Fringe Q&As: Garrett Millerick on what he's said to taxi drivers and 12 years at the Fringe

2. Best thing about the Fringe?

Discovering something you’ve never heard of before. And Haggis suppers.

3. Worst thing about the Fringe?

It’s a week too long.

4. How many years have you been coming to the Fringe?

I had five lines in a university play back in 2003. I’ve been coming ever since.

5. Favourite Fringe venue?

At the risk of sounding like one of those ‘it was better in my day’ twats… The Odeon on Clerk Street ran as a venue for a couple of years in 2004/5. It had a huge cinema upstairs showing classic films back to back all day and you could just wander in when you liked. Then in all the old mini screens they ran Fringe shows. The building was full of character and the bar had a great atmosphere. You could go and see a play and then get a beer and wander into the cinema and watch the end of ‘Back to The Future’, it was great.

6. Best Fringe memory?

One of the first shows I saw at The Fringe was a late night show at The Underbelly in 2003. Phil Nichol was headlining and decided at the end of the show that he hadn’t had enough. He ordered that the bar be re-opened, that anyone in the audience who wanted a spot could have one and that nobody could leave. It was great, the whole thing descended into a charmingly chaotic cabaret show and ended with all the comics and the audience standing up and singing ‘only gay eskimo’ at 3am. You should go to Phil Nichol’s Cabaret Show this year.

7. Best heckle?

I once went to the ballet and threw a brick at one of the dancers to see if he could avoid it. He did, it was so impressive, he was like lightning. It really ruined the production but you should have seen this guys footwork. Classic banter.

8. Craziest on stage experience?

I once accidentally punched someone during a sketch show. I should mention that I was in the show, it wasn’t another brilliantly satirical heckle. I fluffed a stage punch and he leaned into it. It was a perfect storm that resulted in a broken nose, two black eyes and quite a bit of blood. The show in question was absolutely terrible and the incident provided some much needed entertainment in an otherwise baron wasteland. As the audience shuffled out our technician overheard an audience member saying ‘That was so bad I’m glad one of them got punched in the face’. It’s better to please 10% of the audience 100% of the time than 100% of the audience 10% of the time.

9. What’s on your rider?

When I was 18 I worked backstage at a music festival. One of the big American acts requested that all the backstage staff get locked in a shipping container as he was walked from his tour bus to the stage with a carpet over his head. I’ve always been curious as to what it would be like to be famous enough to request something like that in your rider and have it carried out, no questions asked. First and only time I've ever been locked in a shipping container at the behest of a rock star.

Unfortunately I’m probably never going to get to lock people in shipping containers so maybe it would be achievable to aim to be on a level where you could request a bottle of mineral water and a Rioja for after the show.

10. How do you wind down after a show?

During Edinburgh it’s a pint of lager with a dash of lemonade. The rest of the year it’s usually getting the last tube home or finding a service station that has Dyson Air Blades.

11. What do you love about Scotland?

Everything.

12. What do you like about Edinburgh?

The smell of the air in the early morning.

13. What’s the most Scottish thing you’ve done?

Bought Iron Bru from a Scotmid.

14. What kind of jokes do a Scottish crowd seem to respond to?

Good ones. They’re discerning customers.

15. Favourite joke?

Phil Wang has a gag in his show ‘Philth’ (Pleasance Courtyard) about Google that had me laughing for days.

Garrett Millerick: A Selection of Things I’ve Said To Taxi Drivers plays at the Underbelly Med Quad until August 30.