Tag Archives: Rara Avis Entertainment

Comedy, Entertainment News, Global News, THE DEBUTANT

Edinburgh Festival Comedy: A Work in Progress with Eryn Tett

August 7, 2025 Rara Avis Leave a comment

‘Eryn Tett Finds Her Audience’ At Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Following her debut show, ‘Eryn Tett Finds Her Audience’ (RVK Festival ‘Funny Fringe Award’ winner/British Comedy Guide’s Top 40 Comedy Shows of 2022), Eryn Tett is developing her next hour: an experimental, immersive comedy packed with her uniquely off-kilter perspective and trademark offbeat jokes.

Expect facts, ceremonies, and a non-stop handshake that may or may not evolve into everyone making out (that’s up to you). All of it is made possible by a not-at-all ominous megacorporation that’s changing the world (for the better).

Born and raised in Singapore, Eryn moved to the UK to pursue comedy. After making her mark on the competition circuit with her distinctive style, she was diagnosed as autistic — a discovery that both validates and celebrates her offkilter perspective, and allowed access to nurturing environments where she has truly thrived.

She was recently featured on U&DAVE’s Rosie Jones’ Disability
Extravaganza and hired as a writer on the CBBC/RTE show Pablo (an autistic-led children’s animation). Her comedy has taken her to New Zealand, New York, and Iceland, but her true new home is Manchester — the headquarters of the greatest megacorporation on Earth: The Global Megacorp Institute of Manchester (GMIM)

GMIM holds the secret to financial bliss, community loyalty, and changing your life (for the better). The benevolent GMIM CEO has revealed the truth: on December 15, 2027, the global economy will crash, and GMIM coin will take over. Now is the time to invest in yourself and your future before it’s too late.

Known for her strange and sharp one-liners, Eryn Tett’s clowning and play take centre stage in this new work-in-progress: a genre-bending, reality-warping immersive satire of cults, comedy today, and the commodification of human connection.

The show took home the Cork Fringe Favourite Award at the RVK Fringe this year and continues to evolve under the generous sponsorship of the Global Megacorp Institute of Manchester: Once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. Every. Single. Day.

ERYN TETT

As seen on U&DAVE, BBC3, CH4 Playgrounds
**** Mumblecomedy **** The Wee Review
**** Funny Women **** Neurodiverse Review
RVK Fringe: ‘Cork Fringe Favourite’ 2025 WINNER
RVK Fringe: ‘Funny of the Fringe’ 2023 WINNER
Neurodiverse Review ‘Actually Autistic Excellence Award’ 2022

SHORTLIST
British Comedy Guide’s ‘TOP 40 SHOWS OF 2022’
The Times + The Guardian’s 2022 BEST JOKES OF THE FRINGE
Greater Manchester Fringe ‘Best Show’ 2022 NOMINEE
Chortle’s ‘Comedy ones to watch 2022’ SHOUTOUT
Cherry Comedy Breakout Act of the Year 2020 WINNER
Funny Women Awards 2020 2ND PLACE
Mister Tibbs Film Fund 2025 FINALIST
Girls in Film X Inclusivity Films 2025 LONGLIST
5050/Fulwell 73 Comedy Shorts Comp October 2021 WINNER
Funny Women Comedy Shorts 2020/2021/2022 SHORTLIST

Title of Show: Eryn Tett is Sponsored by the Global Megacorp
Institute of Manchester (WIP)
Venue: Laughing Horse Free Fringe-The Snug @ Bar50
Time: 3.45pm
Dates: 13TH – 17th August

“Chaotically bonkers…truly one-of-a-kind comedic experience” Blizzard Comedy

“Compulsive viewing of the highest order” –Mumblecomedy

“Memorable, distinctive new voice” –The Telegraph

“Absurd and original jokes…so much originality and commitment to innovation” –Funny Women

Emerging Creatives, Music, THE DEBUTANT

Hair’s Breath: An Evening of Music Inspired by Black Women and Their Hair

August 7, 2025 Rara Avis Leave a comment

Hair’s Breath Featuring Boo & Blake Madden At Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Hair’s Breath is a captivating music performance inspired by Black women and their hair. Through music, storytelling, and cultural exploration Hair’s Breath explores the social, personal and political significance of Black women’s hair.

Featuring:

Adra Boo
Adra Boo is a soulful Seattle-based singer, leader, and advocate for Black artists. Known for her powerful voice, she’s performed with legends like Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings and Macklemore, empowering communities through initiatives like #BlackHotSunday.

Blake Madden
Blake Madden is a multi-genre composer, musician, and educator blending punk, soul, and more. As the director of Purple Mane and frontman of Hotels, he crafts innovative, unforgettable live performances, pushing musical boundaries and inspiring audiences.

“If Your Hair Could Sing, What Song Would It Sing?”

August 5 -9, 23:40, Theatre 3 at theSpace @ Surgeons’ Hall

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hair-s-breath-music-inspired-by-black-women-and-their-hair

Art, Global News, THE DEBUTANT

Victorian Railway Treasures On Display, As Edinburgh Festival Fringe Is Underway.

August 5, 2025 Rara Avis Leave a comment

An exhibition marking 200 years of rail travel opens its doors today at National Records of Scotland (NRS)

Crown copyright, National Records of Scotland

“Scots on the Move: Railways and Tourism in Victorian Scotland” is free to visit in the Adam Dome at General Register House on Princes Street.

Part of Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the exhibition reveals how steam trains revolutionised Victorian Scotland between 1837-1901.

Visitors can browse treasures from the national archives including train tickets, timetables, posters, colourful tourist guides, private letters and photographs.

The items on display show how rail transformed holidays from an elite privilege into a pastime for all. The Victorian railways connected communities, spawned iconic routes like the West Highland Line and helped create a whole new industry – tourism.

The exhibition also explores Victorian reactions to the rail revolution, from anti-rail protest pamphlets to private letters describing newfound freedoms.

Outreach Archivist Veronica Schreuder said:

“This exhibition draws on National Records of Scotland’s vast Scottish railway archive – the largest in existence. These unique records transport visitors directly into the Victorian era, revealing how steam trains didn’t just change how people travelled – they transformed Scottish society itself.

A highlight for me is an original timetable recording one of Queen Victoria‘s final train journeys from her beloved Balmoral to Windsor in 1899.

I hope visitors will come and visit us in the Adam Dome, a magnificent architectural gem and one of Edinburgh’s best kept secrets, just across from Waverley station.”

Three free talks will accompany the exhibition, exploring Scotland’s tourism history, the first railway construction, and aristocratic influence on railway development. The talks will be held at General Register House, with online recordings made available where possible.

The exhibition runs weekdays 9:00-16:00 until 26 September in the Adam Dome, with late opening until 18:30 on 7 and 21 August. Entry is free and the exhibition is suitable for ages 12+.

Find out more on the National Records of Scotland website.

Comedy, THE DEBUTANT

Premiering at Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Comedian Alice Fishbein is proud to announce Leo Still Dies in the End!

August 5, 2025 Rara Avis Leave a comment

NYC comedian, Alice Fishbein, is bringing her one-woman re-enactment of Titanic to Gilded Balloon at Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Comedian Alice Fishbein is proud to announce Leo Still Dies in the End! (Yes, that Leo.) Written and performed by Fishbein, this is a one-woman parody re-enactment of James Cameron’s “Titanic,” where Alice plays all the roles and the scenes are randomly selected by a prize wheel.

Some may call it a sickness, but Alice calls it “nostalgia.” Leo Still Dies in the End is a laugh out loud commentary on how the content we consumed as children affects us as we grow up.

The show’s pre-production began in Alice’s parents’ apartment, where a young Alice would mouth the words along to the entire movie. It was soon subsequently banned in the apartment. However, the show concept really formed during a trip to Portugal in 2019 when, during dinners, Alice’s sister started saying, “Alice, do Titanic.” And “do Titanic” she did.

After successful workshops in New York City over the last two years, the show has finally made it to Edinburgh Fringe – where director Ryan Lind has scoped down the $200-million-budget movie in creative, unimaginable ways, allowing the audience to sit back and watch a comedian’s presence explode on an unsinkable stage.

Born out of a love and obsession for an iconic piece of ‘90s media, Leo Still Dies in the End is, at its core, a show about never letting go of the things we love.

“Imaginatively reinterpreted…brilliantly bonkers fun” ★★★★ The Titanic Critic

Alice Fishbein says, “This show is a true fever dream of mine. It has been trapped in my brain since I was six and to be able to bring my love for Titanic, childhood obsessions, and a music score I cannot sing for the life of me to the Gilded Balloon stage is honestly mind boggling. I can’t believe this wild show has found an audience but found one it has and I guarantee you will never look at me the same way after seeing the show.”

Alice Fishbein is a tour de force in the comedy scene of her tiny hometown of New York City. She can be seen on stages across the city performing everything from stand up to Jack and Rose making out (with tongue!) on the front of a doomed ship. You can find her award-winning comedy writing and viral videos all over the internet. Beware the rabbit hole that her comedy will force your brain to tumble down!

Listings Information

Venue: Gilded Balloon Patter House (Dram)

Tickets: Jul 30-Aug 1: £9.00

Aug 2-5, 8-10, 15: £12.50 (£11.50)

Aug 6-7, 11-14: £11.50 (£10.50)

Previews: July 30 – August 1 Dates: 2-15 August

Time: 22:00 (60 min)

Box Office: Tickets are available from https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5575/

Starring & Written By Alice Fishbein

Director Ryan Lind

Documentary, THE DEBUTANT

Acclaimed South African One-Man Play Beggared in S.A. Makes International Premiere at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

August 2, 2025 Rara Avis Leave a comment

Following a powerful premiere in Cape Town and widespread acclaim at South
Africa’s National Arts Festival, the gripping solo play Beggared in S.A. now makes its international
debut at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Based on a true story and written by the beggar himself, Stewart Clarke, this raw and redemptive work was shaped over three years in a workshop environment with director Gideon DeWet.
Performed by South African actor Sean Higgs, the play is a searing portrayal of one man’s fall from privilege–and his transformation through the spirit of Ubuntu.

Once a white South African raised with every advantage, Clarke’s life collapses. Homeless and destitute, he takes to the streets with a cardboard sign. But hope arrives from the most unexpected place: a township shack and the poor, black South Africans who offer him more humanity than the world he once ruled. Their belief in Ubuntu–the philosophy of “I am because we are”–rebuilds him from the inside out.

“This is the story of a man who lost everything–except his soul. And maybe that was the point.” –
Sean Higgs

Performed with unflinching honesty, dark humour, and deep compassion, Beggared in S.A. is a 60-minute solo tour de force that invites audiences to question what we truly value–and who we become when the masks fall away.

A once-privileged white man loses everything in post-apartheid South Africa–and finds redemption
in the townships through Ubuntu. Based on a true story. Written by the beggar himself. Raw, funny,
haunting. Performed by Sean Higgs. Directed by Gideon DeWet
Fringe

Gideon DeWet

I bumped into Stewart Clark, a former ballet dancer and hairdresser, and he told me he was living on the street and begging by the robot (traffic light).
I told him to write it all down as I could not help him financially. He did and I spent the next two years editing and directing Stewart in the play.
After 3 performances and 2 fundraisers that raised enough money for his cataract operation, Stewart developed epilepsy and did not want to go on a stage again.

I then approached Sean Higgs to take the part of The Beggar.
Previously we met at the University of Cape Town Drama School in 1984 and have done a lot of theatre work thereafter.
We rehearsed for 6 months via Whatsapp until Sean came to South Africa and we had 2 weeks of face-to-face rehearsals before opening Beggared in Sa at The Masque Theatre. So far, a total of 19 performances in 7 venues in Cape Town and in the Eastern Cape, including the National Arts Festival, formerly known as the Grahamstown Festival.