My Festival: Lynn Ferguson
There are thousands of shows in Edinburgh this month. Please explain why we should come and see yours.
I can't do that. You're your own person. Who would I be to come wandering into your life and tell you what you should be doing? There's too much of that stuff at the moment. Every time you turn on the telly, or pick up your phone, there's some jerk telling you what you should be doing, and how you could be living your life better. You don't have to comply with that. Come and see my show if you want to. I did a run of it in LA before coming here and the only complaint was that it was too short - which is a moot point because Fringe shows can't be longer than an hour. Trust Americans to want everything bigger.
Who or what was the biggest inspiration for your show?
People. I do find people amazing. Not everybody has a white knuckle ride of a story to tell, but they are fascinating nonetheless. I worked with a ton of different individuals in LA - from ex Marines, writers, doctors, people leaving cults, bankers, teachers, even neon sign makers - a huge variety of people. We worked on story for presentations/ book writing/ therapy etc, and I realised that virtually everyone has some untapped saga inside them that they believe everyone else can hear, but nobody can. I worked with a girl who had been waterboarded and raped and asked her at the end of her story what would be the one sentence she would wish others to understand about what she'd learned, and she replied, "The sky looks oh so very blue when you think you'll never see it again". It blew my mind. Art is not just in books and paintings and performance. Art is quietly wandering all around us. Individual little packages of story wrapped up in skin.
What’s the best review you’ve ever had, and the worst?
I suspect they'd both be from my Mum. She had a way of being able to both praise and condemn any show in a sentence. (Sometimes even in a single phrase.) "Margaret from the Arthritis Care group said she thought you were very entertaining, but I just said to her ' Lynn would be better off being an Air Hostess because there's nothing better than an entertaining Air Hostess and it's a much more reliable job."
I still periodically find myself laughing out loud at some of her theories and she's been gone almost 15 years.
"Say what you like about short people but they don't take up too much room."
"I don't know why you write for Radio 4. Nobody in Scotland has even heard of it."
"Im not that bothered when you're on the telly. When will you be for your tea."
I'll miss her forever.
Who or what are you most excited about seeing this year?
I'm definitely going to Lena at Assembly. I want to see Nick Wilty's show at the Patter Hoose too as I've heard it's magic. I'd like to see my wee pal Ceit's show, Guffy, but it's on at the same time as me, as is Tim Marriot in Watson at Assembly. The other night I told him how I'd played Watson in a production of Sherlock Holmes in Palm Springs directed by the son of the producer of I Love Lucy and we were laughing about how, even though that's weird, it's no more weird than the vast quota of what's currently going on in Edinburgh. I can't wait to dig in.
Who do you most like spending time with in Edinburgh?
I don't get to Scotland much, so usually I bully my Glasgow pals to come through. But Storyland is going on tour after the Fringe so I'll get to see them when life is a wee bit less frenetic. Usually you'll find me with Karen Koren and Mary Tobin. I call us "Charlie's Angels - 50 years on" I'm not sure Karen likes it.
What are the best and worst things that have happened to you at a festival?
Best: too many to answer. The Edinburgh Fringe is a place of highs and lows. Some days are like the best snuggle you've ever had. Other days are like several direct punches to the face. You have to roll with it. It's the nature of the beast.
One memory that does stick to mind though was my first Fringe, I was doing a double act and we were so keen we were doing four shows a day. One day we were doing a lunchtime show in Buster Browns (a discotheque that became the Edinburgh Dungeon - though Buster Browns was much scarier). There were three people in the audience. The room smelt of stale beer and old chips, and we couldn't get the flashing disco lights to go off. I still shudder at the thought of it. Those three audience members probably needed therapy at the end. It was so bad, I started to consider my Mum's theory about the air hostess thing.
Thanks for the interview! We’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking?
Probably the Loft Bar at the Gilded to meet up with Karen and Mary. If things work out, you might get to be Bosley.
Lynn Ferguson: Storyland, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 3pm, until 28 August, then touring Scotland throughout September. Tour dates here.