After her viral success with her Liz Truss parodies, receiving millions of views on YouTube, Britain’s Got Talent Semi-Finalist (The Dots) and Funny Women Content Creator Runner Up, Nerine Skinner, debuts at Edinburgh this year.
In 2022, politically unaware Nerine Skinner went viral overnight as Liv Struss, aka the politically hapless Liz Truss. Outlasted in Downing Street by a lettuce, Liz Truss’s political relevance faded and the country moved on – but Nerine didn’t.
Through hilarious, original, oddball characters, award-nominated political parodies and heartfelt storytelling, this is the story of Nerine trying to let go, examining how holding onto the past and her unconventional upbringing led to an unhealthy co-dependency with the former Prime Minister.
Q&A with Nerine Skinner
How does it feel to be making your Edinburgh Fringe debut?
I’m so excited to be making my debut at Edinburgh Fringe this year. I’ve wanted to take a solo show to the fringe for so many years and feel like it’s finally happening and I’m really grateful for the opportunity. I can’t wait to perform my show at such a renowned festival and learn something new every day. I just know that every show will be different and I can’t wait to experience all the different feelings. (I’m sure I might say something different in a few weeks!) but I know that this is something I’ve wanted to do for so long, that I just want to soak the whole experience up, enjoy it and watch lots of other acts performing their shows and support the arts.
What can you tell us about your show and its inspiration?
My show is inspired by Liz Truss. Yes, I realise that is an odd sentence! About two years ago I started doing parodies of her and I was very lucky to go viral on YouTube. However, my career lasted 49 days and then it was all over, just like hers. However, I did so many videos in such a short space of time that I’m often compared to her and whichever character I play somehow comes back to Liz! So, I thought it would be good to make a show all about this, mixing character comedy with stand up and musical moments as I try and escape Liz’s grasp, while also looking at my life and why I might find it hard to let her go.
How do you think audiences will react to the show?
I think it will be really interesting to see what happens as we have just had the general election and I feel like it’s all quite fresh with Liz Truss losing her seat. I think the show might be a bit nostalgic in a way, as well as a feeling of starting a fresh with a new government. Who knows what will come next? But I think it will be fun, silly and truthful and an opportunity for people to escape from everything for a little bit.
How have you been preparing for the festival?
I have been working on the show for about a year and there have been several titles and several narratives and themes and it just keeps changing, which is great but also hard to keep up with on a political level. At the beginning of July, I had one show and a week later it was a totally different one tonally. So, it will be interesting to see where and what the show is by the start of the fringe!
Will you get a chance to enjoy the rest of the festival?
Yes, I will make sure that I take some time to step out of my show and switch off for a bit because I think it’s important to have some rest. And for me, that will be going to watch other people performing in their shows and showing support as we are all in it together. I can’t wait to be inspired by others’ work and enjoy the whole experience and let my hair down a bit when I can! And also go to the beach and get some fresh air and stop for a moment!
Do you have any Fringe anecdotes you can share with us?
When I was in my comedy duo, “Franks and Skinner” and we took our first show to the fringe in 2015. We were out flyering before our show and we got really nervous. We had to run to the loo and one of us may have accidentally dropped our flyers down the toilet at the same time. Let’s just say this wasn’t an ideal situation and we didn’t get many people in that night and had to re-order more flyers!
Nerine Skinner: The Exorcism of Liz Truss is at Just the Tonic at The Caves from 1 to 25 August
