EDINBURGH 2023: Charlie Vero-Martin Q&A

BWW caught up with Charlie Vero-Martin to chat about bringing Picnic to the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Tell us a bit about Picnic.

Picnic is my brand new solo sketch show full of characters, puppets, stories and a few dark twists and turns. After the pandemic I really wanted to make a big, fun, silly show but I am still worried about the state of the world so I’m doing my best to fix it with a nice picnic… at all costs… 

Why bring it to Edinburgh?

I’m from Edinburgh and so the festival has been a part of my life since I was a child. The rest of the year, it’s quite a quiet city but every summer I could see shows from all over the world and I’d spend all my time (until I had to go back to school in mid-August, because Scotland) seeing as much as I could. It’s where I fell in love with comedy and there are shows I saw at 15 that still have an influence on the work I’m doing now. So to be part of that means a lot to me. I’ve not taken a show to the Fringe since 2019. I live in London now and while I try to come up and perform as much as I can, there’s something really special about bringing a solo show like Picnic home. 

Where else might we know you from?

I’m part of Weirdos Comedy which is a collective of alt-comedy comedians like Joz Norris, Eleanor Morton and Michael Brunstrom and I’m a regular at ACMS, Questing Time and Edinburgh’s Open Comedy and Monkey Barrel. You may have seen me as some of my previous characters like Amelia Earhart, Dante and Napoleon. Some of my current characters include Persephone the sinister wellness guru, Professor Von Flipflop the marine biologist and Mr Basketcase who is a sentient picnic basket. 

What is your background in improv and clowning?

I’ve been doing improv since 2008 when I got into Blind Mirth which is one of the oldest improv groups in the UK and was the first student improv group to get 5 star reviews and bring a long-form show to the Edinburgh Fringe. I’ve been a regular performer in London for the past 9 years primarily performing with Glitch - The Improvised Puppet Show and two-prov Mike & Charlie. I’m now a coach and a teacher with Hoopla Impro, which I really love. Clowning is quite a new obsession in comparison! I was always told I was “a bit clowny” so went to Doctor Brown’s intensive in 2017 but I think that scared me off for a while. However, after lockdown I threw caution to the wind and have since studied with Dan Lees, Mick Barnfather and last year trained in France with Philippe Gaulier. If money and time were no object I’d be doing it all the time. It’s such a freeing experience and I’ve never laughed more in my life than when playing with clowns. (And shh, this is a secret: Picnic also has a cameo role that is always played by a clown.)

Who would you like to come and see it?

This show has no age limit or demographic other than people who are curious about the world and love to laugh. If you have interests in marine biology, cryptic crosswords, D&D, the muppets, folk horror, dark humour, punk music or just want to feel like kids giggling in a pillow fort then this is the show for you. And it’s a picnic so bring wine and biscuits. 

Tickets are available here: 

Photo credit: Rebecca Need-Menear

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