Michelle Brasier is back at the Fringe with musical stand-up hour Legacy

Michelle Brasier, who you may recognise from Netflix's Aunty Donna, had one of the best reviewed shows last year at the Fringe with Reform - a tale of how she became the emergency contact for a stranger who tried to scam her. Now, she is back in Edinburgh with an even wilder real-life story of how she was mysteriously handed an envelope containing some cash... but for a different Michelle Brasier. We spoke to her about dream collaborations, working with her partner and the thrill of performing live.

Hi Michelle. Welcome back to Edinburgh! First off, if you had to describe Legacy using only emojis, what would they be?

🐼✈️🕵🏼‍♀️👯‍♀️🎸🏥👨🏽‍⚕️🐩 (the poodle is a divorcée)

If you could have any comedian or musician join you for a duet on stage, who would that be and why?

Okay so the dog from Anatomy Of A Fall would be my ideal collaborator. I'd love to make a really silly musical ala Operation Mincemeat with a bunch of my silly friends but also Lady Gaga. Like it's me, Aunty Donna, Gillian Cosgriff, Hot Department and Lady Gaga. And we don't address why she's there. She's just there cracking gags and belting her tits off. Actually no maybe I am threatened by that. I'll get back to you.

Speaking of Aunty Donna, some Fringe-goers may recognise you from your work with them - what's your guilty pleasure TV show or movie that you're slightly embarrassed to admit you love?

I feel like this implies Aunty Donna is a guilty pleasure and I'll have you know the work we make together is important intellectual work for important intellectuals actually.

I am not embarrassed to admit to loving anything. Liking things is good! People are usually surprised when they find out how much I love the Fast And Furious franchise. My real life is so plot heavy so I really enjoy a silly romp through the jungle with Dwayne Johnson or a trashy reality show where nothing happens. I really love Milf Manor and The Traitors UK. But I feel no guilt, your honour. I am proud baby!

And we love you for that. Tell us, how do you cope living AND working with your real-life partner Tim?

It's actually perfect. We met doing Legally Blonde The Musical so he met me in work mode. He's very good at running my life for me and in the last few years has sort of become an extension of my management team but somehow we manage to be able to shut that off when we're at home and just enjoy each other's company. I guess it's that thing of, like, happiness being affected by novelty - we are always in a new city doing something new so we still really enjoy being around each other.

I think the most important thing is that he doesn't want to be the star. Like he has no desire to be the centre of attention and that's important because I have a compulsion to be the main character. He just likes playing guitar and doing lots of characters and then not having to take photos with fans. He's so humble which is admirable and effortlessly cool. I'm a nightmare. But I'm also really nice to him and I cook really good food and get us free stuff so it's even.

What do you enjoy most about performing live?

I love it when things go wrong. When you're working in TV, things can go wrong but unless you're live it's not a shared experience and - even if you are live - the audience is far away from you.

I just love those things that can happen once and only once. I did a show at Clapham Grand this year and my projector stopped working so I played the trombone, taught the audience the George of The Jungle theme song and explained the plot of The Fast And The Furious till it came back on. I can never do that again. It won't ever be the same. And it was the most alive I've felt since there was a loose dog in the playground at school.