John Cooper's first solo Edinburgh stand up show tackles the very unconventional subject of growing up with a skin condition, telling the personal story about growing up, moving on, flaring up, flaking out and the joy of grown up geek. “Original, genuinely unpredictable and very rewarding.” - Chortle Drawing together his multi-disciplined skills of straight stand up, character, animation and improvised comedy, he's keen to point out this isn't an excuse for a personal therapy session, but simply following the first rule of comedy: – write what you know. “I really wanted to write a show about a subject that hasn't been tackled before. Eczema isn't funny, full stop, but happens in life certainly is. The core of the show is really about staying positive, and is a light hearted approach to a very ignored, but very common condition. It's no whingey boo-hoo session.”
Never one to take the obvious or easy route despite his easy going nature, before setting pen to paper, advice from fellow comics was ''change the title!”... “I knew the challenge I was facing when I first wrote the word 'Eczema' in the show description, it's a big turn off, despite being one of the most common skin conditions there is, it's almost taboo. And that was what drove me to write the show, try and shift common perceptions, even slightly, but above all make it funny without being negative.” ''I could be accused of bandwagon jumping on the trend of emotional comedy shows, but it's really not the case. There is some stuff in the show which runs quite deep, but I've just hit a point where a show about all this stuff is the right challenge.” Join John for a hour of original, eclectic comedy as he débuts- this year at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
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