Fringe Dog meets Adam Riches

you are serving a one-man play about the tennis legend jimmy connors! ace! what inspired you to dig into jimmy's story? 

Well I saw a documentary on him a few years ago that I felt was a great story. That inspired me to read up on him a little, which revealed how great a character he is. From then on it was simple case of scriptwriting maths. Great Story + Great Character = Fire up the Laptop.

my secret shame is that i used to chew on sixty tennis balls a day. whenever i was chomping on one ball i was already thinkin' about the next one. how many balls have you destroyed during the making of 'jimmy'?

Just two, if you know what I mean Doggy…? Back in the 90s, those shorts they played in were SHORT. Thankfully, spandex had already been invented and Jimmy wasn’t backward in keeping himself forward…

this is going to be your first show at summerhall. do you think it'll be easy to focus on the show when, just over the road, there are so many squirrels to chase across the meadows ???

A fantastic question and one I’ve been struggling to answer throughout rehearsals. And I don’t think the venue has offered much in the way of support or solution here either. Who cares if the show is good? Who cares if people are having a great time? Right across the road, hundreds of squirrels are in dire need of a sprint dash and climb. A solution of sorts is that my venue is in the back of Summerhall and so onstage I’ll be facing away from all that temptation, so won’t get distracted. But you know what it’s like FD… when you see those little furballs with their big bushy tails…

Fringe Dog illustration by Lauren Hunter

do you have a dog?

I do indeed. Piper Doink. She’s a schnoodle – a schnauzer/poodle mix. I used to be very scared of dogs before we got her. Not anymore. She’s helped me realise how lovely you all are. And how clever. I mean look at you. You’ve worked out how to type, adhere to a word count and attach a document to send to your Editor. She’s my best pal. I’d love you to meet her and sniff her arse.

which of all the characters you've portrayed - from victor legit to jimmy - does your dog like best and why?

Well she’s only three, so in that timeframe she’s only ever seen me play Victor (she fell asleep), Sean Bean (she fell asleep but woke up and barked when someone dressed as an eagle tried to dance with me) and Jimmy. So far, she hasn’t fallen asleep for Jimmy, although she does go absolutely crazy when she sees me pick up the racquet. She knows what it does and has worked out that the prospect of a tennis ball cannot be too far behind.

Piper, image courtesy of the artist

all ball-based sports are elaborations of 'fetch'. discuss with your dog and report back. 

Agreed. She’d give her favourite toy to be lifted up onto a snooker table to chase those clacking spheres down a hole. In fact that would improve snooker immeasurably for me. Having six dogs tails up in each pocket.

the real jimmy connors had a famous rivalry with john mcenroe. do you have a nemesis on the comedy circuit -who is your john mcenroe and why?

I do indeed. But he’d see himself as more of my Agassi than my McEnroe. Tom Parry, from Pappys. You must have seen him back in the day? He’s been directing this show for me. Badly, I might add. (no real tennis balls and no treats, not even when I get my lines right.) To make matters worse we’ve also been playing real tennis outside the show and he’s beating my ass. Any suggestions on how I can get him back?

what shows does your dog recommend this august?  

She recommends ‘The Meadows’ – it’s on at the Meadows, every day, all month and has already garnered great cock-of-leg, which as you well know, is dog for word-of-mouth. She has also heard great things about ‘Getting Tickled’. Again, on all month at a new venue called ‘Her Tummy’. And finally she is and always will be a loyal and loving fan of Stevie Martin’s new show Clout, on at the Monkey Barrel. She’d even go as far to say that might win her ‘Bone of the Month’ award.

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