Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
I’m Alun Cochrane an excellent, somewhat curmudgeonly and perplexingly little-known comedian.
How would you describe your show?
A better question is surely WHY would I describe my show? I DO my show, other people can describe it. We all have our roles to play.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
I actually don’t, I’m being forced into it by my hostage-takers but they feel confident everyone will read this answer and think I’m joking.
What differentiates it from other festivals?
Well the Edinburgh festival is very different in location and content from the Woodstock festival. But compared to the Fyre festival on that Netflix documentary there is certainly some overlap. Huge financial losses and enormous hubris to name a few.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
I was motivated very much by feeling that other jobs would be harder for me than a life in comedy. My inspirations were largely older unhappy people in Yorkshire who’d never aimed for anything, and grumbled their way through unhappy lives and then died.
If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
I’d be an extremely demotivated member of a team somewhere. I picture myself in a low responsibility job that other people didn’t like doing, but that I could do whilst dreaming of being a comic. Perhaps one of the people who cleans up after a murder or a traffic accident.
If you could have any job in the world, what would it be?
A comedian but with more talent, work ethic, and success than me.
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
Watching a sex offender paint a picture on tv.
Do you ever feel any pressure to be a social commentator, or constantly update material to respond to events?
Not pressure, but sometimes I have a sense of me having to voice a view that isn’t getting stated enough. I’m an awkward bugger and sometimes I have to say so.
Equally, do you think there has been a shift in public sentiment that has affected your work?
I have no notion there is any public sentiment about my work at all.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
Deaths, float tank, new show.
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
Seneca the Younger to help me get through this sort of interview.
Why would a performer opt to do either a ticketed event or participate in the free fringe? What are the benefits and limitations of both?
I don’t know.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
I’m a hugely reluctant advice giver. Fathom it out yourself and remember you can learn from both good and bad experiences. In life and art.
When and where can people see your show?
Pleasance Cabaret Bar 21.20
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
I’m only recently on Instagram and even that I expect I’ll delete at some point.
Alun Cochrane’s new stand up show ‘Brave New Alun’ will be at the Pleasance Courtyard Cabaret Bar at 9.20pm from 31st July – 25th August for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
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