EDINBURGH 2026: Geoffrey Asmus Q&A

BWW catches up with Geoffrey Asmus to chat about bringing Patriautism to the 2026 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about ‘Patriautism’.

My show ‘Patriautism’ is essentially a greatest hits show of my favourite political, religious and historical jokes I’ve written over the last few years. I wrote a few UK-specific jokes that I’m excited to try out as well. The show will also incorporate some crowd work and will never be the same night to night. My goal is to incorporate one new joke each show for the full run as a writing exercise. 

Essentially the show is an attempt at smart comedy that is also dirty. I feel like there is a strange rule that if you do intelligent comedy you have to be exceptionally dull and polite. And you certainly can’t mention cum. I find that all rather boring, so I’ll be talking about Gaza and cum all at once thank you very much.

With this being your first full run at the Fringe, do you think you know what to expect from the festival?

I am mentally prepared to have some of the highest and lowest moments of my entire comedy career condensed into 25 days. I know there will be a few nights where the audience just doesn’t get it, and I trudge back to my miniscule university dorm sublet wondering what went wrong in my life. But overall, I am tremendously excited and just hope my liver is ready for what’s in store.

Why do you feel it is important to have creative outlets outside of comedy?

I truly believe that the hobbies you have outside of comedy are as important as writing jokes. You can sit down to write jokes for hours a day, but if you have no passions or outside interests then there is simply nothing to write about. And that emptiness will show in your vapid material. Reading every day endlessly adds to my vocabulary while playing guitar expands your creative mind. And working out keeps the dopamine levels high so every single joke isn’t about depression.

 

What differences have you noticed between European and US audiences?

I hate to put down my American homeland, but Europeans are vastly more intelligent than Americans. In America regularly reading books has been declared ‘gay’ so I really have to water down the jokes. Europeans also usually know more about American politics than Americans. That being said, Europeans do a horrific thing where they politely clap instead of laughing. Please just laugh, I will hang myself by the mic cord if you golf clap at a punchline.

What would you like audiences to take away from the show?  

I hate shows with a grand message where they hit you over the head with the thesis over and over again. But certainly, comedy should have some vague point. I hope from my show that people gather that there is nothing alpha about being stupid and lacking empathy. That not every American is a braindead fascist and that you can be liberal without being an insufferable loser.

Geoffrey Asmus: Patriautism runs at Edfringe from 5-30 August

Photo credit: Mike Bryk

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