Shay Mace
Aalex Mandel-Dallal will bring her musical comedy hour Where Was I? to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe next month, exploring neurodiversity, anxiety and just how on earth people do ‘all the things’. Aalex tells us to expect an abundance of misunderstandings, a rap about questionable life choices, and a whirlwind of overcomplication. We managed to catch up with her for a pixelated pint to unpack why everything is so complicated, and why she’s so overwhelmed.
You can catch Aalex Mandel-Dallal: Where Was I? at Nic 8 (Nicolson Square Gardens) at Hoots @ Nicolson Square on August 7th – 30th (not the 15th) from 18:50 (55mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Aalex, tell us about Where Was I? and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?
Aalex: I’m unashamedly using this show to help make sense of my brain and how it can best function in the beautiful world we see crumbling somewhat before us. The phrase, master your art and serve your community, has sat deep in my soul since hearing it 15 years ago. This is because I don’t feel I’ve ever honestly mastered anything, but making people laugh and uplifting them in some capacity is the first time in my 37 years of life I’ve felt I could. Where Was I, is my show and tell.
It’s about managing the millions of thoughts I process daily, pulling me in all the directions and using this show to conduct them to tell a story rather than letting them just go wild.
This may be my ADHD but those letters aren’t mentioned in the show, as I feel this is, understandably, a common theme amongst comics and creators. So I’m attempting to do this in more obvious ways like through a rap about egg-freezing, the use of my real-life home phone that I have stored for too many years, a live body clock and a subliminal TV show pitch.
Shay: Tell us about your process for putting together this hour – what do you do to get yourself motivated and what challenges have you found with this material?
Aalex: It started with egg-freezing and within stand-up, expressing the battle between feeling young but physically getting older, the first version of the show was called Froze-em, which I feared Disney would get its hands on, then cease and insist I don’t.
After that, I realised it was far more interesting for me to explore the extreme lengths I’ve gone to to make the most of this time in my life before I decide to move into a new era and choose whether to have children.
The show then opened up to different forms of comedy, as I opened myself up to understanding my clown through hours of courses and retreats, putting myself into situations where the sole purpose was just to create and seeing what comes from that.
From this, the show has become more musical and has enabled me to explore the why behind it all. This is through every form of self-exploration I can commit to, including developing Happiness Habits ™ (this is a real thing), silent retreats, travelling across the world and trying medication, to name a few. Then deeply analysing the effects of each of these actions, to really find the clarity I always seem to be looking for.
Shay: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Aalex: Exstatic Dance, get out of my head and into my body before I have to be as honest and real as I can be on stage.
Shay: What do you do when you’re faced with writer’s block?
Aalex: Exstatic Dance, I joke but kind of. Anything that involves getting out of my hectic little mind, this occurs frequently. At times getting inspired by other people’s art, going to any of the free art exhibitions my lovely hometown London has to offer. Or often simply, going to the million parks London has, sitting with nature and hearing what it has to tell me.
Shay: Has/will the show be performed anywhere ahead of EdFringe?
Aalex: Previously it has gone to Leicester Comedy Festival, Rik Mayall Comedy Festival, Brighton Fringe and Hastings Comedy Festival.
And I’ve got a few more WIPs to go, you must come. It’s peak summer, and it seems nobody wants to be in a dark room, even if it is air-conditioned. Catch the show on the 5th July at The Glitch Highlights Festival in Waterloo, 12th July at Camden Comedy Club, 21st July at the Pen Theatre in Bermondsey, 24th July at The White Bear in Bristol, and 25th July in Shirkers Rest, South London.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Aalex: Completing a task. I’ve never done the full Fringe before and I’m trying my hardest to get there, mental-health in tact, and love what I’m showing people every day (apart from the 15th August, as I have my cousin’s wedding).
Shay: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?
Aalex: As I don’t drink…for no edgy reason, just that I’m a delicate flower that can’t handle alcohol… It would be the sparkling pear juice; I had one with a meal I ate last week, Pearona. I took a chance on something that hadn’t been subconsciously marketed to me through a big-bucks marketing campaign and it was THE PERFECT DRINK, deliciously fruity, fresh and surprising. I enjoyed every slurp of this Mauritian drink, ordered another, posted about it on Instagram, and can’t stop thinking about it.
I’ve gone too deep on the question BUT if you want something that goes too deep on light questions and is fruity, fresh and surprising, this is the show for you!
A reminder, you can catch Aalex Mandel-Dallal: Where Was I? at Nic 8 (Nicolson Square Gardens) at Hoots @ Nicolson Square on August 7th – 30th (not the 15th) from 18:50 (55mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
