Interview: Sooz Kempner

BroadwayWorld catches up with Sooz Kempner to chat about bringing Playstation to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Playstation.

Playstation is the third in a trilogy of my video game-based shows that I've been doing since 2018. We've gone from me as a little kid in the first show, me as a little kid in the second show and now we've got me in the late 90s getting my Sony Playstation which was my first grown-up games console. It made me feel like such a grown-up for the first time. It's looking at what makes you a grown-up, now that I'm 37.

Do you need to have seen the other shows beforehand?

Absolutely not! No, you don't even need to be a gamer.

Are the other shows available to watch anywhere?

Yes! One of them is available to buy on my Patreon and the other Super Sonic 90's kid is kind of a best of and is available to buy on Go Faster Stripe. And it's only a fiver!

Has Playstation changed since it was written for Edfringe 2020?

Yes, it has changed so much. There's virtually nothing from the 2020 version that is in this version because we've had a whole damn pandemic and two and a half years since I did the first and only preview of Playstation in January 2020.

How are previews going?

Really well, thank you. I got to a point about a month ago where I no longer hated that show and that's pretty early for me.

Does going viral on Twitter equal ticket sales?

Well, it has so far but you can't guarantee it. In 2019 I think it was about two months after I had originally gone viral so it was very early days and it definitely boosted numbers in the shows at the Fringe. I'd sort of gone from averaging 30 a day in 2018 to averaging 45/50 a day and that was when I had about 25,000 followers so now I have 90,000 followers. So I'm hoping that this Fringe is going to be good numbers.

Is your show quite similar to your tweets?

My vibe on Twitter is very similar to my vibe onstage I would say!

What are the perks of doing the Free Fringe?

Oh, it's great. There's no upfront cost with the venue. There's also this great community feel with the Free Fringe with all the acts helping each other within the venue. And you get this bucket of money at the end of every show! So you don't have to be poor while you're living up there whereas with the paid Fringe which I have done before you have to wait for your payout at the end. And sometimes your payout is minus money.

Tell us a bit about your podcasts.

Mystery on the Rox is my true crime comedy cocktail podcast that I do with comedians Chris Stokes and Masud Milas. I also co-host the official Queen podcast (the band not the lady) with comedian John Robins and Queen historian Simon Lupton and our producer Rohan Acharya. Queenpod is looking at Queen's albums track by track.

Are you taking part in any other shows at the Fringe?

This is the first year in a while that I haven't also taken on a musical and I am so excited not to be doing a musical every evening. It ruins my life but I tend to say yes when asked to do one. But this year I've said no, I'm just going to do my standup show and see loads of stuff and hang out with my friends. Normally I'd do a musical and go straight home to rest after my show and it is very tedious.

Have you got any must-see shows?

Lucy Frederick's show which is at Gilded Balloon. Rob Kemp's show Agenda sounds fascinating, that's going to be brilliant. Jenny Bede's show looks brilliant. John Robins is doing a work in progess show that'll be amazing. Will Hodgson and Myra Dubois, Katie Pritchard and Nick Helm!

Sooz Kempner: Playstation runs at the Banshee Labyrinth throughout August.