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From The Fringe
From The Fringe: Off The Mic
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 20 August 2015
Each day this month we are looking at some of the shows, performers and events being championed at the Edinburgh Festival this year by our sister magazine ThreeWeeks.
And today some comedy at last, because yesterday at the Fringe former Xfm DJ Marsha Shandur – who you might remember for her brilliant ‘Marsha Meets’ comedy podcast back in the day – launched a new book she has co-written with comedian Deborah Frances-White on the art of stand-up. The book was formally unveiled with a panel debate on comedy making at The Pleasance.
“My favourite interviewees were the ones who got very technical” said Shandur to ThreeWeeks. “Gary Delaney was fascinating throughout – talking about the specific effect on one-liner comics of social media, which is both good and bad, and the several stages he goes through to put a set together. He even walked us through his complex and fascinating method of remembering an hour’s worth of one-line jokes”.
“I also loved how Neal Brennan – who co-created Dave Chappelle’s ‘Chappelle’s Show’ – gets really into the psychology of it. When he realised he wasn’t smiling enough on stage, he would give his girlfriend $200 before a show; then, every time he smiled on stage, he’d get $20 back from her. At first he kept losing $120 a show, then he learned to get it all back”.
Find out more about the book here.