David Trent: Spontaneous Comedian

So then, tell us about your show?

My show is an audio visual onslaught. It is phenomenal. It will blow your mind. Come and see it.

How are you going to keep it fresh for the full three weeks?

I’m going to keep my laptop and projector in the fridge.           

Is it ultimately worth coming to the Fringe?

Definitely. Every summer, whilst all my friends are up at the Fringe, there comes a point where I’m sitting on a mini train in the pouring Suffolk rain with two crying kids and a pissed-off wife and I really wish I was in Edinburgh, a sentiment I express by screaming “WHY ARE WE LIVING IN THIS COUNTRY, POLLY?” for about three days.

What’s your health regime for the Fringe?

I’m an eighteen stone man. I’m resigned to the fact that I’m almost certainly going to have a fatal onstage coronary at some point in August – just one more reason to buy a ticket.

What’s the worst mistake people make at the Fringe?

I’ve not been up for the whole three weeks before, but the worst mistake I made last year when I popped up for a visit was to book a plane but not realise that I’d booked it for Wednesday 10^th August until Thursday 11^th August. CHECK YOUR TICKETS PEOPLE.

Last year’s Fringe was all about the London riots. What major news event do you think will force you to hurriedly rewrite your 2012 show?

I’m pretty sure that for the last two months someone has been building an Ark and that a lots of biblical shit is going to go down.

Do you pay your taxes?

Of course. Taxi drivers get really angry if you skip off. I PRETENDED I THOUGHT YOU SAID TAXIS BUT YOU SAID TAXES. GREAT JOKE.

What was your favourite joke when you were a kid?

I can’t remember the setup but it involved a shed and the puchline “I told you once, I told you twice, I wiped my bum on that Marmite slice.” Solid template for the future.

How are you feeling about your Fringe debut? Have you been given any good advice?

I’m feeling impatient and excited. Yesterday somebody told me that if I go to buyabattery.co.uk the I could get fifty PP9 pro-cell batteries for £37. That was the best advice I’ve had so far.

What inspired your decision to use lots of technological wonders in your show?

I’ll show you, hang on – here: I saw that in 2000 at the Royal Festival Hall and it hung around in the back of my mind until I started doing comedy.

You’ve been on the comedy circuit since 2006, why did you choose this year to bring a show to the Fringe?

I have a wife. I have two children under the age of ten. I didn’t want to sacrifice a summer with them if I didn’t have anything really worth showing. CORRECT READERS, I AM A PRETTY GREAT HUMAN BEING.

Who else are you hoping to see while you’re in Edinburgh?

James Acaster, Nick Helm, Chris Boyd, John Kearns, Pat Cahill, Lou Sanders, Pat Burtscher, Daniel Simonsen, Josh Widdicombe, Joel Dommet, Nish Kumar, Mark Restuccia, Ed Gamble, Ben Target, Angela Barnes, Adam Hess, and Sean McLoughlin. I’ll probably see none of them. The kids will be in Cambridge – I intend to do a lot of sleeping.