EDINBURGH 2022: Danielle Walker Q&A

BWW catches up with Danielle Walker to chat about bringing Nostalgia to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Nostalgia.

Nostalgia is a bunch of memories and stories I've collected to try and capture my family in my mind forever. My family is completely absurd in their mundanity and to me they're magic.

My sister wrote me a letter once to tell me my Grandparents dog Bear had to be put down because he kept killing the chickens. They told her that Bear had turned vicious and could not be trusted anymore. I called my Nanna to ask what was going on, she said that Bear had cancer, and that they didn't want my sister to know he had been suffering. Yes. You are reading that correctly. Instead of telling my sister Bear was in pain and needed to be put down, they thought the less confronting option was to tell her he'd gone savage and for the safety of the world. He. Needed. To. Die.

That's my family. You might read that story and think it's brutal, or funny, or just ridiculous. I look at my family like they're magic, so when I think about that story I see my family trying to shield my sister from heartache, while also creating a fantastical world where a family dog can become a blood thirsty monster overnight.

Do you think you know what to expect from the Edinburgh festival Fringe?

Not at all. Last time I came to visit I stayed with people and they had a baby while I was there. That's an insane level of hospitality.

How would you describe your style of comedy?

On stage I'm the me I am inside my head. So I just do what I want, which means I usually end up being a strange mix of quite dark, but silly and joyous at the same time. I also love multi-media, visuals, animations, sculptures, whatever I think of.

What are you looking forward to seeing at the festival?

I missed Dan Raths show in Melbourne this year and need to see it, he's so funny and original. I want to see lots of shows, I love trying to find the strange shows you leave thinking 'what did I just see?' so if anyone finds some good stuff of that variety please DM me.

Who would you recommend comes to see Nostalgia?

• People who like family stories

• People who love an underdog (Me) triumph (Have an an audience in Edinburgh)

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