Q&A Maisie Adam
What are you doing at this year’s festival? I’m doing my show Buzzed and I’m loving it! The audiences have been great so far, and I’m really enjoying it. I’m also going to be jumping onto other gigs as and where I can, as I really love the chance to switch things up.
What do you most want to see this year and why?
I want to see my friends’ shows, and I also want to see things I’ve never heard of before. I saw Colin Hoult’s The Death Of Anna Mann the other day and it was probably the best show I’ve ever seen. I’m excited to see Celya AB’S show, she’s a brilliant new act who always smashes it when I gig with her so I’m very excited to see her debut show.
But I’m also going to see some stuff that I’ve just been flyered about, it’s a good way of seeing something you never normally would. Just take some flyers and pick one. I did that in 2018 with a show called Flesh & Bone and it was brilliant. A year later it won an Olivier!
What’s your favourite place in the city and why? Let Me Eat Too is a brilliant little café in the Grassmarket; it does these wraps that are just gorgeous. There’s a bakery in the new town called Bibi’s which does very naughty but very tasty Malteser slabs and I always get a bag of those to take home before I leave! Away from stuffing my face though, I like Dean Village for a nice little walk, I like Leith Walk for the charity shops, and I like Meadowbank Sports Centre for its lovely 3G football pitch. I’ve been playing football with a bunch of other comics every few days and it’s been such a lush way to switch off.
Who do you most like spending time with at the festival?
I genuinely like going to a lot of things on my own, it’s such a mad place that it’s quite nice to take it all at your own pace for a bit. But when I do socialise, I like hanging out with Will Duggan and his partner, as they also live in Brighton like me, so we go out together a fair bit.
What do you remember about your first ever Edinburgh festival appearance? My first Edinburgh appearance was competing in So You Think You’re Funny in 2017. First, it was the semifinal. Then I had to come back two weeks later for the final. I remember walking out on that stage and feeling my knees go wobbly. I’d never performed to a room that big before, and I couldn’t see past the front row, but every time I got a laugh I could hear how far back the room was and how many people were in. Bloody terrifying.
What are the best and worst things that have happened to you in Edinburgh?
The best thing was winning So You Think You’re Funny. After winning the final, I spent the evening chatting to so many comedians that I’d admired for ages, and then cycled back to the flat with a cheque in my back pocket for more money than I’d ever had before! I was just grinning the whole way home, I couldn’t believe it. I haven’t had any real disasters, though the last time I was here, in 2019, I was in a room where, 15 minutes into my show, a man in the room above started his show which was just him drumming the songs of The Who for an hour. It was… a lot.
Thanks for the interview! We’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking? I will hold you to this. Don’t you be offering a free drink.
Maisie Adam: Buzzed, Gilded Balloon Teviot, until 29 August, 1pm & 5.30pm, www.gildedballoon.co.uk