Alfie Packham Will Make Edinburgh Fringe Debut This Summer

Double BBC New Comedy Award nominee Alfie Packham was not a man who would "seize" things, such as the initiative, opportunities, or the day. But surely his mum's terminal cancer diagnosis in 2014 would change everything? As it turned out, no.

Alfie's mum lived for eight years with her illness, a period that spanned Alfie's twenties. In that time, she lived life to the full - much more than Alfie did. She taught him a lesson in how to seize upon life - by carrying on as normal.

A highly anticipated Fringe debut, My Gift to You is a stand-up show about gifts. It's both about the literal gifts Alfie's mum left him before she died and the gift of a routine and boring life. With observational bits, stories and props, this cerebral-but-silly show covers love and death, and less thematic stuff like football and his girlfriend's shoplifting habit. It explores the funny side of grief and the surprisingly everyday reality of terminal illness.

My Gift To You runs at the Underbelly Bristo Square (Dexter) between 31 July and 26 August (not 12) @ 2.45pm - add it to your bucket list today.

Alfie Packham is a stand-up comedian and writer based in London, where he has worked as a journalist for eight years. He was brought up in the rural West Midlands.

He was twice nominated for the BBC New Comedy Award and was the Max Turner Comedy Prize winner in 2022. He writes regularly for The Guardian and Observer as well as BBC Radio 4's The Now Show and The News Quiz.

Alfie also hosts the twice Chortle Award-winning comedy night Comedy Bandits, and co-created Gun and Wand: The Official Companion Podcast, a podcast about a TV show that doesn't exist.