Tape 180: Directing Clients 2025
They're All On Sale, And They're All Brilliant!
I wrote a while ago about my gradual shift towards doing more live comedy directing, but I’ve been holding off from announcing the full list of my directing clients for 2025 because I wanted to wait until they were all on sale on the EdFringe website. Well as of this week they are, so I’m very excited to shine a light on all of them!
Three years ago I was approached by Cerys Bradley asking if I would direct their debut show, Sportsperson. I was very nervous about it and felt a lot of imposter syndrome stepping into that role, but I really enjoyed working on the show, which went on to win the Neurodiverse Review Award for Autistic Excellence, so I felt confident enough to consider other directing projects in the future. Last year I worked with Edy Hurst on Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie Of Witches In The Countie Of Himself, which launched a nationwide tour with an amazing run at Salford’s Lowry Theatre, which was the experience I talked about in that earlier newsletter.
I loved that experience so much that I finally felt like I managed to take ownership of that side of my work and turn it into “something I do,” rather than “something I happened to be doing.” Over the previous couple of years I’d consulted and worked on a bunch of shows in a limited, one-off capacity, by artists like Ben Target, Rosalie Minnitt, Ted Hill, Katie Pritchard and more, but I had only come on board two shows as the fully credited director. This year I’ve expanded things a fair bit and am directing four new shows for EdFringe 2025, as well as one previous show coming back for a second run. They’re all so different, and so fun and rewarding to work on in different ways, and I’m so excited to see them all smash it in Edinburgh.
The full list is:
Edy Hurst’s Wonderfull Discoverie Of Witches In The Countie Of Himself - Assembly Roxy, Downstairs, 14:20. This is the previously-mentioned show coming back for a victory lap after a UK tour. Edy has discovered that he may be related to one of the victims of the notorious Pendle Witch Trials, so embarks on an astral journey into the history of witchcraft and the secret agendas of Euro dance-pop act the Vengaboys. It’s a really playful exploration of late-stage ADHD diagnosis and hyperfixation, and has been delighting audiences up and down the country, and now it returns to Edinburgh!
The Mayor And His Daughter: A Genuine Appreciation Of Comedy - Assembly Roxy, Snug Bar, 16:10. Ciaran Chillingworth and Kit Finnie are the Mayor and his Daughter, one of the most inventive and distinctive sketch double acts on the scene. I’ve loved their work for years and was so excited when they asked me to direct their debut show. The soul of the Mayor and his Daughter’s village is in tatters, and only a world-beating comedy show can knit their community back together. Luckily, they found a DVD of Russell Howard’s Good News (Series 2) in a ditch that has taught them the tenets of good sketch comedy, so this should all go fine. No demons are likely to derail it.
Lulu Popplewell: Love Love - Underbelly George Square, Buttercup, 18:45. I worked with Lulu on her debut show, Actually Actually, which was about addiction and online trolls, in 2023 in a one-off capacity. That show sold out its run and Lulu was a delight to work with, so it was an honour to come on board with her followup in a full directing capacity. Love Love is about society’s obsession with romance and the nagging doubt that romantic love might just be another kind of mental illness. How can you tell the difference between someone you really are obsessed with, and someone who’s just become an intrusive thought?
Andy Barr: The Hotly Anticipated 4th Debut Show From Rising Star Andy Barr - Pleasance Courtyard, Cellar, 20:00. Andy and I have worked together as part of Weirdos for years, and he’s made three brilliant, weird, characterful narrative shows - one about being marooned on a desert island, one about being a Soviet architect, and one about inheriting a cursed ruby. This whole time, there was an actual debut show - a stand-up show full of gags and routines and performative grief - that he was avoiding putting on, but now it’s time to finally give it its due. Problem is, he’s over the grief now, so what exactly is this show supposed to be about? What is there to say ten years on?
Dusty Creases: Dance Your Life Away - Pleasance Courtyard, Bunker 3, 23:00. Dusty Creases is the creation of Tara Boland, and is a crazed dance instructor who is incapable of not moving. I saw Dusty at a Sketch Book night at the end of last year and loved her so much I had to try to insert myself as director any way I could. Over the last few months, Tara and I have worked up a show that explores dance as wish-fulfilment and self-actualisation but mostly just gives this deranged character free reign to indulge in absolute madness. This show will convert your entire life into a dance. You will never look at your life the same way again.
They’re all on sale now, and they’re all absolutely brilliant! I’m so proud to be working on so many awesome shows this year, and they’re already hoovering up accolades left, right and centre. If you’re in Edinburgh, book your tickets for them, or perhaps I’ll see you at a preview sometime over the summer.
A Quick Plug - The brilliant Johnny White Really-Really and I are previewing our new shows in a fun little WIP at Aces & Eights on Monday. I’d love you to come along if you can make it! Tickets are available here.
A Cool New Thing In Comedy - We’ve just announced the first part of the lineup for our next Eggbox show at the Pleasance in July, and it includes Lola-Rose Maxwell’s directorial debut, and a live reading of a brand new short film script by Saima Ferdows and Luke Rollason, among other exciting things. You can book your tickets here! Book quickly, these shows tend to get quite busy.
What’s Made Me Laugh The Most - Mike Wozniak absolutely roasting an audience member with a boring anecdote at Kiell Smith-Bynoe’s Kool Story Bro improv show at Mach this weekend. “We’re calling this a story, are we, Sarah?” I lost my shit.
Book Of The Week - Beloved by Toni Morrison. This is as depressing as you’d expect a book about a mother who murdered her own baby in order to save it from being sold back into slavery to be, but it’s also brilliant. It’s a really harrowing, strange, sad ghost story and I highly recommend it.
Album Of The Week - The Clown by Charles Mingus. I have decided to enter my Jazz Phase. Miranda is already hating it, but I think Mingus is very good and I’m enjoying delving further into his discography. The title track, which is mostly 12 minutes of spoken word stuff about a clown, is admittedly rubbish.
Film Of The Week - Warfare. Can’t say I enjoyed this, but it did its job. It’s incredibly boring for about half an hour, then unbelievably stressful and horrific for an hour. In terms of accurately representing the lived reality of what warfare is like, it’s spot on (I imagine - I’ve not been to war, but this film has helped me make my mind up once and for all that it’s not something I’m keen to do).
That’s all for this week! As ever, let me know what you thought, and if you enjoy the newsletter enough to send it to a friend or encourage others to subscribe, I’d hugely appreciate it! Take care of yourselves until next time,
Joz xx
PS If you value the Therapy Tapes and enjoy what they do, and want to support my work and enable me to keep writing and creating, you can make a one-off donation to my Ko-Fi account, and it’s very gratefully appreciated.
PPS Horrible Science comes out on BBC iPlayer tomorrow, and will be my first proper TV writing credit! I so enjoyed coming up with silly ideas for it, and have just been sent a screengrab of one of my ideas having been made into a reality by the animation team. I’m so incredibly proud of it, they’ve done such a good job on it and it looks amazing:
