned and topless batman, and attending a burlesque show based on the bible. Yes, really.

7. What other shows are you hoping to see?

Everything!*

*would be the ideal answer... in the end whatever is cheap enough not to bankrupt us of any remaining money we have from paying for our flat; close enough to walk; has great reviews, and isn't better than we are! That or anything that will get us out of the flat and keep us from killing each other.

8. If you took over programming a venue, what would you perfect line-up of comedians be?

Del Close, Robin Williams, Orson Welles, Eleanor Roosevelt.

9. Name the one person you'd rather not bump into during the festival.

Well there really aren't too many people we wouldn't be happy to see there, so we'd have to pick Maddie Ray, who was a girl one of us knew in Middle School. She used to make fun of their jokes and was all around just an unpleasant human being.
A grudge is still held.

*Some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals.

10. Why should audiences pick your show over the 1,700+ other comedy offerings at this year's festival?

Because otherwise they will be included in the Blind Mirth September-Hot-Air-Balloon Ritual. (For details see #3, above.)

'Blind Mirth' is at 9pm at Paradise in the Vault on 8-15, 17-22 August. Listing

Published: Monday 3rd August 2015

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