Podcast

Rebecca Perry

This week on Stageworthy, host Phil Rickaby welcomes back actor, singer, playwright, and producer Rebecca Perry, marking a full-circle moment as Rebecca was Phil’s very first podcast guest nearly eight years ago. Rebecca shares the journey of her acclaimed solo show Confessions of a Redheaded Coffee Shop Girl, which debuted at the Toronto Fringe ten years ago and has since toured internationally, including a sold-out run at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Rebecca discusses the evolution of the show over the years, her preparation for returning to Edinburgh and Toronto Fringe for the show’s 10th anniversary, and the realities of crowdfunding and producing as an independent artist. She also reflects on the importance of adapting material in response to live audiences, the sense of community on the Canadian Fringe circuit, and the challenges and joys of international touring.

This episode explores:

  • How Confessions of a Redheaded Coffee Shop Girl has evolved over a decade
  • The distinct culture and audience vibe of different Fringe festivals (Toronto, Edinburgh, Winnipeg, Edmonton)
  • Preparing for the marathon that is Edinburgh Fringe
  • Navigating grants, crowdfunding, and financial challenges as an indie artist
  • Building an international touring career and the importance of networking
  • The excitement of bringing the show to a new generation of audiences

Guest:
🎭 Rebecca Perry
Rebecca Perry is an actor, singer, playwright and producer based in Toronto. From Hallmark movies to The Handmaid’s Tale, she has appeared in a wide variety of things on film and TV, most recently including Jazz Ramsey: K-9 Mystery and Bluegrass Christmas, and others across Netflix, Crave, Prime, Bell Fibe and more.

Rebecca has performed on stages all over the world. She was part of the international touring cast of Roseneath Theatre’s The Money Tree, including a run at the prestigious Smith Centre in Las Vegas, NV. Her solo shows, the multiple award-winning Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl and its sequels, From Judy to Bette and Bond, James Bond: The Songs of 007 have played to sold out houses and audience acclaim wherever they go.

She is excited to celebrate the anniversary of Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl with a run at the Toronto Fringe (Alumnae Theatre) this July, and after beginning her Edinburgh Fringe journey 10 years ago with Confessions… at the Gilded Ballon Teviot, and bringing her last show From Judy to Bette in 2019 to the Gilded Balloon Patter House, it’s a thrill to return back to Gilded Ballon once again for its 40th Anniversary Season in August 2025.

Since that run in Edinburgh in 2015, Perry’s shows have toured from top to bottom of the UK, all over Canada, and into both the US and Europe.

Connect with Rebecca:
📸 Instagram: @redheaded_coffeeshop_girl
🌐 Website: rebeccaperry.ca

Support Stageworthy
If you love the show, consider supporting on Patreon: patreon.com/stageworthy

Subscribe & Follow:
🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Podchaser | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio |
📺 Watch on YouTube – Like, subscribe & hit the notification bell!

Transcript

[Phil Rickaby]
If you’ve been listening to this channel, if you’re familiar with this show, if you’ve been listening to me over the history of this podcast, you know that I love the Toronto Fringe. It is, and I’m not the only person who sees it this way, it’s theatre Christmas. It’s the time of year when the attention of so much of the arts community and the community in Toronto is focused on theatre and specifically on the Toronto Fringe.

There’s so much excitement, so many interesting artists to discover, shows to see, premieres, things that you would never see anywhere else, some that will go on to become the next Kim’s Convenience, which of course did start at the Toronto Fringe, or it might just be something that sits with you and stays with you for a long time. There are shows that I saw at the Toronto Fringe even 10 years ago or more, and I still think about those shows. There’s a lot coming up, and I’m doing something a little different this year.

I’m going to be talking to a few Fringe artists specifically, and then also some special episodes of Stageworthy where I have a 15-minute conversation with a number of artists at the Fringe, just to maximize the number of people whose shows I can share with you, and there’s a lot of exciting shows just on the horizon that you can see here. Some of those episodes will be released on the regular Tuesday. Some of them will be special episodes, just sort of like I think I’m going to drop those on the Thursday of the week, so keep your eye on the feed for that, or keep your eye on YouTube if you’re watching on YouTube, because that’s where you’ll find all of these conversations and some really interesting shows to discover.

One of the unique things about each city that hosts a Fringe, each festival itself, is they’re all so different. What an audience in Toronto is looking for will be different from what an audience in Montreal is looking for. Winnipeg, Edmonton, all of these places, there’s so much difference and nuance between all the cities.

One of the things that I’ve been thinking about lately is the way that we talk about Fringe, especially in Toronto. There are some cities, Winnipeg and Edmonton, come to mind where Fringe takes over the city. Everybody knows that it’s happening.

All of the media outlets are talking about it. There isn’t a person in those cities that doesn’t know that the festival is taking place there. They’re massive.

Often, I think in Toronto, I wonder if we could talk more about what Fringe is. There have been times when I’ve talked to people who are not theatre people or from outside of the community. When I mentioned the Fringe Festival, they don’t know what Fringe is.

This is a symptom, I think, around the way that we talk about theatre in general. We make an assumption that people know what we’re talking about. If I say I’m in a Fringe Festival, we’re making an assumption that people know what that means.

I think sometimes we’re wrong about that. There are people who would benefit from a campaign of knowledge to make sure that the potential audience knows what Fringe is. I realize that that’s hard.

It’s hard in this city. We’ve lost so many of the publications that used to talk about Fringe. Now Magazine and It’s Hay Day.

Even iMagazine, for those who remember iMagazine. Just newspapers and publications that were the official partner, the news partner, of the festival. We’ve lost that.

We’ve lost a lot of coverage that used to happen in a lot of the media. I realize that it is difficult to do that. I don’t know what the solution is.

I think that Toronto Fringe is exciting enough and vibrant enough that more people should know about it. It’s something that deserves all the attention of not just arts media, but in general. There’s so much excitement that happens, so many things worth seeing, that I think that more of the media should be focused on that.

One of the reasons for me doing this podcast is to highlight as many artists as possible. I know there are other reviewers, other podcasts that may do that as well. One of the things that I am going to do in the coming weeks is to have a sit down with some theatre podcasters.

We’re going to talk about Fringe. We’re going to look at the Fringe program. We’ll go over it.

We’ll see what we’re excited about and talk about what’s new with the Fringe this year and just try to make sense of what’s in the program. We’re going to do that live. Then I’ll release that maybe in the regular feed, maybe as an extra as well.

It’ll definitely be on YouTube. I’ll get an audio version for that as well. There’s a lot to think about, a lot to look at.

I have always wanted Fringe to be as big as possible and to have as many eyes on it as possible. I can only do so much. Each podcaster can only do so much.

There is no easy solution to getting the word out about Fringe because of the way that our arts media has been decimated in recent years. Not only do we find arts organizations that are struggling for funding, the audiences are not coming back in the way that they were before. We have to find new ways to bring people in.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I’m hoping maybe that’s something we can talk about. Maybe that is something that we can join in on and find new ways to talk about Fringe. Maybe it’s something we can solve this year, but I would love to have a conversation where we can talk about the Fringe in general and how we can lift it up.

Tell me what you think about Fringe. Tell me what you love about it. I love it.

I like to talk about the things that could be better as well as the things I love because everything can be better. The more we love something, the more we want it to be better. I’m perfectly interested.

I would love to hear and talk about all of it. The good, the bad, the ugly. We should talk about that on Patreon as well.

I do have a Patreon. The patrons who subscribe to that help me to make this show not only financially by covering some of the costs of doing a show like this because it does cost money. You get to listen to this show or watch the show on YouTube for free, but it does cost me money in terms of hosting, equipment, editing software, and more to make the show.

I am so grateful to all of the patrons who have chosen to back the show. If you would like to help me make the show, not only do the patrons get the joy of supporting this show, but they also get a preview episode so the episodes are released to them in advance of the regular feed. Also, when there are things to discuss, when there are topics that I might want to cover, I go to the patrons first and we can talk about the issues, what people are interested in theatre-wise.

Also, if I have an idea of something I want to cover, they’ll help me make sure that I’m on the right track and not going too far afield. If you want to be a part of this show in that way or at all, if you want to back the show, you can go to patreon.com/stageworthy and you can join as a patron. It just costs $7 Canadian a month to become a patron and you will have my gratitude as well as to take advantage of the perks.

Also, as time goes on, if we grow the Patreon, then we grow the podcast and I can do more with the podcast and give more to the patrons. If you’re watching on YouTube, make sure that you like this episode and also hit the subscribe button and also click that bell icon so that every time I release an episode, you are notified. If you’re listening to the audio version, make sure that you are subscribed and follow or following the podcast so that every time an episode is released, it downloads directly to your phone.

If you’re listening on Spotify or Apple podcasts, make sure that you leave a rating and a comment about the show. Those kinds of ratings help the podcast to go higher in the algorithm. The more people will discover it, the more people give ratings to the podcast.

So if you’re on Spotify or Apple podcasts, please make sure to do that. Again, I would be forever grateful for that too. My guest this week is Rebecca Perry.

Rebecca is an actor, singer, playwright, and producer based in Toronto. She has been seen on your TV from Hallmark movies to The Handmaid’s Tale. She’s been on so many things in film and television, and she’s also the creator of Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl, as well as, as we discover in this episode, the two other shows that came out of that, as well as James Bond, the Songs of 007, from Judy to Betty, her cabaret.

And Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl is returning to the Toronto Fringe this year. I think it was maybe 10 years ago that it first debuted, and also to the Edinburgh Fringe later this year. So again, for the 10th anniversary of doing that.

Rebecca’s shows sell out everywhere. Rebecca has the distinction of selling out in both Toronto and in the Edinburgh Fringe. So I’m looking forward to having a conversation with Rebecca.

So without further ado, here is my conversation with Rebecca Perry. Fun fact, Rebecca, I don’t know if you remember this, but you were the first guest on Stageworthy. Very first!

Very first guest on Stageworthy, all the way back in whatever year that was, because I can never remember what year, but it’s like almost eight years ago.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, I know. It’s been a hot sec. Thanks for letting me be the first one.

[Phil Rickaby]
It’s also appropriate, because when you came on, we were talking about Edinburgh Fringe. Yeah, the first time. The first time, exactly.

And here you are getting ready to go back to the Edinburgh Fringe with Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl, which you did again, like 10 years ago at the Toronto Fringe. Which venue were you at then?

[Rebecca Perry]
I was at the Annex Theatre. I don’t believe there’s a venue with Toronto Fringe now, but I loved that venue, Versa Fringe. It’s just such a nice, intimate space.

And you are correct, we sold out the run, which I was very grateful for.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, I mean, I love the Annex Theatre years ago, before Randolph came into the picture and sort of took it over. It was one of my favorite venues in this city to perform in, because it has that thrust stage that’s also intimate. So you have a lot of freedom of working in this space.

Always loved it.

[Rebecca Perry]
And you kind of have two levels with like the stairs and the multiple entrances. It just gives you a lot to play with.

[Phil Rickaby]
Not only did you sell out the Toronto Fringe, but you also had that, I believe you sold out your Edinburgh Fringe.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yes, I’ve sold out my month-long Edinburgh Fringe run at the Gilded Balloon, which is like sort of one of the four big venues that almost like seasons during the Fringe. And so it’s kind of very full circle. We’re having a lot of full circles today, Phil.

A problem is the fact that I’m going back to the Gilded Balloon. And when I first went to them, it was their 30th anniversary at the Fringe. Now it’s their 40th anniversary at the Fringe.

[Phil Rickaby]
Anniversaries all around.

[Rebecca Perry]
All around. So for me, it’s the 10th. For them, it’s the 40th.

And they actually approached me saying like, hey, we’ve got a much more sort of theatrical venue that we’re adding to our plethora of venues, if you will. Because as you know, everything is a venue at the Fringe. You’ve got a van, it’s a venue.

[Phil Rickaby]
Edinburgh’s wild. I’ve never had the opportunity to be, but everybody who comes back is like, you won’t believe what was a venue.

[Rebecca Perry]
My mind gets blown every year because what can be a venue just get crazier and crazier.

[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, selling out a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe has got to feel pretty good.

[Rebecca Perry]
I can say it’s like one of the top three moments of my life. Easy peasy. It was incredible.

And I think, and we’ll see if this is true this time as well, just a lot of what I was peddling was relatable content. Edinburgh, I mean, I now say Edinburgh because the locals have told me Edinburgh makes me sound way too Canadian. So it’s Edinburgh.

But anyways, like they have a huge coffee scene. They have a huge indie theatre scene. And they also, well, there’s a lot of red heads.

[Phil Rickaby]
The other thing I’m thinking is, is relatable content has got to be, it actually would make you stand out. Because from what I hear, there’s like, during the Edinburgh Fringe, there’s like people, there’s circus people peddling their shows, there’s jugglers, there’s magicians, everybody’s just along the Royal Mile, just like doing all this stuff. And just to have a show that’s like relatable has got to be kind of a breath of fresh air for some people.

[Rebecca Perry]
Well, and one while I’m flyering, I bring like a vat of coffee with me. And so if it’s raining, people are cold. I’m like, would you like a sample of this espresso from this local coffee shop around the corner?

Like I’ll work with different coffee shops every day. And it is like an opening way to talk to people.

[Phil Rickaby]
Brilliant, brilliant. Who doesn’t want a nice cup of coffee?

[Rebecca Perry]
Right? And it’s just like a little sample size. So you don’t have to like carry it around the whole day.

You just have it while you’re walking down the Royal Mile. 12 million flyers.

[Phil Rickaby]
Let’s back up a bit because we have a lot to cover in this episode. And I want to talk about, because you know, you are going to be doing Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl at the Toronto Fringe, as well as in Edinburgh. So for those who might, you know, who are curious, what is the pitch?

What is, aside from what’s obvious in the title, what is Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl?

[Rebecca Perry]
Well, let me tell you, because also over the years, as I’m sure you can imagine, like it’s evolved and changed a bit. Well, firstly, we’re at the Alumni Theatre, another venue that starts with A, which I find very full circle. But yes, Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl is a solo show created by myself.

And basically, I play 20 plus characters in the same coffee shop. Ultimately, it’s a commentary on human observation and how we interact with each other as a society. And it’s all through the lens of Joanie Little, the Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl, who’s a recent anthropology grad.

And she’s sort of like, insert binoculars, studying the customers of her coffee shop jungle as though she were Jane Goodall herself, bushwhacking through the Tanzanian jungle to study the chimpanzees. And so that includes not only playing a bunch of coffee shop customers that you’d recognize as familiar characters in the annex, because that’s where that coffee shop is set. But also, when Joanie goes home at night, and I don’t think this is a spoiler, because the show has been around for 10 plus years, she talks to a picture of Jane Goodall.

And a lot of silly moments ensue with that as well, because she sees Jane Goodall as sort of, you know, her guide to life. Like, she set the footprint that Joanie wants to follow in.

[Phil Rickaby]
You mentioned, like, it changes. I find it, especially as you perform a show more and more, in front of more and more audiences, the way that a show can evolve is really quite fascinating, the way that you can just sort of like, realize, oh, this scene isn’t doing quite what I thought it was going to do. And you can make those edits.

So a show can, like, evolve in a way that, as a young performer and writer, I don’t think I ever consider, I thought, okay, you finish it, you perform it, you’re done. But that’s not the way it works. Tell me about the changes and how the show has evolved.

[Rebecca Perry]
Absolutely. I think the best example I actually have is, most recently, the show was on a tour of the Prairies. So we were at four different theatres and one coffee shop for like a little teaser performance, which was so fun.

That was in Medicine Hat, because they just have this really cool, like, indie coffee shop scene. So before the show, I was like, could I do something here? Of course, we wound up selling it out because of that.

But yeah, honestly, getting to play around with an audience, because the show is, it’s loosely based on certain characters that I met while I was actually working at Aroma Espresso at the corner of Bloor and Bathurst. It’s now a Value Buds, but it was an Aroma Espresso for a very long time. But anyways, because it’s loosely based on interactions with humans, I play with the audience every night and see what sticks.

And I literally found new lines that just simply happened from sort of the energy or the sort of the vibes I was getting from the most recent audiences. So I think the answer is how it changes is it becomes more playful, because I get a sense of what is landing and what isn’t. And since the show is toured around to almost every, not every continent, but quite a few English speaking countries in this world, I really get a vibe of what is universal.

And of course, as they say, tell your specific story, and it will become universal. And I actually think that’s true, because the more I dug into what I was saying, the more I expanded, the more I could sort of feel, because you can feel that energy if people are like buckling in with you along for the ride, you know?

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, you absolutely can. I think that a lot of times people don’t, people who aren’t, who haven’t performed, especially people who haven’t performed a solo show.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
Don’t quite understand how the audience informs things.

[Rebecca Perry]
Don’t click improv, like it does border on that, because it’s a relationship with you, the first character, the audience, the second character.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. And it is, I remember when I was in the early days of rehearsing my solo show, The Commandment, my director Richard Bone would be like, so you’re talking to the audience. And that hadn’t could, that had never occurred to me that the audience was my scene partner, and I would have to make eye contact.

But after doing it a few times, it was like, oh, of course, who else are you going to be talking to?

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah. I love that show, by the way, just so fun.

[Phil Rickaby]
There’s actually just sort of like, as a similar thing, there was a, as I was performing, there was a moment when I was like, there needs to be a beat here. And it sort of came to me in, in like the moment where I filled in a line about God talking about nobody understanding what Buddhists say. And it just sort of like, it wasn’t written.

And it, it was like, there needs to be something here. And it popped in, and I tried it, and it worked. It’s become part of the script ever since, just because it, it worked, and it continues to work.

So it’s the audience, like the, it’s amazing. You feel the moment when the audience is like, there’s something wanting, and so you fill it in.

[Rebecca Perry]
That’s a really good way of saying it, actually. And, and it’s even true, I find, when you’re playing multiple characters in a conversation, because there’s always moments, whereas one certain character, you want to break the fourth wall and like, let them in on the joke and stuff like that, too.

[Phil Rickaby]
It’s such a, I mean, I think it is one of, it’s such a valuable exercise as a performer to perform alone and realize what that feels like, and to sort of like gain a mastery of an audience.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, it makes you more confident all around, whether you’re in a Shakespearean play, whether you’re doing film and TV, or even just a voiceover, like something about having the confidence to just engage in that kind of crazy relationship with like 300 strangers helps you as a performer be like, I’m trustworthy, like I, I can, I can bring you some delight, and we’ll all enjoy it together, you know?

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, years ago, I was an usher during the original Toronto run of Les Misérables, and the actor who played Tenardier, Graham, I can’t remember his last name.

[Rebecca Perry]
I know, I can literally picture his face, I know.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, dude, as an usher, you watch the show a lot, and so realize, we came to the, I started to realize, oh, he is so in tune with the audience, he’ll drop something slightly different, and it will always land for that audience, and it’s like, I think that that’s the kind of thing you can get from a solo performance, is to know how to feel what the audience needs in the moment.

[Rebecca Perry]
Absolutely, like to sense that level of playfulness, or like how game they are, for what style of humor, a hundred percent. Sometimes I make like a silly dad joke at the beginning of my show, which sort of thanks the theatre venue, while making a joke about the theatre being hard to find, and just from that joke alone, I get a sense of what kind of audience I’m stepping into, and that truly sets the tone the entire night.

[Phil Rickaby]
It’s always good to have like some kind of hint for yourself in there, to know like, is this going to be a good, are we in sync, or do I have to work really hard?

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, yeah, that’s true, do I have to like wake you up a little bit, your coffee hasn’t kicked in yet.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, yeah. Now, you know, going back to the Edinburgh Fringe, and you’re returning there after 10 years, and when you went, you had never been to the Edinburgh Fringe with this show. Brand new.

You were brand new. I mean, I think you had some people who were able to like, prepare you before you were dropped in.

[Rebecca Perry]
I had a producer that very much gave me like the nitty gritty, and also like sort of made me aware of like, don’t go here unless you are wanting to tour, because it’s so much work, you’ve got to go with a goal. And so I think that really helped me focus my energy on getting there.

[Phil Rickaby]
Right. So, I mean, that opens up another avenue of conversation about how the Edinburgh Fringe opened up kind of Europe for you. But also, I’m curious about what you didn’t know then, that you know now, that prepares you to take on this massive fringe.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, no, absolutely. I think one of the biggest things for me is I won’t go unless I get my venue of choice. Because oftentimes, the venue you pick, either will or will not have a built-in marketing house, that’s huge.

And will or will not already like invest in postering for their venue around town and creating awareness. Because one thing that is different from Canadian Fringe is you can’t put a poster anywhere without paying for it. There’s this giant scheme called out of hand.

And it is out of hand, because it’s crazy. They put up posters all over the city. And you have to pay into this scheme.

So if you know your venue is already doing that, that’s huge. I also would not go if I did not have at least six months to prepare. Because by month six, you should have your venue.

Because it’s not like a lottery, you have to write a love letter to a venue and be like, here’s why I really feel you need me in your season. Because they call their Edinburgh Fringe a season, I guess, because some of these venues, like the one I’m with, Gilded Balloon, has like 50 shows. So yeah, venue of choice, six months to prepare.

Because then you can also get reasonably priced plane tickets. At the 12-month mark, I was already applying for grants, same with the nine-month mark. And we can always touch on that later too.

But I think those are the big things. But also having time to contact every producer, every theatre that you hope to tour with after. All that has to happen before you land.

Because once you land, there’s all these networking events where you kind of need to already know what you’re going in to pitch. And you have to be very confident, like, here’s why I think we’re a good fit, which, you know, as a Canadian is a little jarring sometimes. I can talk about how much I love coffee, I can talk about how much I love the Jays.

But I can’t. It was like a skill I had to learn before I arrived. And it was a big challenge, because now I think it’s served me since then as well.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, yeah. Any single Fringe Festival on the Canadian circuit, it’s whatever, two weeks long, is a slog. And usually by the time you’re done that two weeks, you’re…

Oh, you’re spent. You’re pretty spent. Now the Edinburgh Fringe is a month long.

Yep. How do you get through that marathon of a fringe and still have, I don’t know, some semblance of self left at the end?

[Rebecca Perry]
That was the best question I’ve ever been asked. The way you phrased that, I just… Five stars.

I mean, besides copious amounts of coffee. Honestly, picking and choosing when you’re going to have an alcoholic beverage at a networking event, actually getting eight hours of sleep. Basically, you’re like an anti-rock star.

You truly have to behave like a human that needs all the basics. But also, I think the biggest thing for me was, actually, just to feel creatively inspired is, I would try and see at least one show I was interested in before mine, and at least one or two after, because it honestly just kept me so inspired and wanting to get to that level of performance. And also, this might sound sort of silly, but the first time I went and the second and third too, I invited so many friends like, hey, there’s a couch in the apartment I’m staying on.

If you want to come hang out with me for a few days, let me show you the festival. And I think just having this wonderful rotating door of familiar faces, it really keeps you energized as well.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. I mean, you can’t promo all the time. You have to have time.

I mean, if you’re in the fringe, you might as well be seeing shows and meeting artists. It would be silly not to. It would.

And if all you were there to do was to promo yourself, why? I think you’d be missing out.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, totally. And also, there’s one thing that’s different about the Edinburgh Fringe is, there’s a whole month-long calendar of workshops you can take that range from how to turn your clown show into a two-hour, two-act show to come meet this producer like Francesca Moody, who did Fleabag, and hear her journey of taking it from the fringe to TV. There’s incredible workshops that are free for artists to come and witness.

But also, on top of that, like I said, there’s mixers, there’s networking events. The Canadian Embassy always wants to celebrate all the Canadians that are there. Everyone is trying to help you do the best you can, which is so heartening.

And if I’m being honest, half of the Canadian connections I made, I made in Edinburgh, which is crazy, but true.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s amazing. I think that fringes like the Toronto Fringe have gotten better at creating a network. It used to be that you just sort of got thrown into the mix when fringe started, but now they have pods and groups and there’s like opportunities.

So you at least know people’s names and things when you are getting in there. But the idea of workshops and things, the Montreal Fringe a few times has had workshops and things as the fringe starts. I remember the first time I went there, there was a how to flyer in Montreal, like this sort of thing.

That’s so smart. And the person who was leading it said the phrase that carried me through the fringe, and still I believe today about theatre in general, which is there’s audience enough for everyone.

[Rebecca Perry]
Absolutely.

[Phil Rickaby]
We’re not in competition. If somebody goes to see your show, they can come see my show. And just because they go to see your show doesn’t mean they’re not going to see my show.

More audience for everyone means more audience for everyone.

[Rebecca Perry]
I love that. You know, Montreal Fringe is one of the only Canadian ones I have not had a chance to do. It’s on my bucket list.

[Phil Rickaby]
The Montreal Fringe is sort of unique. A lot of touring artists start their season there. Partially because it’s the party fringe.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, I know. I went there for my birthday one year, like me, Derek Chua, and a bunch of the Sex T-Rex gang, just a whole bunch of Canadians were there one year. So I just drove down, saw a bunch of fringe shows.

And then I was like, oh my goodness, these people are like the party cats.

[Phil Rickaby]
There’s no other fringe like it. That makes it very unique. It’s also an extremely warm fringe to start at.

But if you’re going to go, you better be prepared to party.

[Rebecca Perry]
Noted.

[Phil Rickaby]
Now, Confessions of a Red-Headed Coffee Shop Girl is not the only solo show that you’ve created. But it did open doors for you by going to Edinburgh that has allowed you to take some of your shows to the UK and other places. What did Edinburgh do for you that was completely unique?

[Rebecca Perry]
Sure. So I think the biggest thing was, and kudos to Canada for this, like the Canadian Embassy, as well as a whole bunch of different Canadian granting bodies, like the Canada Heritage Group and all that kind of stuff. They would put on like mixers that would give Canadians specifically a chance to sort of mix and mingle.

Also, the first three times I was there, the Canada Hub was still going, which was like a Canadian curated spot near Summerhall, which is like a very respected venue. And they threw a bunch of events as well. So I think the biggest thing was I was able to go there and just the simple act of putting a face to a name, because this name had already been emailing these people three to four times.

It just gave them a chance to see that I was somebody who took touring seriously and was actively ready to put the work in on my side of things to tour. Because that’s the other thing. It’s not like someone just says, hey, come to my theatre.

It’s like, hey, come to my theatre. How many months do you need to secure this grant for travelling? How long do you need to make sure your team is available, etc., etc.? Because even though I’m a solo show, I still need a stage manager. Ideally, if it’s a bigger theatre, we want a musician playing the music live. There’s a lot of moving parts.

So I think it was a chance to show who I was and that I was going to go the distance to quote Disney’s Hercules, where that came from. But you know what? I think it also gave me a chance to show on a world stage that I would take seriously the act of not just getting there and tickets, but really trying to make a splash, I guess.

And I don’t think I realized at the time me taking that seriously really would open doors. Because one of the first things international presenters say to me is, oh, I remember you sold out in, oh, I don’t know, 2017 or something like that. And I’m like, yes, 2015.

Yes, that was me. Also, this is going to sound so silly, but people have always slightly made fun of me for having these crazy long self-explanatory titles in Edinburgh. It means people know what they’re getting into, and they’ll take a chance on it.

And so that has also been the same for presenters and producers that are like, oh, this sounds kind of cute. What’s your audience age range? Who do you think would benefit from seeing the show?

And that’s where a lot of touring started to Ireland, to Scotland, to the UK, even to America. It was crazy.

[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, those are also questions that you knew having performed the show in Toronto, right?

[Rebecca Perry]
Because I needed to make sure it was ready before I went. Yeah.

[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, you kind of have to. If you’re going to do the biggest fringe in the world, you better make sure you’re ready.

[Rebecca Perry]
Because you’ve got 3,000 other shows competing to get someone in the door. Now, like you said, there really is an audience for all shows. I truly believe that.

And I believe in Edinburgh, too. But I guess certain time slots, like the 7 o’clock slot, have ultra, uber-famous UK comedians also doing a show. So there are certain time slots where you have to try quite hard to get your audience, for sure.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. I mean, that’s the other thing. It’s not just theatre.

It’s comedians from all over the world coming to do their hour in a venue.

[Rebecca Perry]
We already have Netflix specials.

[Phil Rickaby]
Exactly. So you’re competing with some of the most famous comedians in the world for time.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, absolutely. It’s all the ones you’d find at JFL. For sure.

Which is why I’m also actually, just to add to that question of what are things you know now that you didn’t know before, I will always be very careful about getting a time slot that is kind of before the famous comedy starts. So ideally, before 7.30pm is an ideal time slot for me. Because unlike Canadian fringes, you get the same time slot every day.

[Phil Rickaby]
Oh, that makes it so much easier to plan your day.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yes, you can have a life. Absolutely.

[Phil Rickaby]
You can have a life instead of always being like, what time? The problem with doing a fringe festival is sometimes you just spend the day going like, am I performing today? What time am I performing at?

Because the schedule changes.

[Rebecca Perry]
You have whiplash, practically. Absolutely.

[Phil Rickaby]
But some of the other shows that you’ve created, again, they’re solo shows. Yeah. But they were, I mean, you’ve got from Judy to Betty, the Bond, was there a Bond show?

[Rebecca Perry]
There’s three Coffeeshop Girl shows now, Confessions, Adventures, and Christmas with a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl. It’s like a trilogy now. There’s from Judy to Betty, the stars of old Hollywood.

And then there’s Bond, James Bond, the music of 007, as well as a whole bunch of other sort of more cabaret-style concerts. But I’d say those are like show shows.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. I mean, it must be great having a Christmas show that you can additionally pitch to the venues to be like, hey, if you only have time November, December, I have a Christmas show.

[Rebecca Perry]
I have legitimately said that exact sentence at least 12 times earlier this year. And it’s, yeah, it’s actually kind of crazy. Canada, a lot of the sort of big like roadhouse theatres, they always want like 12 Christmas shows.

So why not? And it’s very much, you know, like it’s so like warm and cozy to have like Christmas Coffeeshop songs and like all these characters doing their Christmas traditions. Like it’s just so cute.

And it’s actually, what’s crazy is the one place I haven’t performed that in is Toronto. So I’m hoping after the Toronto Fringe doing Confessions of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl, the original show, I can then hopefully maybe in November do the Christmas show because it actually kind of fits in before Joanie goes to Tanzania in Adventures of a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl, which is like the final one now. It’s ranking one and a half.

Like right in between, there’s Christmas with a Redheaded Coffeeshop Girl.

[Phil Rickaby]
Amazing. Yeah. Amazing.

Now, right now as we record this and as people are listening to this, you do have a GoFundMe to help raise money for getting to the Edinburgh Fringe. Yes. Talk to me about crowdfunding and the challenges and also pitfalls of it.

[Rebecca Perry]
Absolutely. Well, I guess firstly, thank you already to the, I believe 91 people that have donated. Like I’m so moved.

I was so afraid of crowdfunding, Phil, that I hadn’t done a crowdfund campaign since 2013. Like when I like just graduated theatre school and it scared me so much it took until now to do one. But you know what?

It’s another one of those things like what I didn’t know then and I know now came in handy. So I think the biggest thing that I’ve learned is if you are very open about why you’re fundraising, people will totally rally around you. Whereas I think last time my message wasn’t super clear and it was just like, I want to put on a show.

Whereas this time, to be perfectly honest with your wonderful listeners, I have been applying for grants to get to Edinburgh for almost a year and a half now. And unfortunately, as we all know, there have absolutely been some cuts to arts funding. And so where I normally wouldn’t go to Edinburgh without maybe two grants under my belt, I was able to get zero.

So I was honest, like in a respectful way, I was just like, look, I’m having trouble getting everything together and there are deadlines coming up quickly. And I just sort of posted like a Facebook message and like so many people from so many different parts of my life sort of came out of the woodwork and were like, this is something we’d absolutely support. Like you’ve already proven that you will work hard when you get there.

So it’s something we can get behind. So I think one of the pitfalls is if your message isn’t clear and if you haven’t kind of already shown this is something you will do and go the distance, I guess. It’s a good sentence.

And so I think that’s one big thing is I think I was able to really get down to the heart of my message, because within a week, we had already gotten to like, oh my goodness, like 60% of the goal, which was incredible. And now I think we’re at like 81% or something like that, which is so amazing, because it’s only the beginning of week three. Another thing I learned is like never be afraid to you don’t have to just keep posting a link to your GoFundMe or whatever, like mix it up.

So I wanted to like find like a personal way to thank everyone that donated because I was really touched with, you know, how do these people are artists? Like, I’ve got 20 bucks in my wallet, and I know they do too, right? Like so it means something when they donate.

So I started learning on Canva how to do photoshopping. So I’ve been thanking each individual person by placing the coffee shop girl in like a silly picture with them, and either making up a fictitious story about this adventure we’re on, or thanking them with like a fun, silly memory that we had through the years. Because like I said, people from like, people I went to high school with to people that I knew right now, and only for a year have donated.

And so it’s been really interesting to review all these people from different areas of my life that wanted to just help me get there. What’s crazy is the amount of fundraising is probably only one third of the total costs. We all know Edinburgh is crazy.

But mostly this year, it’s crazy, because the Canadian exchange rate is like, heartbreakingly low. Like I like, I was, I will never do this again. But I crunched the numbers of like what the exchange rate was in 2015.

When I went and what the prices were. It’s like almost double this year. It’s it’s cuckoo, banana, rambla, ding dong pants.

Like that’s the only word I can think to describe it. But I’ve committed to it. I’m gonna make it happen.

Not only have I been fundraising, just like 24 hours ago, I found a UK company that I’m now going to co produce the show with, which is huge.

[Phil Rickaby]
Amazing.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, so they’re going to come in and help offer some like, cash flow support, as well as producing support, which is, which is huge. And you know what, I just met them from randomly doing the Brighton fringe, like amazing. Eight years ago.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s incredible.

[Rebecca Perry]
Because of this Facebook message.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s incredible. The I mean, the the exchange rate and the way and the expense, the expense of things. The pandemic has really done a number on travel, in general.

You know, pre pandemic. I know, because I was going to go to England for the first time for my birthday. And it didn’t happen because I was leaving in in April of 2020.

So that didn’t happen. But I can I can compare how much it was going to cost me then, with how much it would cost me now. And it is astronomical.

Compare that with, you know, we have a real issue in the arts right now, of of both funding being cut, and also audiences not returning in the same way they had been before the before the pandemic. We even see that with with with the fringe, like Toronto fringe has been struggling the past couple of years, which is tragic to me because my favorite thing.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, my favorite time of year in Toronto, like I live in Toronto fringe.

[Phil Rickaby]
Exactly. I’m so happy about about the the salt pepper partnership, and how that’s coming together, and what that’s doing for them. But it’s still like the fact that that this 40 year old 40 year old institution, yeah, it’s like it’s yeah, that it’s has to struggle at all.

And I think that that that, without that, I think we have to address the, the disparity and the things that are happening in the arts right now. And, and really, I think we need to be transparent about it.

[Rebecca Perry]
Like, that’s my budget, like even on my GoFundMe, because I think people didn’t realize how much it costs to get over there, or even just get a room there.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. Oh, I mean, you’re also like trying to get a room at the most expensive time of year in Edinburgh, when the population triples, yes, charge whatever they want. Yes, absolutely.

So I think it, I think we need to address those, those disparities in the industry, and also maybe talk, you know, this might not be the forum for it. But I talk about what are theatres doing, in terms of like their programming, to like, like, are you just doing what you used to do? Or are you making changes to, like address what your audience is?

Like, are you really looking at like, why aren’t people coming back?

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, like, who, who is your audience right now? And how can you bring more people in the door? Absolutely.

That’s one thing why I’m overjoyed Soulpepper collab with The Fringe, because I think it’s good to shake things up and have not only a new Fringe hub, but also like the East End is full of artists. So I feel like it was only time before we had a little bit more of an East End hub for The Fringe. I know the West is cool, and the West is always a party.

But like, I actually think it’ll be interesting to see if this brings in a whole new wave of audience members that maybe, you know, because they’re living in the East, and they have a few kids, it’s a bit of a trick to just like randomly pop over to Randolph to see a show. But if you’re just going to Soulpepper or Alumni Theatre, which is around the corner, or you know, what else? The Ackee Studio is one of the venues, like there’s a whole nice little chain of theatres happening over there.

[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, one of the things that Fringe is like, like Edmonton and Winnipeg have is this finite area where the venues are, you can walk no more than 10 minutes between venues, which is amazing. Listen, it’s amazing because you don’t have to do the mad dash. Yeah.

Because we’ve all in the past done that exterior watch as we run from Terragon to Factory, trying to figure out, am I going to make this show? So it’s good to have like three venues in the Soulpepper area, as well as like the ones that are like Ackee Studio and Alumni, which are close.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah. Where you can go door to door, so to speak.

[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. Where you could just not have to run quite as desperately.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh my gosh. And you know, there’s always, I love the comical thing of like seeing people on bikes, just like zooming by, people in Ubers, people running, you’re like, oh, you’re all trying to get to St. Vladimir’s for the 315 showing of such and such.

[Phil Rickaby]
Listen, we’ve all seen it. We’ve all seen people leave a show at Terragon and start to immediately run. Which, you know, it’s just the nature of the Toronto Fringe.

But it’s good to have a venue where we don’t quite have to run quite as desperately.

[Rebecca Perry]
I hope so. I hope so. It’ll be interesting to see because this will ultimately be kind of an experiment year because it’s the first year with such a large amount of venue changes and stuff like that.

[Phil Rickaby]
Huge venue changes. And I think, you know, venue changes are always kind of dangerous because people have venues in their head. So that’s going to be interesting.

But also like this is not a short-term partnership. This is a long-term partnership. And it kind of feels to me like back in the day of like the Mirvish parking lot, which felt like a home for the Fringe for a really long time.

All the other, the Fringe patio, Bathurst and Dundas, and the Tranzact kind of felt like, I hate to use the word, but transient homes, not like permanent places. And this feels like a home.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yes. I could see this being successful for many, many years. And I fully agree.

The Mirvish Alley will always be like my Fringe tent, so to speak.

[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. Absolutely. Now, you mentioned not having been to the Montreal Fringe.

You’ve done the other Fringes, a bunch of the other Fringes.

[Rebecca Perry]
I think I’ve done every like major city Canadian Fringe with the exception of Montreal and Halifax.

[Phil Rickaby]
Okay, I have to ask, how prepared were you for the difference between a Toronto Fringe and a Winnipeg and Edmonton Fringe when you went?

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, it blew my little like 21-year-old mind. I just, it’s so funny because I remember, I think we chatted on your podcast about this before I went, and I was like, aren’t they fine? Aren’t they great?

When I got there, it was fine and great, but only because I adapted like lickety-split to the Goliath that was the Winnipeg Fringe. Speaking of, some people that met me at the Winnipeg Fringe donated to my GoFundMe. That’s very cute.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s so wonderful.

[Rebecca Perry]
Just because they saw the show there. But anyways, yeah, no, I will say though, and I’m sure you’d agree with this, the Winnipeg Fringe is welcoming the way it sounds the Montreal Fringe is welcoming. Like they will take a chance on a new show if it sounds like something that someone has done and polished up and is ready for performance.

[Phil Rickaby]
100%. It’s very warm that way. It’s very welcoming.

And one of the things that I felt when I was there was the way that volunteers will become champions for shows they’ve seen. They can make it worth your show. 100%.

So it’s always like, hey, volunteers, come see our show.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh yeah. I was using those 10 comps every single show because I also went from a 115-seat venue to a 330-seat venue, which was a bit of a shock. But I’m proud to say by the end of the festival, I think we sold out the last three shows.

[Phil Rickaby]
Which is incredible in Winnipeg, especially as somebody… A lot of fringes are like, oh, I see these people every year when they come.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah, they’re comfort theatre.

[Phil Rickaby]
Exactly. And that can feel like a barrier for somebody for whom it’s their first fringe. So you really have to like…

If you sell out three shows your first time in Winnipeg, you’re doing really great.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah. I did luck out. I was in a venue that I didn’t realize had a lot of those, I guess, legacy performers, if you will, that are there every year.

So I got really lucky. In the sense of who I became friends with, I had the very chaotic but sweet James and Jamesy shouting my show out after they performed. I had Mike Delamond, god is the Scottish drag queen, being like, if you want to take a spin on something crazy and feisty, check out that redheaded coffee shop girl after.

I had some really lovely fringe friends that I’m still friends with to this day. I texted Mike literally this morning, I think. We’ve become lifelong friends.

And it all started with acts of kindness of them being like, oh my gosh, this girl is going for it. Let’s show our support.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think that people who have never toured fringe festivals don’t know the unity and family that forms between fringe performers.

[Rebecca Perry]
So necessary.

[Phil Rickaby]
It’s so necessary. I toured to Montreal, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Edmonton in 2012. It’s a tour and a half.

People that were on that tour, I’m still friends with them. And they’re still the fringe family. I remember one fellow, when we were in Calgary, ended up having his appendix out.

He was from Australia. And everybody was like, okay, does he have insurance or do we have to pass a hat? Everybody was ready at the end of their shows to raise money to cover his bills.

Yeah, that’s huge. That’s the incredible thing about the fringe family. And I will never forget it.

[Rebecca Perry]
Well, yeah, some of the most giving, loving, kind, generous people I’ve ever met. And the crazy part is, of course, we’re all artists with 20 bucks in our pockets. But still, these are just people that want to give and want to make sure everyone feels supported.

It’s incredible.

[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. I’ve also seen the thing where it’s like, oh, you know, Winnipeg was great for you. Calgary, not so much.

I know. I’m buying drinks. You don’t find that anywhere else.

[Rebecca Perry]
I know. Because I will say, my first year in Edmonton, which was right after Winnipeg, I feel like it kind of set up false expectations of like, every city is loving and welcoming. Oh, I had to work, I’m going to say five times as hard to get Edmonton on my side.

Like, it’s a good thing that I was 21 the first time because I was hitting the pavement for four and five hours flyering. I was doing all the little comedy and cabaret spots I could. Like, I was probably working like 15 hour days and it did pay off.

But like, at the end, I think I practically fell over into the plane to get home.

[Phil Rickaby]
Edmonton is a great, is a great fringe, but it is a lot of work. I didn’t realize this until I started, you know, flyering, is there’s a significant portion of people for whom they don’t realize that there’s a theatre portion to Fringe.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, I know.

[Phil Rickaby]
They’re there for the food trucks and the buskers and the beer tent. Yep. So you have to sort of punch through that.

It’s like, no, this was actually built around a theatre festival.

[Rebecca Perry]
It’s not just these things.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, so it’s a lot of work. Probably the most work out of any of the Canadian fringes.

[Rebecca Perry]
I also think it’s the most realistic portrayal of like, what the kind of work you might need to do in Edinburgh. If you’re like, I’ll just last minute, grab a spot at the free fringe and show up and see what happens. Well, then you’re going to be pulling those 16 hour days.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah, yeah. And that’s, you know, it’s an important lesson to learn. Like, yeah, but that kind of thing will carry you through.

If you’ve been successful at the Edinburgh and Edmonton fringe, you’re going to be successful in any fringe in Canada because you know how to work.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yep. And I also think you’ll know how to work at the Adelaide fringe, which is the second biggest. And then, of course, Edinburgh, the biggest because I think Edmonton is the third biggest in the world.

[Phil Rickaby]
Edmonton for a period of time was the second biggest, but Adelaide sort of took that crown a little while ago.

[Rebecca Perry]
So Edmonton was tense.

[Phil Rickaby]
I know. I know. They sort of like they sort of went their direction and were like, well, this is how you do it.

Have you have you been to Adelaide?

[Rebecca Perry]
No, I was actually unfortunately one of my sort of losses during the pandemic was I was supposed to be at Gluttony, which is one of their big venues at the Adelaide fringe. So I feel you. But I luckily before the pandemic in 2019, to sort of check it out in anticipation of going, um, a friend of mine, Lacey Juk, was working the Australian cruise ships as a performer.

So I went and visited her and then I stopped by Adelaide fringe on on my way back to Canada. And it was incredible. It’s it’s so different than Edmonton or Edinburgh because it is all circus tense.

It’s very cabaret and comedy and circus focused. I think like I was I wasn’t going to bring coffee shop girl there. I was actually going to bring from Judy to Betty because it’s much more like cabaret, you know, dame with a microphone doing impressions because that’s just kind of what they’re looking for.

I feel like there’s there’s also a connection between like Montreal Cirque du Soleil and Adelaide and it’s circus hub too. Like and I didn’t know that until I arrived. And I was like, there are so many Quebecers here.

Something is crazy. Like this is where they go. This is their Edinburgh fringe style to sell their circus shows.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think one of the, you know, just going to more than one fringe and experiencing that fringe, whether it’s another city in Canada or another country, is such an eye opener to just like, oh, this is the culture of this range. Like to know what does the average Edmonton fringe goer want, which is different from what the average Toronto fringe goer wants and Winnipeg. It’s like all of these like different different places, different different desires.

What they want in theatre is so different. And as a performer going to different venues and having to be like, I have four hours to put this show in this venue that is so different from any venue I’ve ever been in before is just such a like once you’ve got that machine oiled, you can move into any space.

[Rebecca Perry]
True. Absolutely true. Yeah.

I also love some of the fringe, the fringe touring artists that have been doing it for forever and ever that are like, I’m just not going to tech. I’ll just show up at the first show. And I’m like, I’m glad you can do that.

But my stress levels aren’t there yet.

[Phil Rickaby]
You know, I haven’t met them yet. I haven’t.

[Rebecca Perry]
Oh, there’s a few out there.

[Phil Rickaby]
I’m sure there are a few. I’m sure there are a few. But I’m sure that I’m sure that there’s people who are like, I don’t need lights.

I just like turn them on, turn them off.

[Rebecca Perry]
Like the Martin Dockery’s and the John Bennett’s. They honestly just need lights on. Yeah.

They’d rather spend those three hours, you know, rehearsing or fine tuning or picking jokes like and I have such a respect for that because I am not that person. I am Ms. Must be over prepared to feel like low stress levels.

[Phil Rickaby]
I mean, low stress levels are so important, especially if it’s like your first time at that fringe or your first time performing a show. It is like sometimes all I can do to not vomit on that first day.

[Rebecca Perry]
You don’t have that built in audience yet. Like, you know that that’s an additional task for you for that.

[Phil Rickaby]
Absolutely. But that’s something that somebody who is a John Bennett, somebody who is like those are those artists, they they have the people are going to come and see them regardless.

[Rebecca Perry]
Yeah. They just want to see, like, what are they up to this year? What crazy, cool story or journey are they going to take us on?

Absolutely.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. So now that this is the 10th anniversary of of this particular show and like 10th anniversary of like doing it at the Toronto Fringe, I think Toronto 10th anniversary for Edinburgh anniversary, so many anniversaries at the Toronto Fringe, 10 years at at Edinburgh Fringe and 12 years of debuting it, period.

[Rebecca Perry]
That’s it’s crazy.

[Phil Rickaby]
Yeah. Um, what what are you most looking forward to performing it this time?

[Rebecca Perry]
Honestly, I think because this is the second time that it will be at Toronto Fringe ever is I’m really excited and hopeful that I can bring in like a new generation of people that the coffee shop girl can make laugh like that would that would fill my heart with so much joy if I could just, you know, latch on to sort of the new generation of graduates and see if what I’m saying resonates with them. Because a lot of it is very universal.

It’s ultimately about finding your footing in the world and pursuing your passions and and just doing what feels right for you. And so I think and I hope it’s something that like I’m a I think I’m a young millennial or whatever. I’m hoping that like Gen Z will be like, what’s up?

She’s funny.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think that’s all any of us can hope for.

[Rebecca Perry]
And also like it would also make my day if it would make my year if people that had seen it 10 years ago came to see it and see like how it’s grown because it has and and I’m I feel like a much more capable performer and stuff like that.

[Phil Rickaby]
I think there’s always like the idea of like, can I can I bring a show back to the Fringe? Like, is that a thing? For so long?

Yeah, of course. I mean, I think we all would, right? Like, oh, I did this show there.

Do I bring it back? But then also, like, if people love this show, they’re going to see it. They’re probably going to see it again.

[Rebecca Perry]
I hope so. I have a good feeling. I’ve had like a lot of nice people be like, oh, it’s so cute that this is back.

I’ll come.

[Phil Rickaby]
That’s awesome. Well, Rebecca, thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate you giving me some time.

And and especially you always because you were that first guest on stage, where you always have a little place in my heart as guest number one. So I really appreciate it.

[Rebecca Perry]
Good thing when you asked me, I was like, I love this. It’s so full circle.