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 Jennifer Jane about her show Happy Tea.
What can you tell me about your show?
My show is a weirdly uplifting and funny story about a difficult time in my life. A while ago a feature length documentary, called Charged, was made about my ex-boyfriend and I, and my show Happy Tea, is about that same time period but looked at through a comedic lens. The show itself is about some rather intense life experiences when I moved from the UK to Montana in the USA. It certainly dives into a bunch of topics, from relationships, to being a caregiver to re-finding yourself, and is ultimately a feel good show.
My show is a weirdly uplifting and funny story about a difficult time in my life. A while ago a feature length documentary, called Charged, was made about my ex-boyfriend and I, and my show Happy Tea, is about that same time period but looked at through a comedic lens. The show itself is about some rather intense life experiences when I moved from the UK to Montana in the USA. It certainly dives into a bunch of topics, from relationships, to being a caregiver to re-finding yourself, and is ultimately a feel good show.
How would you describe the style of your show to anyone who has never seen you before?
The style of my show is storytelling stand up, with one main thread that goes throughout the whole show, so in a sense it is a bit like watching a movie. If people don’t pay attention the ending will make no sense. There are jokes throughout but they all relate in some way to the story I am telling, which is a true story covering about 10 years of my life condensed into an hour.
What was the lightbulb moment that led to the creation of this piece?
Not so much of a lightbulb moment but more of a gradual realisation, I had written some material that related to a longer story, and that material did really well at comedy shows, then I expanded it into a 45 minute set, which to be honest was kind of thrown together to just to see the reaction, and then when that went really well I realised I should actually sit down and craft a show that relates to this particular story.
Not so much of a lightbulb moment but more of a gradual realisation, I had written some material that related to a longer story, and that material did really well at comedy shows, then I expanded it into a 45 minute set, which to be honest was kind of thrown together to just to see the reaction, and then when that went really well I realised I should actually sit down and craft a show that relates to this particular story.
What makes 2026 the perfect year for this specific story or performance?
Oh I doubt it is the perfect year, ha. A story of love and life is kind of a timeless theme. And, personally, I read a long time ago that you have to take action even when things are not perfect, so it is more the year for taking action, and it is actually not perfect at all. I run a national food brand, Proper Good, in the USA and the workload is kind of overwhelming so I will be fitting that in between all the Edinburgh things, my brother is getting married the first week of September so I will go straight from Edinburgh mode to Sister of the Groom mode with a million wedding things to do, so I would say, it is more just time for taking action, rather than perfect timing :-)
How will you mentally and physically prepare for a run at the Fringe?
I will try to just do all the textbook stuff, on the mental side… get good sleep, fill my brain with positive things and spend time with awesome people. Physically, since I am in my 40’s, I am already pretty diligent with staying active, so I will be sure to have some hardcore workouts, good recovery days, and eat well as much as possible, other than some cheeky slices of cake :-)
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?
Oh I love this question so much! I think I would make people tea, since my show is called Happy Tea, and serve it in oversized but cute grandma style china teacups, and serve it with a mini multi-tiered cake for each person, with each tier a different flavor of cake, so it would look like a mini wedding cake but more of a celebration cake. So it would just be a very indulgent Happy Tea & Cake moment. Maybe a joke from the show written around the cake, or in the cake? I feel if someone offered that to me I would instantly want to watch their show, ha.
What is the one item in your Fringe Survival Kit that you can’t live without at the Fringe?
A microphone. Full stop. I think I could survive without anything else. I was at another festival and the microphone broke about 30 seconds into the show, and we could not fix it. I did my whole hour with no mic and it was brutal. My voice is not loud enough as is, and it got even worse over the hour. So I would say the one thing above everything else for my Fringe survival is a microphone :-)
A microphone. Full stop. I think I could survive without anything else. I was at another festival and the microphone broke about 30 seconds into the show, and we could not fix it. I did my whole hour with no mic and it was brutal. My voice is not loud enough as is, and it got even worse over the hour. So I would say the one thing above everything else for my Fringe survival is a microphone :-)
What would you deem as success at the end of the Fringe?
Having sold out shows would be the biggest win. I am dreading the idea of empty rooms, partly because you hear about that a lot, so it is front of mind. Part of the reason to do Edinburgh and shoulder the expense is to get feedback on the show and improve it as much as possible, and that is just not possible without an audience. So having a consistent audience to perform to is my real success metric, and, of course, having a laugh rate in the show that I’m proud of with those audiences would be the ultimate success.
Other than your own show, are there any other shows you would recommend at the Fringe this year?
I have not seen any of the actual shows that are going to be at Fringe this year, so I can’t recommend any directly but some of the comedians I am most excited to check out at the Fringe this year are Ania Magliano, Jack Dee, Sophie Duker, Nish Kumar and my fantastic director Stuart Laws.
What is one Edinburgh spot that you would recommend people to visit when they're not watching performances?
To be honest with you I have only really been to Edinburgh to watch shows so have not explored much else other than food, ha, and I would say that Thamel restaurant is amazing and very much worth a visit if you like Nepalese food and the amount of cute little teahouses and places to have cakes in Edinburgh is insane, and very much worth a visit. I actually loved just having tea and cake and reading a book for a bit of chill time between shows. I do hope that this year I have time to check out the Castle, some of the local walks and those nice kind of ‘downtime’ activities between the hype of the festival bits.
To be honest with you I have only really been to Edinburgh to watch shows so have not explored much else other than food, ha, and I would say that Thamel restaurant is amazing and very much worth a visit if you like Nepalese food and the amount of cute little teahouses and places to have cakes in Edinburgh is insane, and very much worth a visit. I actually loved just having tea and cake and reading a book for a bit of chill time between shows. I do hope that this year I have time to check out the Castle, some of the local walks and those nice kind of ‘downtime’ activities between the hype of the festival bits.
Can you describe the show in 5 words?
Unexpectedly funny survival love story
Unexpectedly funny survival love story
Jennifer Jane: Happy Tea runs at Just The Tonic at Mash House from 6th - 30th August. For tickets visit https://edinburgh.justthetonic.com/event/88:5410/
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