Could you first introduce yourself to the reader?
I’m Danielle. I’m a comedian. I grew up in Australia in the country. I don’t know if the country is posh in the UK or not, but it’s not posh where I’m from. Don’t get me wrong, you can be posh out there but I’m not. For example, my Grandad got a hernia once from driving heavy machinery and he refused to pay for the circle bum cushions they want you to use after. He said ‘they’re a waste of money’, so he cut a hole in a chair instead and carried the plastic chair around everywhere with him for ages. We still use it as a normal chair nearly a decade later.
How would you describe your show?
My show ‘Nostalgia’ is about going home and trying to collect family memories and stories for myself and my sisters to hold onto forever. My family is completely absurd, I have videos and photos throughout the show, because if not I’ve found that audiences don’t believe me.
Why do you want to perform at Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
I love doing hour shows, it’s a place where you can do hour shows, and I’ve been told if I do well it could help my career. I have also been told you can lose an insane amount of money and it can mentally break you. So fingers crossed.
What differentiates it from other festivals?
The fringe is like all festivals in that it is like a snowflake, completely unique.
What first motivated you to enter the industry? Who were your inspirations?
I didn’t really watch much comedy before I did it. My cousins and a boy I did scouts with told me I should do comedy, then that fermented in my head for a few years. I loved Judith Lucy's book growing up ‘The Lucy family Alphabet’. Her family seemed as intense and baffling as mine. Then I started doing comedy and gigged with Anne Edmonds who has something insane in her I really related to. And always loved David Sedaris.
How has your background, upbringing and education had an impact on your artistic career?
It’s given me my point of view.
What is your earliest childhood art memory?
I was probably about 6 and I drew a picture of a coral reef and put it on my wall. I thought it was the best drawing ever, I thought it was photorealistic. I would stare at it, thinking ‘wow, I can’t believe I made that’. It was an average looking drawing for a child but I am blessed with the right amount of dunning-kruger to get through being really bad at something, by the time my self-doubt creeps in I can see enough progress from where I started to keep going.
If you didn’t have your current job, what would you probably be doing?
I think I’d be a florist or have a dog boarding kennel.
Did Covid-19 change the way you create work? Do you approach shows with a different mentality now?
I couldn’t do gigs during Covid, so I wasn’t constantly trying to write new bits and then wedge them together with a theme to make a show. I had more time to think about stuff and flesh out the idea behind the show. This show required a lot more research and time too, all up I’ve been working on it for probably 3 years.
Describe the last year in 5 words or less?
Brain dies when kids scream.
(I live next door to kids who constantly scream)
Do you subscribe to the idea that art should be exempt from ‘cancel culture’?
This question is too broad. Like we talking an open-micer saying something a bit crook? Or a known notorious sex pest?
If you could work with anybody, from any point in history, who would you pick and why?
Probably whoever planned the building of the first pyramids, I’d get to verify if they were aliens or not for my Grandad (and the world). Or I’d get to learn about some pretty sick lost technology/magic.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to take a show up to the fringe?
I’m not the right person to ask, this is my first fringe show and I lack all admin ability so other people have helped me sort everything.
When and where can people see your show?
The show is called Nostalgia (my name is Danielle Walker)
Assembly George Square Studios - Studio Four
3:35 pm, 3rd - 28th August
Or if this is an online publication you can click this link: https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/danielle-walker-nostalgia/book-now
And where can people find, follow and like you online?
I mostly use instagram, @daniellewalkercomedy
I accidentally deleted my facebook page and I have twitter but I rarely use it
See Danielle Walker: Nostalgia at the Assembly during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 3-28 August. For more information and tickets visit www.edfringe.com or www.assemblyfestival.com
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