EDINBURGH 2026: Anna Thomas Q&A

BWW catches up with Anna Thomas to chat about bringing How To Juggle A Ferret to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about ‘How To Juggle A Ferret’.

‘How To Juggle a Ferret’ is a stand-up comedy show where I talk about living in my mam’s spare room in my 30’s, watching time roll by as I stay hidden away in my own head until an experience with compound-grief drags me back in the real world, kicking and screaming. I’m sorry, I know I’m making it sound like an after school special or something here, but I promise you it’s a comedy show.

With this being your Edinburgh debut, do you think you know what to expect from the festival?

I haven’t got a clue what to expect, to be honest. I know from doing a week here and there at the fringe, when I’ve leafletted/ done short spots and whatnot, that the Edinburgh Fringe streets can feel like you’re constantly at risk of being the victim of a stampede, or worse, a flash-mob.

Show-wise, though, I am clueless. It’s my first time doing an hour up there and it’s a terrifying and an exciting (but also, again, a terrifying) prospect. I really like the freedom and space that an hour long show can afford you, but goodness knows what a month of it will feel like. I’m just going to jump into the experience with all my hooves and hope that the show makes some people up there laugh for a bit. If not, let’s pretend that it was never meant to be a comedy and that the people who laughed at it in the past were just being dead inappropriate. Winner-winner-chicken-dinner either way.

How significant was the Frog and Bucket’s comedy course for you starting out?

Very, very, very significant. I’m not sure if I would have properly pursued comedy without it. Now, I’m not saying everyone should do a comedy course in order to do stand-up, but it worked out really well for me as it meant I had a nice environment to chat through the way the circuit works and how to hold a microphone and all that before I started gigging, so that when I did later attend open mics and whatnot, it didn’t feel so much like I was a Labrador pretending to be a human.

Who would you like to come and see How To Juggle A Ferret?

It’d be nice to have fellow hermit-inclined, bedroom dwellers trotting down. You know, like the sort of people who enjoy hiding away from the world too, who might relate to some of the stuff that I’m talking about in the show. But also, I recognize that building an audience of people who don’t want to leave their house isn’t the greatest idea in a career mostly built from live, in-person shows. I’d also like Conan O’Brien to come to the show. He doesn’t have to watch, I just want to ask him what hair products he’s using to get that much volume in his quiff. I can only dream of the power having such a quiff can afford you.

And what would you like audiences to take away from it?

If they leave feeling like they enjoyed the hour and that they had a good few laughs, lush. If they leave feeling inspired do stand-up themselves, I’ll be worried. If they leave feeling satiated after eating a lovely meal of high-quality Chinese dishes, they might have gone to the wrong building and accidentally attended the Chinese BBQ restaurant next door.

Photo credit: Rebecca Need-Menear

Anna Thomas: How To Juggle A Ferret runs at Edfringe 3-30 August

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