Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#158): Tom Bailey, WILD THING!

24 Jul

As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect. Today, we’re joined by Tom Bailey to find out more about his show, Wild Thing!

1. Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?

I like animals. But 10 years ago, in drama training, my teacher said I was crap at doing animal impressions. So I decided to make show about it doing as many animal impressions as I can in the space of an hour. The source of the animal names is a scientific red list of currently extinct and endangered species. Many of these names are poetic, comic, sad, absurd and stupid. So I made a poignant and tragicomic show about a guy trying and failing to perform these names. In 2019, the Wild Thing! predecessor, Vigil, did really well and the Edinburgh Fringe and has toured internationally. Since the pandemic, the list on which it is based has doubled in size. I felt compelled to make a new show about this, exploring what extinction and biodiversity mean in a post pandemic, Trump-fuelled world. Let’s see what happens…

2. What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?

I thought I’d give it another bash.

3. How would you describe your show in three words?

Naturedoc on steroids

4. What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?

Wildness. Fun. Sadness. And a spirit animal.

5. What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?

Sleep.

6. Where and when can people see your show?

Summerhall, 1.30pm every day, Tech Cube 0

INSTAGRAM: -mechanimal_

SHOW LINK: https://festival.summerhallarts.co.uk/events/wild-thing/