Chris Grace

Written by: Si Hawkins
Published: Friday 7th July 2023

It was the first of times, it was the worst of times; and soon it's Edinburgh Fringe time, which will no doubt be first and worst, for a good few unsuspecting performers. Not this week's guest though, who'll soon grace that fine city in a different guise than on previous visits.

Chris Grace has some sexy US TV credits but will be most recognisable to many Fringe-goers as a key part of improv troupe Baby Wants Candy and umpteen musical parodies, from 50 Shades to Game Of Thrones. But now he's single-handedly taking on another franchise icon

"Chris Grace: As Scarlett Johansson is my tribute to my favourite actor in the world," says Grace. "It's part biography, part stand-up comedy and part silly physical clownery."

It's an appropriate place for the show too, given that a big chunk of Avengers: Endgame was filmed in Edinburgh. Will he be taking advantage of those photo opportunities: doing the Black Widow crouching-spider pose on the platform in Waverley Station? Visiting the now-famous kebab shop?

"I'll definitely be visiting those locations, although who's to say it will be for the first time?" he says. "Since Scarlett and I are two peas in a pod there's no way to know if I actually filmed those scenes instead of her.

"On a related note, if you catch sight of someone in a Black Widow outfit and a red wig scoffing a kebab at 2am drunkenly shouting about how more people should be seeing their Fringe show at Assembly at 13.40 every day... that's definitely her, not me."

Never doubted it. And what will he get up to, if not that?

"Besides my shows I'll be eating at Noodles & Dumplings, attempting to get all the way up Arthur's Seat, relaxing in the Meadows, and getting scared in a completely dark shipping container."

Audiences: assemble! But before that, let's get the origin story.

First gig?

My first gig was in college at a cocktail bar in North Carolina, performing improv with two classmates that had booked the job. The audience was about eight people having drinks that had no intention of seeing a comedy show.

They were not interested at all until I broke out one of the world's worst Dolly Parton impressions for a scene. After that they went from not interested at all to "mildly interested-stroke-inebriated".

Favourite show, ever?

This past year I made it to the finals of the Riot Comedy Festival contest in Houston, Texas, where I grew up. The set went great, but also I got to perform for the first time in front of friends and family back in my home town. I won the contest and I'll be headlining that club later this year... I had never really felt like I fit in that well in Houston but somehow this felt full circle like I was coming home. The crowds were super warm and welcoming to me which was amazing.

Worst gig?

Performing in a veteran's meeting hall which probably seats 600 to a crowd of about 25, complete with poor sound system and a cavernous echo, and a crowd that was already three sheets to the wind at 4pm.

Which one person influenced your comedy life most significantly?

Daniel Kitson; I saw him on a whim ten years ago and have seen him as much as possible ever since.

And who's the most disagreeable person you've come across in the business?

There's a certain type of person in showbusiness (I can think of two specifically but I've come across more than that) that is only interested in speaking to you as far as you can do something for them.

So when I went from unknown to mildly famous for being on television, suddenly people that had ignored me before were eager to speak to me. But I'm like an elephant, I never forget! Also elephants are very resentful animals. That's what the trunk is for, to carry all of their grievances.

Is there one routine/gag you loved, that audiences inexplicably didn't?

I currently have a joke in my show about people squinting to look more East Asian. That joke is currently not doing well and is either going to be rewritten or you won't see it in Edinburgh. Currently the problem is that audiences empathise with me too much to laugh at the joke. So maybe it'll work if the audiences are crueller!

Are there particular differences between your pre-show prep, for improv or a written show?

Mostly the costumes and props. The prep for my written show is very technical. For improv it's connecting with my team-mates and also pre-planning all of the jokes.

Any reviews, heckles or post-gig reactions stick in the mind?

In my stand-up I make a quick aside about how someone said I look like Dr Ken (from the Hangover movies). I then make a joke about how that's kind of absurd. After I told that joke recently, a man came up to me afterwards and said "But you really do look like him." So now it feels like the joke is going to get longer when I tell that anecdote, and then someone else is going to follow up with a similar comment again and eventually I'm going to film a one-hour special of just this one joke and all the times people came up to me afterwards because they also wanted to say something racist to me!

How do you feel about where your career is at, right now?

I'm really proud of what I've accomplished this year, and I've really committed to the artistic process of developing my solo show. I'm getting to work with wonderful people like my husband Eric Michaud and the folks from Baby Wants Candy, and I can't wait to be back in Edinburgh for Fringe.

Honestly, if every year of my career for the rest of my life was like this I would be totally satisfied, although it would be even better if also I got several millions of dollars occasionally just to bolster my spirits and fund my cheeky Nando's habit!