Edinburgh Fringe Comedy 2015: Sophomore Syndrome

"Titanic 2 was shit... If they had called it TwoTanic that would be amazing," says Alex Edelman on bad sequels. "I really hate Gremlins 2," he adds, before showing his workings: "I don't like that they kill Leonard Maltin."

Still, the fate of famous film critic Maltin – killed by the creatures after giving the first movie a bad review – will surely be far from Edelman's mind as he prepares to bring the sequel to his own winning show Millennial to Pleasance Courtyard. Everything Handed To You is something of a Millennial 2, promising to pinpoint the concerns and difficulties of his generation as he did with such acclaim 12 months ago.

But unlike in film – where success can bring about a "blatant cash grab" – the second show in comedy, Edelman suggests, can be a different kind of beast: "Second comedy albums for me are where it’s at because you can chart growth, the progression. People don’t drop off with second albums in comedy. They get stronger. Your first album is everything you’ve ever done so it’s a little scattered. And then your second album is like, bam! Patton Oswalt's second album is amazing." 

If it's true for Oswalt, is it also true for Edelman? It turns out the latter isn't carried away by last year's win, and has a few gremlins of his own disallowing him to be reassured by his own logic: "I lie awake thinking about the show. But two years ago I would’ve killed to be doing a second show. I would’ve beaten someone to death with a hammer to have this opportunity to spend this much time worrying about my second hour of comedy."

There can be few places better than Edinburgh, however, for comedians to hone their art: "With the creative process it’s different. I mean it’s really difficult; I’m not gonna lie. These are all reps. Edinburgh’s a gym. It’s all about reps. It’s all about being a strong comic after a while."

Meanwhile, sketch duo Lazy Susan seem to be taking the Edinburgh-as-gym metaphor literally.

"I've been on the diet and gym regime of Sarah Connor," says Freya Parker on getting their second show Double Act in to shape. The comparison with the Terminator series' cyborg-punching protagonist is an apt one. After all, Terminator 2 is a sequel which improves on an original classic.

"Freya has been lifting me," confirms sketch-partner Celeste Dring. When asked for a suitable comparison to their 2014 debut, Extreme Humans, they opine: "Ummm, maybe the early work of Picasso," before bursting into giggles. Dring and Parker bounce off each other to the point of being forced to deny they are Skyping from a convivial bar, before adding with too much (but genuine) modesty, "Anything that's a happy accident."

But amid the chat and laughter about overblown series such as "all that Shrek crap," they discuss Fire Walk With Me, the prequel to Twin Peaks as an example of how one success does not necessarily guarantee another. They describe it as having, "All the right notes but in the wrong order."

"For the first show we'd sat on some of the material for years and it had grown organically. There has been less time to write the second show but the experience of the first has put us in better stead. Double Act is a little more naughty and aggressive than the first show.

"We're hoping it'll be like Kill Bill Vol. 2 - a big sexy bloodbath."

The other sketch act to be nominated, and the two groups speak much for the vibrant health of the subgenre, were Gein's Family Giftshop.

"I hope we’re not Dumb and Dumberer," says writer and director of the quartet, Kiri Pritchard-McLean.

"I thought the trailer looked okay," chips in Jim Meehan, "and then I watched it... The Farrelly Brothers have gone insane."

"Someone compared us to the Farrelly Brothers in a favourable review," adds Pritchard-McLean, chillingly. "I was fucking wounded. They were like, ‘think Farrelly Brothers!' Yeah, think Farrelly Brothers and then run into a wall."

However, there are other sequels the mighty Gein's would like to follow:

"I’ve never seen it but everyone says Sister Act 2 is better," says Kath Hughes. Pritchard-McLean gives the Whoopi Goldberg vehicle a chorus of approval – a Lauryn Hill chorus from the soundtrack, to be exact: "It definitely delivers on everything." But there is some apprehension about their ability to get 'Back in the Habit', like that film's subtitle, following last year's success. 

"I once watched The Mars Volta do a 45-minute set and they played three songs. It was basically just them polishing their tips in front of a tent full of people," cautions Pritchard-McLean.

"Hopefully we haven’t done that in the second one. There's more blood and death than bumholes and jizz," says Ed Easton, seemingly to reassure, before adding, "Against my better judgement."

"I think Nirvana’s second album is worse than the first one," says Jim Meehan. "Bleach is the best thing they did. And then they did Nevermind when they were famous, and then Kurt Cobain went insane and did loads of heroin, released a third album about how he hated everyone and killed himself. So I think that’s what one of us is going to do. Maybe me."

"You are not the Kurt Cobain," says Pritchard-McLean.

"No no, I mean in attitude. Not in ability. So essentially after this show I’m gonna start shooting up."

"I can’t wait to be in the Foo Fighters."

While Gein's end on grunge, Dane Baptiste takes us to gangsta rap. He's titled his new show Reasonable Doubts very deliberately to mirror a debut rather than a 'difficult second' album: "Reasonable Doubt is the name of Jay Z's first album. Now people know Jay Z for being married to Beyonce. On Reasonable Doubt he balances his street past with being a musician."

The album perhaps reminds Baptiste to stay grounded. "I'm very aware of the sophomore jinx," he says, "and also the choice between critical and commerical artists face when they receive a certain level of recognition. This show is about me asking, 'Am I now a bona-fide comedian?' And about those doubts, insecurities and worries."

Still, fans shouldn't expect an hour of introspection. After all, in his first show Citizen Dane, Baptiste showed he could cartwheel as well as do comedy. His new show is set to look into more political areas of how the reality of a decent job and housing are now a pipe dream, precipitating the 'quarter life' crisis for many. 

Despite Edinburgh's flaws of "the rubbernecking and ego inflation", he agrees the Fringe is a unique place to improve as a comedian and tap into the community of artists there: "It's like doing three to four months of comedy in one, and spending August with so many people I respect."

But back to bad sequels: perhaps there's a fate worse than the sophomore jinx that can strike at any time. "Am I Val Kilmer?" Baptiste asks with some trepidation, thinking of the actor's notorious turn in Batman Forever. Then, he realises, with a gasp, there is a fate worse than even Val Kilmer: "Then that franchise followed it with Batman and Robin. What if that happens to me?"

Though there is always a solution: "I'll have to go into hiding for ten years and wait until I can start Christopher Nolan-ing my own career."