My Festival: Deborah Frances-White

There are thousands of shows in Edinburgh this month. Please tell us why we should come and see yours.

The Guilty Feminist is a funny, frank podcast, recorded with a live audience. We start with feminist comedy confessions, feature a brilliant stand up comic and then get into it with a guest with something to say. We start with the exceptional Green MP, Hannah Spencer AKA Hannah the Plumber. At the Fringe, we throw in a musical act to close the show because, as Gloria Steinem says: “If you want to have fun and laughter and sex and poetry and music at the end of the revolution, you must have those things during the revolution.” *

*There will be no sex. Poetry is limited.

What will we learn from your show that we didn’t know before?

Our current series of shows is themed “The Road to Gilead”. It's about the rise of the far right and how our rights are being taken by stealth. We’re done with just posting on Instagram and signing a petition. We want to find out how to change the conversation and take real action. It’s the most exciting time in a decade of producing The Guilty Feminist and we learn something motivating at every show. Don't miss out. It’s a riot!

What’s the best review you’ve ever had, and the worst?

Best: “The love child of Dave Gorman and Dame Edna.”

Worst: (about a play I was in): “During the opening scene, set at a Victorian séance, Deborah Frances-White looks like she’d rather be anywhere else.”*

*Entirely accurate

Who or what are you most excited about seeing this year?

Alice Fraser’s Oh Man, 8.40pm, The Tron - She's teaching a Roomba about masculinity. Wildly funny and oh so clever. Max Olesker: Making the Cut, 6.50pm, Pleasance Dome. A hilarious and heart-breaking, disconcertingly recent, true story about the things we do for love. Max Olesker never disappoints!

What are the best and worst things that have happened to you at a festival?

Best: When I was young and unestablished, Jennifer Saunders came out of the audience to tell me how much she’d loved my show and why. Kept me going for years.

Worst: I had to read the phone book out loud for charity, in what was essentially a living room. Someone heckled “I have multiple orgasms!” multiple times, till my friend got into a fight with her. A waking nightmare.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?

The morning is all about yoga and good intentions. The evening is usually morning again, and it’s a crepe from a van and anyone’s guess in the Abattoir Bar.

Thanks for the interview! We’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking?

An Old Fashioned at The Devil's Advocate, please.

The Guilty Feminist, Gilded Balloon at the Museum, 20-23 August, 7.30pm.

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