Scots comedian takes comedy show to HMP Edinburgh prison for Fringe Festival

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A Scots tattoo artist and comedian is set to take his comedy show to HMP Edinburgh next month to give prisoners their own Fringe Festival.

The Wholesome Prison Blues Collective performs comedy gigs across Scottish prisons and the group have planned eight shows in Edinburgh prison next month.

The collective consists of comedians Jack Traynor, Paddy Linton, David ‘Tattoo Dave’ McKinlay, Amanda Hursy, Eddy Mackenzie, and Mikey Motion. Speaking about the initiative, Tattoo Dave said that the project has opened his eyes to the reality of life behind bars for the prisoners.He told Edinburgh Live: "For us as comedians, it is really good to test ourselves and perform in what might be seen as a more extreme environment compared to if we were to perform in a pub or a club on a Wednesday night."He continued: "Before we started doing this project, I just thought prison was about punishment.

Doing Wholesome Prison Blues has really opened my eyes to the fact that prison is more about rehabilitation and punishment."Your punishment is about being in prison and your time spent in prison is about rehabilitation, it is about making sure you're in a better position for when you leave prison."The show is all about treating them like normal people which for some of them, they have never really had before."He added to the publication: "We are always made to feel very safe and secure and we can't talk enough about the help that we have had from everybody in the Scottish Prison Service that we have been in contact with."Because the shows are being done in prisons, there is a lot of social dynamics going on.