In our ongoing Edinburgh Fringe 2026 interview series, we are speaking to artists and creatives who are bringing their shows to the Scottish capital this summer.
In this interview, we speak with Sofia May to discuss her show 9/11 Birds and the Bees.
What can you tell me about your show?
With my middle school at the foot of the Twin Towers, just 400 meters away, “9/11 Birds and the Bees” is a dark punchy 1-hour stand-up solo about my experience as a child survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The show is basically a love letter to the World Trade Center. It is my way of memorializing the towers, the victims and my own way of coping with that trauma from such a young age through comedy.
The first 9/11 jokes I ever heard were my own and my classmates, as New York City adolescents, crushed by the enormity of the loss, what we had just been through, just trying to find a bit of light through the emotional rubble.
How would you describe the style of your show to anyone who has never seen you before?
It’s dark, personal, absurd, whimsical, sometimes offensive, heartfelt, and innocent.
What was the lightbulb moment that led to the creation of this piece?
When I started stand-up 5 years ago,I found that I couldn’t stop writing 9/11 jokes. And they were all child-centric, relating to my personal experience, which is an angle that hasn’t been explored before. After I recognized that pattern, and already had 15-minutes on 9/11, I thought it would be worth digging deeper and see what I would create if I had to come up with a full hour. What came of it was a comedic memorial. It became a way to turn something that made my heart hurt into something that gave me and others joy.
What makes 2026 the perfect year for this specific story or performance?
This is the 25-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks, so just like Twin Peaks, it is time for a revival.
How will you mentally and physically prepare for a run at the Fringe?
Physically, I am currently running and attacking the stair-master as part of my regime to be ready for the whimsically-punishing stairs and hills of Edinburgh. Mentally, I am running the 9/11 show several times at home to get the rust off her wings.
If you couldn’t use a flyer to attract audiences, what ridiculous object would you hand out to people to get them into your show?
My 9/11 show is in the West Port Oracle Flight Club— a venue that is modeled after the interior of an airplane, replete with rows of airline seats. So I would hand out plane tickets to board my plane.
What is the one item in your Fringe Survival Kit that you can’t live without at the Fringe?
REALLY comfy practical sneakers for bounding up and down stairs and hills to jam from one show to the next.
What would you deem as success at the end of the Fringe?
I would love to win awards and get great reviews, but the most important marker of a successful Fringe is growth. Did my show get a lot better? Did I become a much better comic? That’s what this whole thing is about for me. It also means a lot to get recognition from at least the audience. Having people in the audience who really get the joke to its core and appreciate my babies like I do is very rewarding.
Other than your own show, are there any other shows you would recommend at the Fringe this year?
I recommend my other show: “The Buddha Wears Prada” This is about my 7-years living in a Buddhist Cult off the grid in the Colorado Rocky Mountains as the leader’s assistant. I’m the whistleblower of the cult and I’ve done a lot of interviews and this comedy show is another part of my whistle-blowing rampage.
I also recommend:
“1979 Persianality Disorder” by Sepideh Kaav. This show is by a dark female Iranian comic who I work with a lot. She’s an incredible writer and has such an incredibly unique voice.
“100 Million Fish in the Aquarium” By Shannon Brooke. This show is by another female comic but she is clean as can be and one of the greatest weirdo-sillies of our time. Her comedic writing is astoundingly sharp.
What is one Edinburgh spot that you would recommend people to visit when they're not watching performances?
I think everyone should go to Hogwarts—or whatever the castle in the center of town is called. I’ve never had time to go, but I have always wanted to. Please do so for me.
Can you describe the show in 5 words?
9/11 never been so innocent
What keeps you inspired?
Great comics keep me inspired. Watching great comics at work has the exact same effect on me today as it did the first time I saw Chris Rock perform his HBO special “Bigger and Blacker” when I was an adolescent: sheer awe at the elegance and magnificence of his craft. It makes me wish to embody the spirit of that magnificence and elegance as well.
What would you hope someone takes away from seeing the show?
I would like them to know what it was like to be a kid at the foot of the Twin Towers on 9/11. I’d like them to know how devastating it was and how important it is to remember that event not through politics, but through a child’s eyes of sheer loss. I’d like them to help me honor that loss through the alchemy of turning the heart-ache into hilarity. And I’d also like to make it very clear to them that MY SCHOOL was the closest school to the World Trade Center, and not to believe the propaganda that placed the high school 100 meters north of us as “THE 9/11 school”.
When and where can people see the show?
7:30pm at the West Port Oracle Flight Club (except Mondays).
Tickets are available from https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/9-11-birds-and-the-bees
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