Fringe 2025 – Alice Fraser: A Passion for Passion
You would think featuring in the Daily Telegraph's 50 Funniest Comedians of the 21st Century, being a regular on Radio 4's The News Quiz and ABC's Thank God It's Friday, as well as having done documentaries for Audible and hosted various podcasts people would know her. She's also written my favourite description of a certain type of politician; 'I love hearing unrestricted indulgence in grievance politics by men who say being masculine means being stoic while whingeing like a toddler about how things aren't as good as the olden days.' In an alternative dimension, you have heard of and seen Alice Fraser, but I think that's about to change with her first book and accompanying show A Passion for Passion.
''A Passion for Passion: A Delirious Love Letter to Romance' is a loving homage to genre fiction, celebrating the solemn silliness of romance novels. I have a special place in my heart for the silliness of romance novels,' Alice explains. 'Yes, there is a lot of garbage in the genre but also a lot of good; just like every other genre. Also it is book publishing's dirty little secret – these books sell; in the UK sales accounted for £69m in 2024, with over 40m books sold, keeping book publishing alive. They sit in a very weird bottleneck, they are successful but stay under the table, which is part of the reason I have a fascination with them.'
I must admit, as a man of a certain age, romance novels to me are Barbara Cartland and Mills & Boons but having worked in book and charity shops I've seen how quickly people read them and how much they consume. Obviously the books and their authors are doing at least something right if they sell that much.
Alice continues, explaining to me more about romances and why I should have a more open mind to them. 'Yes, they are wish fulfilment and the journey to reach a Happily Ever After can go via an unbelievable roller-coaster of intensity and feature entertaining twists. So does the Opera and nobody's looking down on Carmen. James Bond books do exactly the same thing, except instead of making a duke fall in love with him, he kills somebody with a robot pencil and wins the woman with a bad pun and a magic car he didn't have to pay for. Nobody is looking down their noses at the espionage genre the same way they do with romance and romantasy.' Romantic fantasy, or romantasy, is a sub-genre of fantasy fiction that combines fantasy and romance.
These are books that use many of the elements and conventions of the romance genre but there are elves, dragons and many other creatures in the between the covers. Key features of romantasy is the focus on relationships – social, political and romantic. They are predominately written by women but also known for representing less covered sections of society. People also look down their noses at these books but they also sell incredibly well. You may have heard of a little thing called the Twilight Saga.
'I know these books are denigrated and I like them despite that. They deal with women's desires; they are written for women, by women and for women's pleasure. Since the explosion of self-publishing online proved there was an even vaster appetite for these books than Mills & Boone had assumed. Also, readers, writers and protagonists in Romance are all increasingly diverse. For me there is something creepy if that is seen as wrong. For most people, day to day, the quality of their intimate relationships are the key to whether you find the world bearable and yet some discount books that explain how they work. Also, there's a magical trick in writing 250-300 pages where the reader knows what is going to happen in the end but still wants to read every page to find out how, while still making it joyous and treating your readers as intelligent.
Many authors in other genres could learn a thing or two from these books. For me the sexy stuff is the least interesting part, I care more about the emotional component than the sex. Why can't he say, 'I love you'? Why is a firm pat and 'humph' the highest expression of love he can muster? What happened along the way to make these characters who they are and behave this way? That's what I want to know about. These are dramatic and operative stories on a huge stage, life writ large.'
To promote the book Alice has an accompanying show, unsurprisingly titled, 'A Passion for Passion,' where she explains how she's fallen in love with romance novels and is living with the consequences. I'm looking forward to seeing, especially as I think I don't like romance novels, but it might make me rethink what's so wrong with happily ever after. The show iss on in London first at the Soho Upstairs from Wednesday the 6th to Saturday the 9th of August, before jumping in a horse drawn carriage, skipping any balls on the way and heading up the Great North Road to Edinburgh. There the show is on from the 11th to the 25th of August at Friesian at Underbelly, Bristo Square.
On top of writing and performing, Alice also hosts online writers meetings and workshops, occasional writing retreats and one-to-one writing consultations. To add to the August fun, while she's in Edinburgh she is running two writers workshops at Black Medicine Coffee on Sunday the 17th and Sunday the 24th. You would think with everything else that running these and doing a show is overload but Alice explained that it's selfish altruism in part. 'I like to help others, it's a good thing to do, but also it stops me becoming self-obsessed and helps me see the bigger picture. Plus it's good for the people who come to hear different views about the issues writers face and it makes me feel good. Everybody wins.
'I've suffered quite badly at times with imposter syndrome despite having worked on four or five different radio and podcast shows every week for a run of two to three months at a time. You would think that would give me the confidence in myself and my work. Flyering is soul destroying at times but is definitely embarrassing and fed into the feeling that I wasn't a 'real' or 'proper' comedian and writer. These workshops have helped me realise that's not true, I am able to give advice to people at various stages of their careers, which they find useful and beneficial. If that's not showing me I am a professional and good at my job then what can? Running the workshops is a really enjoyable part of my career and I hope I can always have them on the go.'
As we finish up, I can't help but ask about how Alice feels about coming back to Edinburgh and the Fringe. Unsurprisingly, she enjoys the experience. 'I know that people say that it's a bad thing that the expense of coming and putting on a show means there is less good stuff and possibly more vanity works. However, there is still space for bad or silly art and there is something wildly pleasurable about that. The people who perform love their work and want to share it with as many as possible. For that to happen there is definitely something going right in the world. I love the Fringe, I love the silliness of it all and the chance to sit in a dark room and see something that makes me laugh, makes me think and sometimes does both.' You can't say fairer than that.
As for my relationship, or lack of one, with romance novels? Well, dear reader, I now have one – Candace Camp's 'A Gentleman Always Remember.' Alice approves: 'Oh Candace knows the business. Enjoy!'
I'll just have to see if I am whisked off my feet.
Keni O'Neill
An everyday middle-aged person who wants to make a better, brighter Scotland. I also want to see Hibernian and Brentford FCs play well.
This author does not have any more posts.
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