Award-winning comedian Nina Gilligan returns to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival with her brand new show ‘Goldfish’. Since her last Fringe show, ‘Late Developer’ in 2022, she has won numerous awards. Nina is sometimes outrageous, always hilarious with a charming, loveable persona and an acerbic wit. She has the ability to transcend age barriers effortlessly and has a relatable and authentic working class voice.
Nina thinks she is losing her memory…she is positive she is…but she also has health anxiety, which she gets from her Nurse mother. But there was a bigger underlying issue - she has a migraine that affects her memory and causes Transient Aphasia, a term for temporary memory loss. This would not be too problematic, but she has 15 plus migraines a month. Her Fibromyalgia is a misunderstood illness that is stigmatised as ‘the widespread pain illness with no underlying organic cause’ or the ‘you are making this up to get benefits’ disease.
Nina talks about how she struggles to show anger in appropriate ways. This will be the first time she has talked about the illness that she has suffered from for a decade but since she found out Lady Gaga has it and she feels a bit better.
In 'Goldfish' she explores both the silly and the scary sides of health anxiety and memory loss. The things she can’t remember, the memory short cuts and unexpected benefits, before delivering the gut punch of a thing she can’t forget and wants to share. The collective noun for goldfish is a ‘troubling’ and Nina firmly believes in the collective power of the female troubling and the precious nature of memory. Let Nina talk you through her pain to hilarious effect and watch her as she continues to rise through the comedy ranks.
A skilled writer, creator and improviser she has written several comedy shows and plays including ‘Rescued’ nominated for Best Comedy at Greater Manchester Fringe and ‘Broad Shoulders’ receiving 5 star reviews at the 2019 Edinburgh Festival.
2021 saw her crowned as the WINNER of the prestigious Leicester Mercury Award after also Winning Liverpool Hot Water and being a finalist in English Comedian of The Year.
Nina Gilligan's ‘Goldfish’ is at the Just The Tonic Sub-Atomic at the Nucleus @ 8.40pm for tickets go to www.edfringe.com
Read a new review of Nina Gilligan's Goldfish here.
What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)
I have a little ritual of peaking out at the audience and saying ‘I love you’ in my head. I want to set up an atmosphere of respect, at least to start with, rather than going out ready to fight.
What irritates you?
Smells drive me insane; I have noise, smell and sound sensitivity as I suffer with chronic migraine. I have the nose of a truffle pig. I wander round the house sniffing ‘Can anyone smell that? There is a weird smell’ I can’t handle fried smells before 12pm and my partner loves a cooked breakfast, so he ends up having to make them in secret for everyone, like he is running a speakeasy for sausages. I banned him from eating onions during the pandemic because I got it into my head that they were being metabolised from his skin, this is not my proudest moment and I have apologised. I wrapped up an onion and gave it to him as a Christmas present.
What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
I am risk adverse, I don’t like adrenaline, I get enough on stage. If you are throwing yourself out of an aeroplane for ‘fun’ you are probably a psychopath. The most dangerous thing I did recently was eat a pizza in bed after 9pm, the heartburn was crippling. I was considering calling an ambulance.
What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
When I worked for the probation service, I had a very scary boss and I was slagging him off and text him instead of my colleague…he walked out of his office and read out the text in front of everyone, my amygdala lit up like a Christmas tree. People were coming to my desk for days leaving little offerings of cakes and flowers like I had died. It led me to leaving and into comedy actually.
What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy
Honestly, how long it has lasted. This was an abrupt change of direction for me after a period of depression. The comedy circuit, for all its faults, has an energy and excitement that carries you along with it. We are like a big scrappy family, we can talk about each other, we have history, there a few you definitely wouldn’t have round for Christmas, but we look after each other.
