Comedian Michelle Brasier (who you may recognise from Netflix’s Aunty Donna) is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year with a brand-new musical comedy show ‘Legacy’. In 2022, she was handed an envelope with her name on it containing $10.50 in coins…but it wasn’t for her, it was for a different Michelle Brasier. This show is an exploration of all the other Michelle Brasier’s that Michelle could’ve been if she had made different choices.
Join us as we dive into the mind of Michelle Brasier – filled with laughter, introspection and a touch of the unexpected.
Can you give us a little backstory of the title of your show Legacy?
I find myself thinking about what a legacy is and what it means all the time these days. I think about my funeral all the time. Like, who will be singing (Celine Dion), what will the dress code be (camp ostrich in the heat) etc. I don’t plan on having kids and I am at an age where that is splitting my friends a bit. Lots of us are keen to really put down those roots and push a baby out but not me. I love my career, I love travelling, I love my foof the way she is. And being at this point in my career too I have people who recognise me in the street and say my comedy has helped them or inspired them (which is silly by the way but I will always take it because compliments are what keep me alive and upright) and that makes me feel like I have meant something to this world maybe? I had a brush with death on an airplane and was accidentally handed an envelope of cash meant for another woman with my exact name and I think both of these things really spun out my monkey brain. Maybe we can be special without having kids or even fame or anything at all. And maybe none of us are special and that’s the whole point. We’re all just toddlers in office wear trying our best to make meaning where there is none and that is beautiful, actually. The beauty of humanity is making meaning of pain. Stories from ashes.
What was it like collaborating with Tim Lancaster on this project?
I love working with beautiful Timberley. He is the most generous actor and musician and because he is my real-life partner he can’t be mad at me for going crazy while I create a new show because he knows what he signed up for. He really speaks the same language as me both on and off stage and I think that’s something you can’t fake. It takes a long time to get so in sync and I am proud of us. We met doing a musical together (Legally Blonde - I was Elle, he was Warner) and I think we just really enjoyed the worst version of each other, so the rest is all a pleasant surprise. Not that musical theatre makes you the worst version of yourself. But also - not that it doesn’t...
What do you hope audiences take away from Legacy?
Oh mama I hope they love the story and that they google themselves to try and find other versions - all the people they might have been. I hope they leave singing and laughing and thinking about birth and death.
You recently worked on the animated TV show Koala Man – how does voice acting compare to physically being on-screen?
I love voice acting! It is much more relaxed than being on set. Obviously, you can work in a big jumper and Ugg boots. I was doing some recording in London for a new Netflix animation, and I found out that in the UK you guys even set up a little chair for us? WHAT? It’s very comfortable. I prefer being on set overall just because I love being around a big crew of people but still - voice acting is such a dream.
Your memoir, My Brother’s Ashes Are In A Sandwich Bag will be released in September this year. How long did it take you to write? And what were your methods for recalling so many details about your life?
I had to interview a few people in my life to make sure I was remembering things correctly. It’s funny to have to fact check your own life. I think because a lot of my shows are already about my life, losing my brother and my dad and being in hospital, learning to walk again - I have all of these monologues already. I just had to translate them onto the page. I really loved writing a book. I had to take some stuff out about my least favourite family member, change some names of ex boyfriends and girlfriends. I think writing a memoir is such a good way to appreciate your own life. It took me about 2 months to write the first draft. I had longer than that, but I didn’t start writing because I sort of didn’t believe it was real and kept expecting the publisher to take their money back and say they’d made a mistake. The editing process is horrendous. Having to explain your own jokes in Microsoft comments is the most humbling thing a girl can do.
Michelle Brasier: Legacy will be performed at 7pm in Gilded Balloon Patter Hoose (Doonstairs) from 31st July – 26th August (Not 14th)
Booking link: https://tickets.gildedballoon.co.uk/event/14:5184/
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