Jake Mace
Comedian Shalaka Kurup is bringing her stand-up storytelling hour Get a Grip to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, in a ploy which she describes as getting a mental health diagnosis in ‘a desperate need for attention’. We caught up with Shalaka for a pixelated pint to find out her thoughts on why people want to be interesting and engaging to the world, the Fast and Furious franchise, and therapy-speak.
You can catch Shalaka Kurup: Get a Grip from July 30th to August 25th (not the 11th) at Attic at Pleasance Courtyard from 20:30 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jake: Hi Shalaka – in your self-described ‘very silly’ upcoming stand-up hour, you say you’re also going to attempt to convince your therapist that you need a diagnosis. Tell us about how you’ve found the silly in that concept.
Shalaka: I think it’s inherently silly to try and convince someone that you’re deserving of a mental health diagnosis, especially considering that I attempted to do it so I could be a more interesting person. It’s silly at its very core. My show is about how I break down what I consider to be key aspects of my personality, and make a big deal about them so I can be a captivating person and protagonist. Especially in 2025, the idea of being an engaging person to the world, society and the internet is very important to a lot of people, and I make fun of that idea, but solely with regards to myself. I hope it’s relatable – the fact that we’ve forgotten that we can just exist in the world without that existence being a grand story or performance.
Specifically silly things to look out for in my show: too many references to the Fast & Furious franchise, a story about the worst mental health helpline in the world, train jokes and some very off-key, off-putting singing. This show has made me realise just how happy I am to be the worst, most embarrassing version of myself for entertainment.
Jake: Tell us about what the audience can expect coming into the show, and what they might not expect about the show.
Shalaka: A lot of jokes, some bizarre stories, references to Zooey Deschanel and the Argos catalogue, and some gentle narcissism. I hope that any audience that comes to my show expects to laugh a lot, think only a tiny bit and leave with some Dominic Toretto (or to use his Christian name, Vin Diesel) quotes.
Do not expect enlightenment, anything profound, any learning whatsoever (apart from spoilers for a few Fast & Furious films). No spoilers, but any audience will learn very quickly that I’m what the Gen Z would describe as being “deeply unserious”.
Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?
Shalaka: Ideally, a joke that they can quote to their friends. The meaning of the word “cheugy”. The fact that we’re all flawed people, and that the exoticisation of mental illness happens to the best (or worst) of us. To recognise and acknowledge that deep, individualistic thought that we all have, where we genuinely believe that the universe revolves around us.
I read an article (watched a TikTok about an article) called “Nobody Has a Personality Anymore” by Freya India about the plague that is therapy-speak, where every single characteristic becomes the reason for a possible diagnosis, or as she says in the article: “every personality trait (is) a problem to be solved”. If there was going to be a message in my show (I vehemently deny that there is one, and anyone who disagrees can speak to my lawyers), that would be it.
Jake: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Shalaka: There’s a corner shop off Cowgate that sells a special flavour of Pepperami (Firestick) that I’ve never been able to find in London. I’m excited to have two of those every single day for the first week of the Fringe, and then be violently ill through the second week of the Fringe.
Apart from that, doing my show to audiences, I guess.
Jake: 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?
Shalaka: It would be a dirty gin martini. Pretentious, the kind of drink that only an elderly millennial would order because they watched a romantic comedy in the early 2000s that featured a manic pixie dream girl with a fringe and colourful tights ordering one at a speakeasy. It’s sour, it’s very alcoholic. If you love it, you will adore it with your whole heart, and if you don’t like it, you’ll probably leave with a bad taste in your mouth.
A reminder, you can catch Shalaka Kurup: Get a Grip from July 30th to August 25th (not the 11th) at Attic at Pleasance Courtyard from 20:30 (60mins). Tickets are available through the EdFringe Online Box Office.
Jasmine Silk
Phoebe Bakker
