Jay Lafferty & Gareth Waugh: Sleep in September

As they're good friends and not short of opinions, we asked local heroes Jay Lafferty and Gareth Waugh to speak to each other before their respective Gilded Balloon debut hours

Feature by Jay Lafferty and Gareth Waugh | 31 Jul 2017

Gareth: Do you want to go first?

Jay: OK… What is your best survival tip for the Fringe?

Gareth: Oh, that’s tough, I don't feel like I’ve survived one properly. I always do the stuff that people tell you not to do, like drink until 5am. My survival tip is don’t party every night – no wait, that’s rubbish, because that's exactly what I do. My survival tip is it’s only a month, man up!

Jay: So just get on with it? Suck it up! Sleep in September.

Gareth: Speaking of drinking, where is your favourite place to drink during the Fringe?

Jay: I really enjoy drinking in the pop-up outdoor spaces during the Fringe. You spend so much time as a comedian in tiny dark rooms it's nice to get a bit of sunshine.

Gareth: Whenever I’ve seen other comics answer this question they usually chose little bars somewhere away from it all, but I think because we live in Edinburgh it is better to do festival stuff. I like sitting in gardens.

Jay: Somewhere to take in the Fringe feeling – anywhere with grass and alcohol. Oh what’s your drunk karaoke song?

Gareth: Will Smith's Boom! Shake The Room. It’s my jam, I know all the words, it’s the only rap song that white people can get away with on karaoke. Everyone sings the chorus along with you.

Jay: Ah the Robbie Williams approach – have you ever heard Robbie Williams sing a whole song live? He will sing the first verse and then gets the crowd to do the rest. You can’t get away with that as a comic, just do the set up and get the crowd to shout out the punchline.

Gareth: Tell me then, who would play you in a movie?

Jay: There is who I would want to play me which is Emma Stone – because she is younger than me and she has that really sexy voice thing, which being from Greenock I don't have. I don't sound sexy I sound aggressive. However, it would probably end up being someone bizarre like…

Gareth: Michael Cera?

Jay: Ha, what about you?

Gareth: I’d like Ryan Gosling to play me.

Jay: You do have a bit of the ginger Gosling about you.

Gareth: People say this, but it's really like Gosling and Jay from The Inbetweeners had an awful child.

Jay: What is your walk on music for your first solo Fringe show?

Gareth: I haven’t decided yet, but I’m going to end on Fleetwood Mac.

Jay: You're kidding? My show finishes with Fleetwood Mac too – that’s really strange we both chose the Mac. Stevie is a genius.

Gareth: Emmmm yes he is. So what is your best Fringe memory?

Jay: My best one was watching Phil Nichol, at a late night gig, destroy a heckler who had been shouting out all night. Phil made a song up about what an asshole the heckler was and the whole audience sang along. The best thing was that the next day I passed a group of people still singing the song and I was able to join in. Fun Fringe moment. It’s your debut this year.

Gareth: Yeah and it’s your 'debut.'

Jay: Ha, what's with the inverted commas?

Gareth: You have done hour-long shows before...

Jay: Yeah, but only one off performances. You've done solo shows too...

Gareth: Not an hour. It has been nice, everyone has been asking how the show is coming along? Well… I’ve been writing it for five years!

Jay: So we are both technically doing our first full run debuts despite having being on the circuit for 20 years between us?

Gareth: Yeah, they better be good, given how long we’ve had to write them.


Jay Lafferty: Besom, Gilded Balloon at Rose Theatre (Attic), 2-28 Aug (not 14), 8.30pm, £9-£10
Gareth Waugh: Honestly, Gilded Balloon, Teviot (Turret), 2-28 Aug (not 15), 1.30pm, £7-£9

http://www.gildedballoon.co.uk