2014 Edinburgh Fringe

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2014 welcomes metal-head comic Andrew O'Neill back to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with his show Andrew O'Neill's History of Heavy Metal at the Pleasance Dome from 30 July - 25 August.

Think you know metal? Did you know that Obituary run their own cat sanctuary? That 'Any Old Iron' by Harry Champion was officially the first heavy metal record and that if you play Burzum records backwards there are hidden Christian messages? If you don't know your Slayer from your Slipknot then don't worry, O'Neill's got something for everyone in his show. It's a heavy metal 101 for the uninitiated, and a celebration of the genre that die-hard metalheads will love.

Andrew O'Neill will teach you the difference between blackened-thrash and grindcore, how to survive in a moshpit and how to headbang like George Corpsegrinder Fisher at a Cannibal Corpse show all in his own style of inventive and off-beat comedy. He'll rock you with laughter just like how the Scorpions rocked you like a hurricane. (There are NO Scorpions references in the show.)

O'Neill has recently opened for Amanda Palmer from the Dresden Dolls, played at Torture Garden, hosted the Metal Hammer Golden Gods with Alice Cooper and the Bizarre Magazine Ball. He is also a regular on heavy metal festival stages appearing at Download, Sonisphere, Bloodstock, Leeds and Reading festivals as well as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Adelaide Fringe and the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

His credits include TV shows such as Never Mind The Buzzcocks (BBC2), Saxondale (BBC2) with Steve Coogan, Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (BBC2) and 50 Years of Rock Excess (Channel 4) as well as appearing on radio shows such as the Museum of Curiosity (Radio 4). He is also the author of fanzine FUCK STEAMPUNK, runs his own comedy night named A-Game and plays a Gibson SG in old school punk rock band The Men That Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing.