Interview: EDINBURGH 2024: 'I think it's all fine coming to the Fringe year after year and doing stand-up but you've got to try something new' Rachel Fairburn on Side Eye

BroadwayWorld catches up with Rachel Fairburn at the Fringe to chat about her new character show Side Eye.

Tell me a bit about Side Eye.

Side Eye is my character show, which is loosely based around the seven deadly sins. Very loosely. It just makes it link a bit better because the first thing I discovered about doing a character show is that I needed to bring them together.

Each character is a bit of an arsehole, I don't think you'll like every character but you might feel sorry for some of them. They're all flawed I would say. And side eye is obviously when you're being sly about somebody, you're giving them the side eye. When you're speaking to someone who is being a bit of an arse and you sort of give someone else the look that means they're an arsehole.

Will fans of Rachel Fairburn find it familiar?

Yes, I think so. I think my stand-up tends to be about what irritates me and what irritates me is other people and the little things that they do. I'm very impatient and I get very agitated by people. So I think if people enjoy my stand-up they'll enjoy this character stuff because each character has something about them that would irritate me and I think from the audience reaction they've sort of gone “yeah that annoys me too” or “someone I know does that”.

In stand-up when you're describing something about someone that annoys you it can come across as being just bitchy but if you're a character it's a more rounded way of taking the piss out of someone.

Do you like having props?

I don't know.

There are no costumes in the show because I found out very early on that doing costumes is fundamentally embarrassing. There's always this panic when you're changing. I've got these polystyrene heads that I've painted myself and I only have one headpiece that I've painted for each character.

I find having the props quite annoying because I have to set them up every day but I liked painting them, I found it very therapeutic. I think I like having one thing to represent each character. Any more than that would send me into a downward spiral. The joy of being a stand-up is turning up and it just being you.

So, no, I don't think I do like them but it's a necessity for the show.

How does the process differ from writing stand-up?

I love stand-up and I love writing for myself but with this, I have to go “Would that person say this”. I think I preferred writing this because it's something new and I think I can get away with a little bit more. Certain things I wouldn't necessarily say in a stand-up set, if you put them with the right character in a character show then you'll get a laugh. I've really enjoyed it and I’d like to do more of it.

Before I was a stand-up I used to write little parody pieces and monologues. I've also found people in general funnier than stand-up, just in conversation a little turn of phrase. That's one of the really lovely things is taking things that someone I worked with or a friend of mine once said that I've remembered, being able to put that in a show and get a laugh from an audience is really nice.

What’s it like coming to the festival with a show you're excited about?

Different. I'm a very nervous person. I love this show and I've worked so hard on it. I work hard on everything but this is something so different. I go to bed, I'm thinking about it, I wake up, I'm thinking about it.

With stand-up, I know what I'm doing. If anything goes wrong I can just get on with it. I was so excited to bring it to the Fringe and I loved previewing it. It’s the first time I’ve worked with a director and Rohan Acharya has been amazing. I don't know anything about staging or anything so he’s been brilliant.

It's the first time in years that I've been so excited to be at the Fringe. Then you just sort of feel so excited for other people to see it as well.

I've been excited for people who enjoy my stand-up to see me do something new and I think they're enjoying it. Some people have maybe found it a bit odd, but I like that. I think it's all fine coming to the Fringe year after year and doing stand-up but you've got to try something new. And this is the place to do it.

Do you ever see yourself moving into theatre?

I would really love to write something and see other people do it. I'd love to write a play or maybe some monologues and get someone else to do it so I don't have to learn the lines. Even though I've written this, learning it was so hard. I'd love for someone else to direct it and then I could come out and see it. I would love that. Just to write something and finish it and give it away then see what someone else does with it.

Is it easier to recover in stand-up when you forget a line as opposed to character comedy?

Yes. In stand-up you can just go “I've forgotten what I'm on about what was I talking about” and you make a joke about it and carry on. I have forgotten a couple of lines in it and you have to stay in the character. You have to think very quickly about what that character would say. For the Dame Ellen character, I keep a question card in my bra and unfortunately, it slid down and was in the leg of my jumpsuit. You have to do it a bit knowingly and stay in character. I think I'm quite good at thinking on my feet but it is a lot harder.

How's your second Fringe show Showgirl going?

It’s going well, I've got a new enthusiasm for it. I toured it for three months and I've changed it around and taken stuff out. I'm pushing it a bit more and I'm loving it. I'll be putting it to bed in October.

What’s the process for planning a tour and how much say do you have in where you go?

I say I’d like to tour and my management company route it for me.

Sometimes they'll send you to places that you've never toured before and there are places that have sold really well and I’m not going back to. People will be like “Why aren't you coming back, have we upset you”. No! I don't decide! There will always be places you always do- there's no way I could get away with not doing Manchester. It's always the place I start my previews in and I do the first finished article of the show as well. I'm filming Showgirl as well in October and that'll be the end of Showgirl. I'm filming it in Blackpool and the Blackpool tower is on the poster and the amount of people who are like “you never came to Blackpool!”.

There's so many dates, a lot of places Ive never been to before. And its in February and March so it'll be bloody freezing. Should be fun though!

Side Eye is at Monkey Barrel at 12.30pm until 25 August (not 12th) and Showgirl is at Underbelly Bristo Square at 5.20pm until 25 August (not 12th). Side Eye is on tour around the UK from February 2025 and the full list of dates can be found on Rachel Fairburn's website.

Photo credit: Drew Forsyth

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