Show: Shirley Gnome: Decoxification Venue: PBH's Free Fringe @ The Voodoo Rooms Time: 9.05pm Dates: 6 – 28 August (excluding 15 August) Photographer: PinupPerfectionPhotography Links: Instagram Twitter Website Facebook TikTok
Please tell me about your 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe show.
My show is a collection of my original silly, smart, stupid songs. The topics range from a sexy celebration of the comfort of granny panties, to the underpinnings of entitlement (that I perform with my puppet Broseph Wokenshaw, outspoken male feminist with a lot of ideas he wants to talk at me). I perform in pop, country, rock, folk, and R&B. I play guitar, sing to backing tracks, and I also do the occasional demented cover song that will ruin said cover song for you (if I do it right). The show focuses on my adventures in abstinence, which I used to reexamine my own expectations and understanding around sex and dating. Having been known to sing a lot of songs about sexuality, this album shows how I changed and diversified my subject matter to a lot of different taboo topics.
What is the attraction of performing at the Edinburgh Fringe? What do you think of Edinburgh?
I haven’t done this Fringe in nine years, and we’ve gone through a global revolution through the pandemic lockdowns. So I can’t say I know what the festival is like anymore. But I will say that I have a lot of friends who will be there that I have been missing so much. If anything, the attraction is the community of performers that I have known in all corners of the world. I’m also excited to be a part of PBH Free Fringe this year, as their ethos really fits my own compass for how to make live performance accessible for audiences and artists. As for the city itself, I absolutely love it. I couldn’t say anything effusive about the place that hasn’t already been said.
Who inspires you?
Well, my friend Nancy Kenny just made me the most amazing breakfast. Have you heard of Chakchouka? Honestly, my entire mouth is writing a symphony. A friend who makes you breakfast with a side of intimate chats is basically the entire ethos of my creative spirit. Oh, and I guess Flight of the Conchords, Tim Minchin, The Arrogant Worms, Garfunkel and Oats blah blah blah.
Are there other shows you want to check out during the Fringe? What are they?
I am excited to see Plan V: The Cult of Pussy Worship. I’m a huge fan of Otto & Astrid, so I’ll follow them around like a creepy weirdo. I’m going to see tonnes of PBH shows to support the organization and see pals old and new. I can’t wait to walk into a venue and have my mind blown by something I wasn’t expecting. That’s what I love most about Fringe.
Finally, ask and answer a question of your own.
Shirley, how is it that you are effortlessly perfect and never make any mistakes?
Oh, that’s easy – I was born this way and I never had to learn or practice anything. I sang my first aria in utero. I picked up a guitar and knew every chord when I was only two days old. My first joke was so funny it killed my grandfather. Tremble before my innate talent and flawless execution of ineffable music that speaks to the unchangeable and objective truth of the human condition. I am a living deity, like the Buddha and Jesus Christ mixed together. Oh, and self-care. Gotta do your self-care.
