Tell us about the show you’re bringing to Blizzard Comedy’s Mini-Fringe All Dayer.
Remember childhood favourite Guess Who? It’s that, but played with you the lovely audience and based on vibes. Now in its third year, it’s a lot of fun and very stupid. Failure is certain. A good time not absolutely guaranteed but quite likely.
What made you want to create a live, vibes-based version of Guess Who?
I did some little bits of non-vibes Guess Who in my early fringe shows a decade or so ago. I suddenly remembered that about four years ago when I was thinking about different ways of doing MCing that didn’t involve asking people what they do for a living. I started writing material on that basis and it went down really well at Quantum Leopard, so I suppose the short answer to your question is “approval”.
How has your Guess Who-inspired show evolved since your previous iterations, 2024’s James Ross Does Guess Who and 2025’s James Ross Does Guess Who 2: Now Even Guessier?
New questions! It’s about 90% new at the moment. I’m working on some new set pieces – previous shows have had barcodes, rorschach tests, pun lists and songs; this one might have some more Dadding, conjuring a spirit into the room, Guess Who for Kids, a police interrogation and some chess (if I can get that bit to work).
Where do you get your ideas for questions for the game?
For the shorter, one or three question bits, I’ll think of an observation and instead of building a routine around it, I’ll try and rework it as a question with a choice for the audience. It’s still got the reminding-the-audience-of-things-they-already-know-but-don’t-know-they-know of observational standup, but the reformatting gives it a nice fresh twist. For the longer sections, I mostly think about what will test an audience’s patience the most.
What’s your favourite question to ask in the game?
“Does your person spend their romantic lives trying to fill the void left by an emotionally unavailable father?” is an excellent way of working out which audience members are emotionally vulnerable enough to accept me as their new leader and/or Dad.
What have been some of the most memorable moments in the years you’ve been playing Guess Who with live audiences?
The funniest outcome for me is when I ask one question, one person sits down, and that was the person who the player picked. Followed by narrowing it down to just one person on the final question and having that person not be the person. I’ve lost a thumb war to ten children at once. I’ve had my barcode bit given a hard house remix. I’ve seen attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion, C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate, etc.
How are you feeling about being a part of Blizzard Comedy’s Mini-Fringe All Dayer?
Excited to be part of it and to get to see some lovely shows as well – particularly looking forward to Hannah Platt if I don’t have to rush off an get the train.
Do you have any advice for anyone hoping to create their own full-length fringe comedy show?
Don’t do it straight away. Do a three hander, two hander etc first. The streets of Edinburgh are littered with the corpses of comics who thought they had an hour when they had a twenty at best. Be patient. “Success” in comedy is a vanishingly distant prospect, concentrate on improving as a performer and having a nice time. Also try the PBH Free Fringe route if you can – you still won’t make money, but you will lose a lot less.
James Ross is bringing his new show James Ross Does Guess Who 3: Guess Hard With A Vengeance to the Blizzard Comedy’s Mini-Fringe All-Dayer at Gullivers NQ on Sunday 14th June.
Tickets are free with the option to pay what you’d like on the door. Book yours here.
