ED FRINGE 2023 INTERVIEW | Tim Murray is Witches

Interviews

3 Aug

In preparation for the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Emmie chats with Tim Murray is Witches about heading to one of the biggest arts festivals in the world.

1. Let's begin by pitching your show at the Ed Fringe, tell us about it?
Tim Murray is Witches is a comedy show with original songs about well… witches! It is a love letter to queerness and examines why LGBTQia people feel connected to witches in movies, tv shows and theatre. I perform as Doctor Dillamond from Wicked for one song (which has been the stand out number in the States) and I sing about how I never connected with Harry Potter because it didn’t have a female protagonist and is written by someone whose famously transphobic and how once we find our coven of queer friends in this life we really step into our full magical powers. There’s also a tribute to women feeling empowered, hot and SLUTTY which is a nod to the movie The Craft. It’s super fun, very gay and there is a little bit of drag!

2. Where did you draw your influences from for this piece?
I saw my friends Catherine Cohen & Matt Rogers’ musical comedy shows and thought “wait I came from the musical theatre world why am I not singing with my shows?” and Matt’s show is all about Christmas so it hit me like a lightning bolt that my version of that is Halloween and my obsession with the musical Wicked. I get inspiration from every woman who has ever played Elphaba, a little bit of Bo Burnam and a lot a bit of Baby Wants Candy the Musical improv team I have worked with a ton in the past.

3. What are the challenges of bringing a piece to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
NONE! It’s super easy, chill and cheap mama! Obviously joking - I think the biggest challenge for those of us traveling from other continents is wondering if people will come after spending all this money on our shows! I have gathered a fairly large following on TikTok with my comedy but I know that’s mostly American based so I have no clue if anyone has ever even seen my face before in the UK. Only one way to find out! Spend thousands of dollars and fly over here to do a month of shows! Lol.

4. What can audiences expect from your show?
A lot of laughs, some very touching moments, a ton of fun and the feeling that you have never seen anything like this. It’s truly a variety show - I sing comedy songs, I do stand up, I improvise a song, I tell stories, and I’m in full wicked witch drag. It’s really a wild ride but I didn’t want to bring my regular stand up to the fringe because I felt like I wanted to bring a show that NO ONE else could or think of other than me.

5. What are you most looking forward to during your time in Edinburgh for the festival?
Seeing other shows! I love being creatively filled up by watching other people’s work. Untrue Diana looks hilarious and I have some very funny American friends bringing great shows like Sophie Santo is Codependent, Katy Berry’s Diamond Goddess Crystal Pussy, Nalini Sharma’s Until Death & Chris Grace as Scarlet Johansson.

6. What are the main things within your piece?
The show is about how witches are inherently queer and how I wanted to be them so badly as a kid but I knew that If I did the straight people in my town would burn me at the stake. It’s about uncovering the things we hide as queer people and FULLY embracing them. I want the audience to leave feeling like they laughed their butts off for 55 minutes and were gut punched with a powerful cry at the end. My goal for the show is to help young Timmy (me) heal by the last moment and I hope the audience feel that for themselves as well. I know people have a lot of options of how they spend their time so I have done my best to make this show VERY worth their while. I want them to feel healed.

7. Where can people come and see 'Witches'
Underbelly Dairy Room at 9:20pm every night of the fringe!!