Latest news with #WomeninComedy
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Just helping funny people create magic is such a privilege
Gordon (Kieran Hodgson) enrages Cathy (Doon Mackichan) with his impression on her in Two Doors Down Things are ramping up for the Fringe with meetings, calls and various encounters with artists filling my diary this month. Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to Edinburgh News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... I was delighted to be on a call this week with the incredible talents involved in Smack the Pony. As part of our 40th year at the Fringe celebrations Fiona Allen, Doon Mackichan and Sally Phillips get 'Back in the Saddle' and are joined by broadcaster Kirsty Wark to take a deep dive into the Emmy award winning show. This week's meeting with Sally, Doon, Fiona and Kirsty will go over the structure and plans for what will be an intimate insight into all things sketch comedy in the 90s and early noughties. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Doon will also be doing an 'in conversation' with her Two Doors Down co-star Kieran Hodgeson as part of our 40th celebrations. Doon Mackichan won the BAFTA Scotland Award for Actress: Television in November last year for her returning role as Cathy in the show. It's so exciting to be part of the creative process for both of these live shows with such talented performers. It's a process that never gets old over the 40 years that I've been running the Gilded Balloon and producing individual shows as part of our programme. Facilitating funny people to get together to create magic is such a privilege. Also, coming out of the Gilded Balloon archives this year is a show Women in Comedy, that I started in the 90s to help women, who were fairly rare in the comedy world, have a platform. I've been booking the acts for this show, which will feature the very best women and marginalised gender comedians from across the Fringe, this week and it's so exciting to see so much talent these days compared to three decades ago. The huge number and different styles of comedy on offer now is so exciting to see and I continue to enjoy designing diverse comedy line-ups as part of our Women in Comedy shows this Fringe as well as our other comedy line-up shows.
The Herald Scotland
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Rosie O'Donnell among headline acts at Gilded Balloon celebrations
It is her first ever Edinburgh Fringe show and comes after she swapped America for a new home in Ireland in protest against Donald Trump's election as president of the United States. And she said: 'I'm beyond excited for my first Fringe Festival! I'm thankful to be a part of this historic gathering of artists of all shapes and sizes - I'm so happy to be included and hope you can stop by and say hello.' She'll be joined by other top comedians such as Alan Davies, Fred MacAulay and Smack the Pony over the course of the festival. It is a venue that will see some huge names in August that also includes a Donald Trump musical parody. Read More Karen and Katy Koren, Artistic Directors of Gilded Balloon said, 'We can't believe it's been 40 years since Gilded Balloon first presented shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, from small beginnings in the Cowgate. 'We're so proud to still be working with some of the most exciting acts in the country at the world's biggest arts festival. To mark our 40th anniversary, we've revisited our archive to revive iconic shows like Women in Comedy, and invite back some of Gilded's closest friends and success stories like Alan Davies and Jenny Eclair, as well as a Fringe debut for the inimitable Rosie O'Donnell. 'We're thrilled to throw back to the heyday of British sketch comedy with the likes of Smack the Pony and Oblivion Boys joining us and as always, our programme will showcase some of the very best rising talent in comedy as well as hard-hitting theatre and fantastic musicals. We look forward to celebrating 40 years of wonderful talent this summer.' Alan Davies added: 'The Gilded Balloon is my home from home at the Fringe so I'm delighted to be in their programme for my first Fringe show since their 30th anniversary in 2015. 'I never come to the festival without seeing something or doing something at Gilded Balloon - it's an incredible achievement to run so many venues for so many decades while still championing the quirky, risky, bonkers Fringe shows we all love.' Hit BBC news podcast Newscast will make its Gilded Balloon debut with host Adam Fleming discussing the news of the day with Adam Fleming. The programme of shows also includes a host of rising Scottish talent with debut solo shows from Amanda Hursy and Hannah Morton, as well as hard-hitting theatre from Tatty Pants with 24Weeks, which explores a UK transformed by anti-abortion politics. The Smack the Pony reunion will see Doon Mackichan, Fiona Allen and Sally Phillips get back together and they cannot wait to get on stage. The trio said: "This is slightly surreal because it's 24 years since we finished - we're not old comedy, we now qualify as vintage, which is cool. Is it?' "Because we always talk sketch ideas when we get together, on some level it's almost as if Smack the Pony never really stopped - that it just kept going in some parallel universe. So it feels like Gilded Balloon is some kind of portal and we'll be popping into catch up with Series 26. We're very grateful to have this chance to hang out and take the piss out of ourselves again - we've missed it!"
