Shazia Mirza, Britain's only female Muslim stand-up comic, will be previewing her Edinburgh festival show on a moving bus. The show is part of an initiative by a consortium of Berkshire theatres to share audiences for Edinburgh previews. People who turn up at one of the five venues will see a show at 7pm and then get on a bus. They will then be entertained by Mirza and other comics until they arrive at a second venue for a 9pm show. As they travel, they'll speed past punters travelling in the opposite direction.
Martin Sutherland, director of the Newbury Corn Exchange (and previously producer of a string of fringe hits) says the idea is to give people the fringe experience in three hours: "We spent two hours with Post-it notes and bits of string trying to work out the journey, and then we had to find acts who were up for performing on a moving bus on the motorway to a slightly bemused audience."
Mirza's main worry is competing with the scenery. "I hope they don't look out of the window instead of looking at me."
