Over the next two weeks we’re tracking down as many Melbourne Fringsters as we can before shooting a ton of relevant and not-so-relevant questions at them very quickly.
Today we say hello to:
Emily Andersen
Show: Love in the Key of Britpop
Official Fringe blurb:
Anglophile Aussie girl meets English boy in a Melbourne indie disco in the early hours of New Years Day 2006. A blur of love, gin and tonic, and passionate Britpop debate ensues. But is singing along, hand on heart, to all the same favourite songs enough to sustain a relationship?
Emily Andersen performs bittersweet poetry for anyone who wishes it was still 1995. This show is an ode to Britpop, nightclub romance, visa marriages, and anglophilic love.
Q&A
Q: Who are you?
Hello, I am Emily Andersen! I am a poet, an Anglophile and a British pop tragic.
Q: Describe your Fringe show in 5 words or less.
Poetry, love, drunkenness and Britpop.
BONUS QUESTION #1: If you could invite one world leader to your show, who would it be?
Tony Blair. New Labour and Britpop were so linked, that I think Tony might get something out of the show. Definitely NOT David Cameron. He thinks he’s down with the Smiths, but as Johnny Marr so well said, he’s not allowed to be.
Q: It’s cold, raining and miserable. Why should we leave the house to see your show?
I’ll remind you that falling in love is amazing even though sometimes it is awful, and also that it really is a shame that it’s not still 1995.
BONUS QUESTION #2: So what else do you do?
I generally manage Going Down Swinging! I also remediate data by day, and I do social media for my beloved Fitzroy Football Club.
Q: What other Fringe shows are you excited about?
Oh man, how much room do I have? Ok… Everything and anything at the amazing Tuxedo Cat. Cat Commander’s brilliant Before the Spring, which I saw in Perth. Xavier Toby’s very clever 2013 – When We Were Idiots walking tour. (Disclaimer: I do a guest poem on this tour. But that is not why I am recommending it!) FOMO, Ben Pobjie’s Wearing a Towel, and Alasdair Tremblay-Burchill & Pat Burtscher. Sex Poetry Booth, because how can I not be excited with a title like that? Everything in the Live Art category. And Sammy J’s The 50 Year Show, as I was at the first one in 2008 and intend to be at every show until it finishes in 2058.
BONUS QUESTION #3: If your show had a mascot, who or what would it be?
Justine Frischmann, the original Britpop It Girl and possibly the coolest woman to ever live. (Youngsters, if you don’t know her, Google her and prepare to swoon).
Q: What is your best Fringe Festival survival tactic?
Keeping my post-show boozing to a vaguely sensible level! And listening to Oasis’ Cigarettes & Alcohol to calm my pre-show nerves.
Q: What inspires you?
People who are amazing with words: Anne Carson, Simon Armitage, Morrissey, Damon Albarn, Jarvis Cocker, Sharon Olds, Frank O’Hara.
Q: Select a daggy YouTube video that relates to your show.
