Gimme A sign - Edfringe 2025

Welcome to comedian Bailey Swilley's ghost tour, complete with tales of haunted tampons, magical spells and life lessons on family expectations, grief and growing up. Gimme a Sign! is a storytelling comedy, based on a family tragedy and the strange but funny antics that ensued after. Join Bailey as she reflects on the stages of grief and her endless search for signs from the universe!

Can you give us a sneak peek into your show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe? What can audiences expect when they come to see your performance?

My show is called Gimme a Sign! and it was born out of the very unexpected

passing of my dad in 2014. My dad and I were so close, but writing this show

allowed me to explore the more complicated parts of our relationship—not bad,

but complicated. Losing him made me feel like I was exploring without a compass. I was an adult, but I felt like a kid. Specifically, like Littlefoot in The Land Before Saddest Movie of

All Time. I had to learn what it was like to live for myself, without the burden of high,

external expectations. Of course, there’s still a member or two of my family who

try to pressure me to live a certain way, but the difference is, they aren’t my dad

and no one’s opinion mattered more to me than his. It’s ultimately a love letter to

my family, full of stories that they hopefully will forgive me for sharing.

And while all of that may sound serious, it’s also very funny and has a lot of silly

bits about things like haunted tampons, a witchcraft spell with pee and a longing

to be just like Britney Spears. There are many references to popular culture and

nostalgia that I think people will really connect to as well.

The Edinburgh Fringe is known for its vibrant and diverse atmosphere. How do you plan to engage with the festival audience and create a memorable experience for them?

Connection! While I’m here, my ultimate goal is to have a conversation, whether

that’s onstage or off. If you have a question or feedback, I want to hear it. If you

have a similar story about family or grief, I want to know it. That’s sort of what this

is all about, right? But even in the more trivial details of the show, I’ve noticed that there’s been some call-and-response, not heckling, but when people have a reaction to what I’m saying, they feel empowered to react. And tbh, that is totally fine. For example, I make a joke about NASCAR and Formula One, and one couple had a son who was a Formula One driver, so I was happy they called that out.

In the show, there’s a slide regarding the various expectations my dad had placed

on me as a teenager and often, people have very audible reactions to this. I think

they can relate to the idea of having a list of things their parents wanted from

them, and can remember that feeling of being overwhelmed and unsure if they

could ever live up to it.

In addition to that, I’m giving out many handmade bracelets at my shows. Ha!

As a performer at the Edinburgh Fringe, what are you most excited about? Are there any specific aspects of the festival that you are looking forward to exploring?

The people! I love encountering other artists from across the world that I’d never

have a chance to meet otherwise. But I also enjoy the unexpected surprises that

come from putting on a show every single day—the different people who come

through and the things they relate to in the show and the various folks I chat with

while flyering. While I’m here, I want to see CLOWNS. I have developed a real respect and admiration for clowns this past year. It is truly an art that scares me a bit and watching people do it well is really inspiring to me. Also, when you say clown to

an American, they immediately think of Pennywise. I’m not talking about

Pennywise. I’m talking about brilliant performers like Amando Houser (Delia!Delia! The Flatchested Witch!), Edib Farhan (Syrian Cheese) and Ellen Turnill Montoya is Mr Handsome. So funny, oh my god. These shows are what Fringe is all about.

Also, this year, one of my goals was to say yes more. Say yes to going to coffee

with new friends, say yes to seeing shows I wouldn’t normally see, say yes to

visiting a coo farm! All of it.

Your show incorporates elements of feminism and women's experiences. Could you share how these themes are woven into the narrative or performance? What inspired you to explore these particular topics?

It feels impossible to tell my story without diving into gender and growing up a

millennial woman. My show touches on what it was like to come up with

conflicting messages about what was acceptable in terms of female

sexuality—what makes a woman hot and sexual versus slutty? That’s a running

joke throughout my show, but for those who get it, they really get it.

There’s another show here at the Fringe that at first glance is very different from

mine, called Lapdog starring Rachel Emmanuella Frost at Just the Tonic.

However, I connected so much with her stories about growing up during the same

time I did and receiving an influx of messaging during our adolescence about

what a woman should and should not be.

In the early 2000s, sex was everywhere you looked and it had no age limit. The

pop and TV stars were in their teens in super low rise jeans, belly tops—with

whale tales galore. Did saying whale tales just age me big time, or do people know

what that is? Maybe it’s still like this now, but tbh, it feels like the clothes are a lot

baggier! My show touches a lot on Britney Spears, who I think is an emblem of this time period. Coming of age in front of the whole world. I think growing up with her as

an icon has shaped so much of my writing, my thought process, my performance.

Britney, we love you!

Have you encountered any unique challenges or obstacles in the industry? How do you navigate these challenges, and what advice would you give to other women pursuing careers in the arts?

Of course! There’s always going to be that voice inside saying “Oh don’t tell that

joke or that story in this room. They’ll think you only know how to talk about your

vagina issues.” Yes, that is a real thought I have every time I enter a comedy

lineup show. But I have to remember that our stories matter, and things will resonate—even if half or more of your audience members do not share my experience. As an example, a show I was on last week had two middle school-aged boys in the front row and I had to explain to them what a copper IUD is. Fun! Outside of the content and art we make, I think a big challenge is sort of just…general knowledge about the industry? I feel like you just don’t know what you don’t know. You think you’re on the right path, following the right deadlines and

accounts and posting the right amount, and then you get some information that

flips everything on its head and you feel like you don’t know anything at all.

WE HAVE TO SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND INFO WITH EACH OTHER. Invite each

other to industry events, connect each other with the right people, and continue

paying it forward. In other words, to call on a now very clichéd phrase, women

support women!

What do you hope audiences will take away from your show, especially in terms of the feminist and women-centric themes? Is there a specific message or emotion you aim to leave them with?

I hope they leave with the understanding that life is too short to try to fit into

someone else’s box of expectations for you. I think many of us have a people-

pleasing tendency and if you don’t, good for you. Quit bragging!

I’ve seen a few shows (notably Grace Helbig: Let Me Get This Off My Chest and

Laura Benanti: Nobody Cares) about this during the Fringe this year, and it’s

refreshing that women performers are recognizing those tendencies within

ourselves and learning to fight them and explore through art.

While Gimme a Sign! is about death and the idea of ghosts, the show itself is very

life-affirming. There’s a message about not being too maudlin. I know often our

elders will tell us to not get so sucked up in our own demise but that advice is

often very hard to follow, especially if it’s the first time you’ve really been cracked

open by grief.

I want to remind people that our feelings about death are very real, very VALID.

But at the same time, to not forget about those who are still with us—to surround

yourself with people who love you and who remind you why life is so good.

Show details

Greenside (Fern Studio), 22 – 24 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 2PQ

Now - 23rd August 2025 (not 17th)

15:05