Sabrina George
Words: Curio   
Monday, 13 August 2007

Curio meets comedian Sabrina George.

Comedian, and presenter of NewComedyRadio.com, Sabrina George popped up to Edinburgh for a whistle-stop visit. She met with Curio to chat about the Festival.

How are you enjoying the Festival?
Loving it, because I haven’t got a show on this year. Loving the weather – cool, breezy, refreshing and enjoying the warm welcome I always receive from the Edinburgh folk. That’s a sarcastic comment by the way.

Any regret that you’re not performing this year?
None whatsoever. I’ve seen a lot of shows that should have possibly taken a year off to mature. It’s good to be up here as a punter and be reminded of what the public sees; the hectic maelstrom that is the Fringe.

What are you up to?
I’m writing a show for next year. I’m still gigging all over and editing my book.

What’s the book about?
The book’s called Endless Accidents. Tales of events and my stupidity in life. Some dark, some light. ‘Serio-comedy’ as they say in New York.

You compered this year’s Free Fringe event while up here. How did it all go?
Excellently. Some minor technical hiccups and the usual warm, friendly supportive quality that you expect from my fellow comedians. There was one extreme exception! No names mentioned but thousands heard it! The Comedy Police will punish. That aside, it was a great gig for everybody.

Seen any good shows while you’ve been here?
The Ragroof Theatre’s Afternoon Tea Dance at the Spiegeltent was utterly charming. Not really a show but just lovely. I saw another classic night at Spank where Tim Minchin made a surprise one-off appearance. James Campbell’s Comedy 4 Kids was excellent. There was so much I wanted to see but was sold out.

What do you love about the Edinburgh Festival?
I love the setting. Edinburgh’s now got a great range of places to eat and hang out in. I also adore the fact that comedy “trainspotters” come to the Festival en-masse to check out the 2000-plus characters who have shows on. It’s like some mad Star Trek convention.

Anything you dislike about the Festival?
The stronger dependency on PR and marketing rather than show quality or originality. This leads to a lot of generic, poor quality acts who are being promoted heavily. The effect of all this money being poured into marketing makes it harder for the punter to separate the ‘wheat from the chaff’. It’s that element of having to go up a lot of blind alleys to find that one treasure.

Sabrina George presents New Comedy Radio , regular podcast broadcast with the biggest names in comedy.