As part as our Edinburgh Fringe 2024 coverage we are running a series of interviews with artists and creatives that are taking part in the festival.
In this interview we speak to Ben Fallaci about his show Shower Chair.
Where did your arts career begin?
My arts career began in Edinburgh while on a semester study abroad program. I joined a sketch comedy club at the University of Edinburgh and later performed my first stand-up set at the Wee Pub. Edinburgh was also where I debuted my one-man show Shower Chair.
My arts career began in Edinburgh while on a semester study abroad program. I joined a sketch comedy club at the University of Edinburgh and later performed my first stand-up set at the Wee Pub. Edinburgh was also where I debuted my one-man show Shower Chair.
What can you tell me about your show?
Shower Chair tells a story about exposing truths, confronting toxic friendships, and how I learned to pick myself up after slipping with substance abuse and coming out. It's honest, vulnerable, and a little naked too! Where better to come clean than in the shower?
Shower Chair is an imaginative and irreverent one-man play. The show employs comedic and theatrical storytelling to explain how I wound up with a broken ankle completely dependent on a geriatric shower chair. Vivid characters, places, and punchlines spring out of the narrative.
As new creative forces were added to the play, the piece developed. When I began writing the play during a three-month dog sitting gig in Los Angeles, I brought on board Fiona Kelly, a trusted friend and director to help sculpt a cohesive story out of my life crisis. Following my run at Edinburgh Fringe last August, Zoe Novello and Sophie Visscher-Lubinizki (Speakerphone Productions) came on board as creative producers, and have helped to shape and develop the show into a full theatrical experience. By adding more creative voices, the production has continued to evolve.
How do/will you prepare yourself for a run at the Fringe?
Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. I write down my lines and run through the show (mostly alone). The lead up to the Fringe is the lonely push that gets you to the party.
Rehearse, rehearse, and rehearse. I write down my lines and run through the show (mostly alone). The lead up to the Fringe is the lonely push that gets you to the party.
Other than the show, what’s something you’re looking forward to doing in Edinburgh this year?
I’m looking forward to asking a million questions about a million different shows. There’s nowhere like the Fringe to geek and freak out on creative processes.
What keeps you inspired?
Working on projects like Shower Chair. For me, it’s the collaboration and play with other creatives that inspires me to tell more stories.
What do you hope an audience takes away from seeing the show?
I hope audiences feel themselves in my story. Even though I’ll be a boy from across the ocean telling his story, I want audiences to relate and take away how to use laughter in the face of challenges.
Where can audiences see the show?
2-24 August at Greenside Venue, Lime Studio at 20:50
Tickets are available from https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/shower-chair
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