EDINBURGH 2022: Garrett Millerick Q&A

BWW catches up with Garrett Millerick about bringing Just Trying to Help to the 2022 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Just Trying To Help.

I was standing at a taxi rank about twenty years ago and I witnessed a bystander attempting to break up a fight. He became embroiled in the action when one of the participants punched him in the face as he was breaking the fight up. He regained his composure, removed his belt and whipped the original pair to within an inch of their lives. He then bellowed at the top of his voice 'I was just trying to help'.

I've been thinking about that man a lot recently. There are so many people in our society having a great time violently whipping people whilst claiming their intention as purely altruistic. The idea stuck with me so I've written a show based on the harm we can sometimes do when we're doing our best to help.

You describe yourself as the world's angriest optimist, could you elaborate?

I didn't; it was actually from a review or press thing a number of years ago. And my producer at the time said it was the most apt description of me he'd heard. We never really have a good handle on how others see us, you can't really control that.

I guess it's that I get very angry about things, but only petty small things, the reason for that is those are the things that can be changed, easily, today. So it seems worthwhile getting het up about an easy fix. In a way it isn't about something big. For example, endless hand wringing tweets about American Gun control verses some stern words regarding the proper disposal of picnic rubbish in an area of natural beauty.

And it's the final part of a trilogy?

Yeah, but you don't need to have seen the others. It's a thematic trilogy. It's got the same lead character. It's written by the same bloke. It's vaguely autobiographical. But you'll pick it up. If you haven't seen the other two, you're in luck. They were released by US Record Label 800 Pound Gorilla Records and are available to stream and download on all major platforms.

Who would you like to come and see Just Trying To Help?

I tend not to write for any particular crowd. There is way too much of that going on at the moment. Comedy is at its best when it's about the collective 'Us', it's become pointlessly divisive in recent years. So I hope everyone comes to see it, and the people who come to see it enjoy it, and if they don't enjoy it then sod them they weren't my crowd.

What do you hope audiences take away from it?

Merch. I'll be selling merch. And I've got a daughter now so need to make this pay. Kids are expensive. So I'm hoping people come away with lots of merch.

Photo credit: Ed Moore

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