New York based comedian and actor, currently guest starring in Amazon Prime’s hit new series Daisy Jones & and The Six, makes his Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut. His show ‘Addicted’ will premiere at Just The Tonic Bottle Room.
You know the saying “curiosity killed the cat’? Well, what if instead of curiosity killing the cat, it got the cat addicted to heroin? And it lived! That’s Nick Pupo - a cat that was addicted to heroin.
Nick was a chubby 5-year-old with a best friend named Charlie. Charlie was a straight-A student who followed the rules while Nick failed every class and took strict rules as light suggestions. A pivotal moment in their friendship appeared when Charlie asked Nick to make a promise to one another: neither of them would ever do drugs. And Charlie never did...Nick, however, absolutely did and it led to an unraveling of lies eventually revealed to Charlie by a volatile drug dealer...
Pupo is from Orlando, Florida. He co-produced a comedy festival called Orlando Indie Comedy Fest from 2013-2017 and is best known for his role in AMC's Halt and Catch Fire. He's recently co-starred in Gaslit on STARZ, The Offer on Paramount+ and is a recurring guest star Daisy Jones & and The Six on Amazon Prime.
Nick Pupo’s ‘Addicted’ is at the Just the Tonic at the Bottle Room at 6pm from 3rd- 27th August (not 14th). For tickets go to www.edfringe.com
What is the last thing you do before you go onstage (apart from check your flies and/or check your knickers aren't sticking out of your skirt and check for spinach between your teeth)
Don’t be mad at me for this: I poop. Sorry for the abrupt vulgarity, but this is simply the truth. I wish it wasn’t, but it is. I thought about coming up with a clever innuendo of some kind for the poop thing, but why beat around the bush? My body does what my body does, and it’s inconvenient to say the least. I don’t want to be thinking about my body before the stage but my body wants me to think of it. Okay, I’m not going to speak any further on this, because bodily descriptors are never enjoyable to read. Just know that this is the main thing I have to do before hitting the stage. Please don’t tell anyone about this. Keep it between us.
What irritates you?
Just in general? This could be the whole piece. I’m pretty irritable in general, but I’ll pick one thing and run with it. First thing that comes to mind is grocery shopping. It’s something we all have to do and I find it to be the least exciting part of my life. Depending on what city I’m in, it either requires me to walk, ride a train, or drive my car to a large building stocked with far too many food options. I find it very difficult to decide what to eat, so I usually just end up eating the same thing every day, something an ex-girlfriend of mine once called “sad.” Anyway, I live in New York City and the grocery stores are filled with slow-moving people and frantic employees and music that nobody ever listens to. So I drag myself to this food purgatory once a week. And for what? So I can sustain myself? Not worth it.
What is the most dangerous thing you have ever done?
This one’s easy for me, though nobody likes to hear it: heroin. Intravenous heroin. Easily the most dangerous thing I’ve done, but I don’t always bring it up because it evidently upsets a lot of people. But, look, I can’t hide who I am and I don’t judge you for jumping out of a plane or whatever it is you do. Love you.
What is the most stupid thing you have ever done?
Don’t worry, I’m not going to say heroin. The stupidest thing I’ve ever done is leave the gas oven on overnight. My girlfriend at the time woke me up to the sound of our carbon monoxide detector screaming at us. We promptly turned the oven off, opened some windows and sat outside for about 20 minutes. She never looked at me the same again. By the way, I am single.
What has surprised you the most during your career in comedy?
How much the landscape of comedy has changed. I got into stand-up comedy when it was still the old model: get good at the craft, move to a big city and get better, get late night, go on the road, etc. With everything online now, I’m not as excited about it as I was. Not to sound like a jaded road comic from the 1980’s (I’m 33), but I wish comedy was how it used to be, in many ways. Obviously a lot of progress has happened, and I would never want comedy to return to being so incredibly exclusive, but the social media thing is my least favorite part of this career. I can’t–and won’t–speak for everyone when I say my brain is mush because of all these apps. I’m worse off than I would have been because of instagram. God help us…or just me specifically.
Interview continues here.
