Shay Mace
It’s a story we’ve all heard before – a 17 year old girl leaves Livingston behind, drops out of school, and moves to Costa Rica on her own. Actually – maybe that isn’t a story we’ve heard before. Good thing we’ve tracked down Eva Peroni, who has a coming of age story quite like no other to tell at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She’s bringing her debut comedy hour Jungled to the festival this year, and we caught up with her for a pixelated pint to unpack the journey so far.
You can catch Eva Peroni: Jungled at ‘Nook’, Gilded Balloon Teviot on August 5th – 30th (not the 17th) from 16.40 (60mins). Tickets are available through the Gilded Balloon Online Box Office.
Shay: Hi Eva, tell us about ‘Jungled’ and why you have decided to bring this to the stage now?
Eva: Hey Shay! Jungled is my debut show and basically a typical coming-of-age story, except I just happened to have that stage of my life while living alone in Costa Rica. The show maps out all the events in my childhood as a wee ned that led to me having to move so far away so young and then tells loads of mad stories of things that happened in Costa Rica that resulted in me coming back bald, barefoot and gay. I’ve decided to bring it to Fringe now because I’m quite egoistic and I wanted to debut really young so that everyone is impressed by me. No but actually because it just feels like the right time with me still being at uni but not in such a consequential year, I just feel like this is the year I would have the most energy and time to dedicate to the show before I need to worry about getting a “real job”.
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?
Eva: I annoyingly didn’t want to just try and put all of my best material together, so before the show could take form at all I had LOADS of writing to do. Thankfully motivation was never a struggle for me, I’m still fresh enough with comedy that it’s all really exciting for me, much to the annoyance of many pros in green rooms, but I definitely did struggle with other aspects. Don’t tell anyone that I said this but I’m kind of almost a pun comedian… so I generally think of punchlines first and work on the connecting tissue afterwards, but I knew for the show I wanted more stories and long form material so I had to really work on writing in that. I’m also super lucky to have the wonderful Sam Lake directing and he is a legend of the long form bit so that has been endlessly helpful.
Shay: Tell us about your comedy icons – who are they, and how have they influenced your work?
Eva: Definitely the two women who gave me my first gig, back in Costa Rica, Shir Ugalde and La Cristi. They flyered me for an all women’s comedy festival they were putting on – I totally misunderstood and thought they wanted me to perform. They would have been well within their right to tell me to go home but they were so kind and let me do the gig and chatted with me after giving loads of friendly advice. They were the first ones to tell me the importance of every word in a bit and how everything you say helps build tension for a punchline.
I also love love love Ryan Cullen and Celya AB, I feel like they are two sides of the same coin, both such tight joke writers with such unique ideas, big brain energy. Lastly, I saw Jordan Brookes for the first time recently and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, he has such an amazing fearlessness and takes the room wherever he wants regardless of whether they like it or not. Jordan has definitely inspired me to take bigger risks in the show especially with more physicality.
Shay: Do you have any pre-show rituals?
Eva: I try and move a lot before shows to loosen myself up as much as possible. I’ve had audience members come up to me after shows before saying that they could see me dancing about through the little gap in the curtain. I also try and convince myself that the audience are going to be on my side, especially if it’s not an audience that I’m used to performing to. This usually looks like me repeating to myself or anyone else backstage “They are going to love me, they are going to love my dolphin bit”. This isn’t a super effective method though because with each occurrence of a dolphin-bit-flop I trust my own manifestations less and less.
Shay: Has/will the show be performed anywhere ahead of EdFringe?
Eva: Yes! I have 2 ½ work in progress shows left: Hyde Park Book Club on 13th July, Monkey Barrel on 17th and an unknown venue in Aberdour on 31st. I’ll also be doing the show loads just to myself in my house if anyone wants to come to that. If you find a bridge troll and solve his riddles three he will give you my address.
Shay: With EdFringe now just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Eva: Honestly I’m super excited for the bit before the Fringe where everything is being built. I live in the city centre and I just think it is so cool and exciting to have all of my daily commutes transformed bit by bit, seeing all my friends’ posters going up and enjoying the anticipation. I’ve also been chatting with Adi Parmer and Madeleine Brettingham and we’re trying to organise a night for drinks with as many debutants as we can so I am really looking forward to that!
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?
Eva: In Costa Rica they have this shot called a Chilli Guaro. Guaro is the national alcohol of the country, it’s made from sugar cane but is distilled less than rum is which means it definitely packs a punch, that is then mixed with a super spicy tomato mixture and you shot that. It comes in loads of different flavours but it’s always spicy and strong. That’s definitely the show, there will be days it looks very different but it’ll always be memorable, unusual, and hurt on the way out.
A reminder, you can catch Eva Peroni: Jungled at ‘Nook’, Gilded Balloon Teviot on August 5th – 30th (not the 17th) from 16.40 (60mins). Tickets are available through the Gilded Balloon Online Box Office.
Image Credit: Nicholas Elliot
Salvador Kent
