What do people need to know about you?
I spent the last four Fringes reviewing for Exeunt, so I’m really excited to perform with the shoe firmly on the other foot
I'm a hairy poet and musician from the Black Isle, though I now live and work in Edinburgh.
What are you up to this Fringe?
Aside from fretting and drinking to excess, I’ll be performing my debut show. It’s called Scale and is on at Pilgrim on the Cowgate, 16.15, from the 8th-29th. Set in the feudal world of the Scottish Highlands, it tells the mythical story of the Brahan Seer, a prophet who was said to have seen the future through a ring made of stone. Many think he really existed: the truth is more elusive. Scale combines modern spoken-word poetry and music with traditional stories from the Highlands. There’s rude/funny bits, scary bits, and thinky bits.
When I debuted Scale last year at a pop-up arts festival lovely strangers told me it was original and moving. It’s also Scottish, but not particularly twee, so if you want something homegrown that avoids the Edinburgh kitsch...
I’m also playing piano for two fantastic improvised comedy shows: Men With Coconuts, and Spontaneous Sherlock. They’re a talented, dedicated, hilarious bunch, who always astonish me with their ability to conjure humour out of thin air. I’m bloody delighted to be part of these shows, and about this year’s Fringe in general. I spent the last four Fringes reviewing for Exeunt, so I’m really excited to perform with the shoe firmly on the other foot. Hopefully it will be a pleasant foot and not the kind that kicks me in the ass.
What else are you going to see?
Don Paterson and Kate Tempest at the Book Fest; Luke Wright, Angus Dunican, John Osborne; Tony Law; Lanark; anything/everything at the Traverse; free poetry.
What is your favourite word?
Muckle.
