Time for another Elf check
CONCUSSION and being haunted didn’t stop Elf Lyons’ latest Edinburgh Fringe Festival being a big success.
Next weekend, the comic and writer is back in Scotland with her show Raven.
The horror fan said of this year’s Fringe: “Besides a pretty bad concussion due to back-flipping on some watermelon on stage, memory loss caused by said watermelon and the fact I’m still finding bits of fruit on my person one month later, it wasn’t too bad.
“I spent a lot of time in cafes reading horror paperbacks and watching live art so, overall, I was content.”
As well as getting concussed within five minutes of starting her Fringe show she also had “haunted” digs in a New Town house.
She said: “There was wood panelling, wooden beams and paintings of long-dead lords and ladies. It was a bonkers find and oddly no more expensive than a student flat in the centre of town.
“In the kitchen it had an 17th century wooden clock. The glass on it was broken and the hands were bent. Engraved into the wood was a portrait of the Devil. I thought I saw an old woman standing by it a few nights when I came home.”
As someone who likes a fright, Elf, who teaches at a London comprehensive, loves Edinburgh’s spooky corners. She said: “I love frequenting the graveyard at Greyfriars and looking at the Bloody Mackenzie’s haunted grave.”
She has been performing at the Fringe since 2010 when she did a “terrible uni improv show” and her first solo show was in 2014.
However, she’s not sure if she’ll return to Edinburgh next year as performers are being priced out of being able to find somewhere to stay. She admitted: “This year, my rent cost was nearly two months of my salary as a teacher.”
Elf is now taking her Raven show around the UK, returning to Edinburgh and also to Glasgow.
She said: “I love Glasgow. I’ve only been a few times but filmed The Dog Ate My Homework [the kids’ panel show hosted until 2019 by Iain Stirling] there and have fond memories.”
Raven is a collection of horror stories inspired by writer Stephen King.
The first King book she read was Pet Sematary and she said: “I found it in a charity shop and sat in a smelly pub before a gig and devoured it.
“It absolutely horrified and really upset me. After that, I was hooked. I read Misery in one night then was too scared to go to the toilet afterwards. But King loves children, so when he kills them in his novels, it matters.”
Raven being performed in Edinburgh and Glasgow is perfect to set us up for Halloween. Getting in the mood, she revealed her favourite horror movie is 1985 Italian flick Demons. She said: “It is absolutely bonkers and makes no sense.”
● Elf is playing The Stand Edinburgh on October 15 and The Stand Glasgow on October 16. For tickets, go to www.mickperrin.com