Haley McGee talks about her new show, I'm Doing This for You.
1 Tell us about your Fringe show
You get comedy and cake. I get to correct a mistake.
A woman flies halfway around the world to make a big romantic gesture for a man. He's an aspiring standup comedian. Today is his birthday. The audience is her gift to him. It's a surprise.
Funny, uncomfortable and a little bit sad, it is an immersive show that takes surprising and daring turns, as it explores just how far we will go to not be alone.
2 Best thing about the Fringe?
Seeing things I've never see anywhere else. Meeting people from around the world.
3 Worst thing about the Fringe?
Crying.
4 How many years have you been coming to the Fringe?
This is my third year in Edinburgh. In 2013 I was here with my solo OH MY IRMA and in 2014 I was in a show that was part of the International Festival programming, Helen Lawrence.
5 Favourite Fringe venue?
Summerhall! Also really like Forest Fringe.
6 Best Fringe memory?
Karaoke night with the venue staff and artists at Hill Street Theatre.
7 Worst moment of corpsing?
A friend of mine couldn't stop laughing during my first solo show, and he took me down with him.
8 Craziest on stage experience?
A bat flying around the stage. Rural Ontario Summer Theatre.
9 What’s on your rider?
A clean toilet backstage. Heating.
10 How do you wind down after a show?
I clean my face with coconut oil. Then I get a drink and a snack from the SH courtyard. Really enjoying the Bao Buns at ROST with a glass of white wine from The Made In Adelaide folks.
11 What do you love about Scotland?
The warm people and black pudding.
12 What do you like about Edinburgh?
The way the light dances on Arthur's Seat. All the green in the middle of the city. The architecture. How close it is to the sea.
13 What’s the most Scottish thing you’ve done?
Eating oats and then hiking in the highlands.
14 What kind of jokes do a Scottish crowd seem to respond to? What is the audience response like in Edinburgh?
I think they like the bawdy stuff. Really good warm fun.
15 Favourite theatre character?
Sally Bowles. Lady M. Dame Edna.
16 Favourite Scottish food/drink?
BLACK PUDDING. Hendricks Gin.
Haley McGee: I'm Doing This for You is on at Summerhall (Venue 26) until August 28.
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