Chris Gethard brings fatherhood tales to Edinburgh

After a six year absence from the Edinburgh Fringe, the man the New York Times described as a 'comedy institution' is returning to Scotland. The host of the Beautiful/Anonymous podcast will be performing a show called A Father And The Sun...

Hi Chris. Tell us a bit about your show.

My show is a joke heavy look at fatherhood that takes some unexpected and emotional turns. Basically, like any comic who has a kid, I found new jokes showing up in my set about the experience. But when I turned that lens on what my own upbringing was like, some stories I'd long buried came flooding back and things got dark and interesting fast.

How would you describe your show using three words?

Funny, cathartic, and hopeful.

What is one thing you would tell your younger self to prepare for being a dad?

Learn a lot of songs. I didn't realise how many songs I love that I don't actually have all the lyrics memorised. You wind up awake in the middle of the night singing the same four or five songs to the kid, and naturally those are your favourite songs. But you sing them so much that you grow to hate them. My son ruined a couple Pogues songs for me and I'm still mad about it.

What things have you learnt about parenthood since writing this show?

I'm learning new things every day. One of the major stretches of my show is about how useless I feel trying to teach this kid anything when I'm scrambling to learn everything, he's teaching me. My kid did just look at me the other day and quietly say, "You're old". So I learned that new pain.

Are you good at cooking or are there takeaways every night?

I'm a horrible cook. The worst. One reason I love traveling to Edinburgh for the month is it's a great excuse to eat out more often.