Nick Cody talks about being a Fringe newbie and pre-gig nerves...
Tell us about your Fringe show ...
It's an hour of stand-up about me going to Afghanistan, almost dying in Alaska, hating food allergies, hating yoga, my parents being loose units and a terrible experience with a hose in Thailand. There are many other things as well. I'd love to say there was a message and a theme but nope, just an hour of me proving to strangers that I'm a bit of a dickhead.
How does it feel to be playing the Fringe for the first time?
Everybody I know that has played the fest tells me how much of a crazy month it is and how wrecked they were afterwards. As an alpha male that likes a challenge for no reason, the thought of trying to get through it unscathed is exciting to me.
Best live act seen at the Fringe?
Ronny Chieng, Rhys Nicholson, Daniel Sloss, Michael Che, Tom Ballard & Kyle Kinane.
Best thing about the Fringe?
The best comedians and my best mates from around the world in one place for a month.
Worst thing about the Fringe?
No quality beaches nearby. As an Australian, a good beach is one of my favourite things.
If you were not a performer/comedian what would you be doing?
Be a member of the SAS. The reason that is my back-up option is there is 0% chance I'd make it through selection, so it makes me work harder at stand-up.
What do your family think of your show?
My parents have always been supportive of me doing stand-up. A chunk of the show this year is making brutally making fun of them and they love it. I'm pretty lucky actually.
How do you combat pre-gig nerves?
I don't dwell on it. I'll hang out with mates and talk nonsense up until 5 minutes before show time. The looser I am going in, the more fun the show tends to be.
Worst on stage experience?
Doing stand-up at a car dealership. Nothing says "We don't respect your art form" like being forced to do it next to a rotating Ford Focus.
How do you recover from a hefty heckle? Do you have a set of stock replies?
I've done stand-up for 10 years and I have a lot of self deprecating material. Some drunk idiot yelling something that they haven't really thought out is usually easy to sort out. More often than not, I've already said something about myself during the set that was harsher than the heckle.
What do you love about Scotland?
The highlands, the cheap beer and apparent lack of vegetables.
What do you like about Edinburgh?
I haven't been yet. I'm not even going to look into it beforehand. The plan is to just turn up, drink some Irn-Bru and get amongst it.
What’s the most Scottish thing you’ve done?
Live in a country that still wants to be associated with the Queen.
Who’s your favourite Scottish comedian?
Billy Connolly or Daniel Sloss.
Favourite joke?
For a one liner, I'd have to go with "I wonder if midgets call mini-golf, Golf. And if they call regular golf, MAXI GOLF!" - Karl Chandler
Nick Cody’s debut Edinburgh Festival show will be at the Assembly George Square Studios from 5th – 30th August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here