EDINBURGH 2019: The Thinking Drinkers Q&A

BWW catches up with The Thinking Drinkers to chat about bringing Heroes of Hooch to the 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Heroes of Hooch.

This is our 9th consecutive year at the fringe so we've come back with a brand new show to keep our regulars happy. This year we're celebrating the heroic people of history, some familiar, some lesser known, all with an interesting and humorous story to tell and all linked by the fact they achieved greatness and all enjoyed a drink.

The show is varied, not just in terms of song, dance, joke, history, pub ammo and five free drinks, but also in terms of the eras we cover. So we jump from God to Galileo, Moon Landings to the Moulin Rouge and Houdini to Hendrix. And yes, important to stress, you get five free drinks in the show.

What have you been up to since last years festival?

We've been touring last year's shows around the country, enjoying sell out shows as we've visited everywhere from Newcastle to Brighton and Bristol to Southend. We've also picked up some prestigious awards for our drinks expertise, Tom has recently been named IWSC Spirits Writer of the Year, to prove we really do know what we're talking about on those free drinks.

How does the show differ for people who have been to the show in previous years?

We still give out the free drinks, which is important to stress. That hasn't changed folks. And the format is the same, we jump around history, and connect our findings to the drinks the audience is tasting. Otherwise, all the content is new. So a new song, a new dance, new ways to shock with unexpected partial nudity, new old dad jokes and some new drinks.

What do you hope audiences take away from it?

The memory of a good night. It's always tricky to be memorable when you give the audience free drinks but we encourage our motto of 'drink less, drink better' and the drinks in the show alone will help you enjoy but won't get you highly inebriated. The perfect balance for us is enough drink to help them laugh, not so much they won't remember and tell their friends.

What's next for you after Edinburgh?