Radio 1 arrives at the Edinburgh Fringe
Scott and Chris broadcast from a swaying portable studio at Potterrow as the remains of Hurricane Bertha passed through Edinburgh. Every available room, bus and theatre appeared to contain a show, while performers offered flyers with a level of theatrical commitment rarely found outside holiday clubs.
The pair were appearing that night in Alice Levine’s live comedy showcase. Their ten-minute slot would be broadcast after the watershed through the Red Button, Radio 1’s website and YouTube, with a warning that it was too rude for the normal afternoon programme.
Scott was also due to be interviewed by Chris in front of the audience. He compared the prospect to a life-stories conversation conducted by Piers Morgan, except that the interviewer was Chris and the questions could follow absolutely any direction.
Matthew Lewis agrees to trust Scott
Matthew Lewis joined them in Edinburgh after recent work in Bluestone 42 and The Syndicate. His earlier Innuendo Bingo appearance had attracted about 1.5 million views, making him an obvious choice for a more ambitious live experiment.
Scott explained only that the performance involved fan fiction about Matthew. The actor had deliberately avoided reading stories written about himself and admitted that his imagination had probably made them seem worse than they were. Scott warned that this assumption might not survive the evening.
Matthew agreed not to see the final script before going on stage. They would rehearse positions and props, but the words themselves would remain a surprise. It was an act of considerable trust given Scott’s enthusiasm and the late-night broadcast slot.
He remembered one especially intense Harry Potter fan in New York. A breathless man approached Matthew’s parents, placed a hand on his mother’s stomach and thanked her for giving birth to him. The incident suggested that the online material could contain almost anything.
Tickets were handed out from the silver trailer beside the studio. Crowds gathered quickly, and Chris compared the rush towards Matthew to 28 Days Later. Each audience member had to be over 18, an important condition for what Scott had prepared.
Seann Walsh drops into the portacabin
Seann Walsh also visited while performing his own Fringe show. He discussed the relentless competition for audiences and the strange intimacy of seeing comedians everywhere during the festival.
Alice Levine played Real or No Real, but the programme’s attention remained fixed on the night ahead: hundreds of people, an untested fan-fiction script and Matthew Lewis discovering Scott’s idea at exactly the same time as the audience.
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