00:00I'm Jane Bradley, Arts and Culture Correspondent at Scotsman, and I'm here at Underbelly a couple of days before the festival starts with Ed Bartlom and Charlie Wood, who founded Underbelly 25 years ago this year.
00:13Can't believe it. I don't know where, other than grey hair, all around, but it's very, it's a big year for us. It's been 25 years, school started in the wonderful Bangkok, something called Central Library.
00:24And here we are this year with over 150 shows across 24, 25 different venues, and shows from theatre, comedy, music, circus, everything in between now.
00:36It's great for that.
00:38So when you started out 25 years ago in the cow gate, did you ever imagine you'd be standing in front of a purple cow with all that's going on around you?
00:45100% yes, definitely. This was always the plan.
00:49No, absolutely not. And, in fact, I think, you know, a big part of the enjoyment of the last 25 years is that every year it hasn't really been to us, and that's why we are responding all the time for what we've been doing.
01:03It's wanting to come and see. We had this mad idea in 2006, which is very giant, half the land, half a cow, that we see here now.
01:13And that, I hope, kind of entertained people, and entered into people's, kind of, understanding of who they were, and their, kind of, whole enjoyment of the region.
01:25Brilliant. What can we expect from this year's festival? What are you a bit like?
01:30Well, we've got so many shows. I mean, I think that, I think that, um, the circus programme is once again brilliant.
01:35It's, um, Circa, one of the real fringe favourites now. We've got Flip Hadbury called Brilliant Circus Company, Bernie Dita returning.
01:43We've got Gary Star, who was it here last year, just won the Melbourne Comedy Award with the cow.
01:48Um, we've got a brilliant, untapped programme, which is the programme that you'd like to really support, um, you can subsidise the cow gate.
01:56Um, there's just all manner of shows. Um, and that's the brilliance of this fringe.
02:02Uh, not just our venue, but all of it. Um, and there is nowhere like it on Earth, and there's only one place to see a purple cow in August.
02:10And there's only one place to see a purple cow in August. And that's the end of the house.
02:16In 2006, the cow was born in Bristow Square.
02:20Ripple. Ripple, Ripple, Ripple.
02:22Jelan, please welcome to the stage, the cow, please welcome!
02:28I play the picture called the castle with my ran, reading and speaking, loving week and week, I'm very in demand,
02:46Just by breathing into the air
03:10You get my fever
03:12Mate, we're the OG coconuts
03:15You mean to tell me
03:17She had three people over for this dinner
03:19And she cooked exactly for three people
03:22No, kato, tuppin, daun
03:25For you, whoever you are
03:30For you, whoever you are
03:34For you, whoever you are
03:42Come and take me along on a really nice day
03:49So don't you just love doing a turning thing
03:52I'm going to have a radio
03:53I'm going to have a radio
03:55So this station's gonna be great
03:58It's like this direction, then I just choose something that feels right.
