#EdFringe News – FLORENCIA IRIONDO RETURNS TO EDINBURGH FRINGE WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF INTIMATE NEW FOLK-POP MUSICAL SONG SOCIETY #WhatsOnEdinburgh #EdinburghFringe #Folk #Pop #Musical #Music #Folklore

FLORENCIA IRIONDO RETURNS TO EDINBURGH FRINGE WITH WORLD PREMIERE OF INTIMATE NEW FOLK-POP MUSICAL SONG SOCIETY

After a standout 2024 Fringe debut and a critically acclaimed Off‑Broadway run at SoHo Playhouse, award-winning writer and performer Florencia Iriondo returns to Underbelly with Song Society, an intimate, one-person folk-pop musical about memory, home, family folklore, and the one story that keeps knocking for another song.

She turns stories into song—until one turns on her. In the offbeat Song Society, a memory machine, cobbled together from analog oddities, archives the stories we can’t shake to make space for new ones. But when one keeps coming back — untagged, unsorted, and unusually catchy — the Songkeeper is forced to confront what refuses to be forgotten. With stripped-back music, absurdist humor, and nostalgic magical realism, Song Society asks: What if the real trick isn’t forgetting with ease, but remembering on purpose?

New York-based Argentine artist Florencia Iriondo has carved a niche as a Spanglish troubadour, blending acoustic music with soulful, heartwarming storytelling. She’s created original shows across four continents, leaping from tech and TV to Off-Broadway, with support from the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, NY Stage & Film, and the LMCC. Critics called her work “an aural hug” (TheaterMania) and “a universally uplifting journey” (Front Row Center).

Song Society is her third solo musical and second consecutive Fringe run, developed at the Tony-honoured BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, where the creators of Frozen, Little Shop of Horrors, and Book of Mormon began. The show follows in the footsteps of music-forward gems like Once, with a dash of Inside Out’s introspective surrealism.

Florencia says, “Think Eternal Sunshine meets MTV Unplugged, with a lyrical identity crisis — Song Society is what happens when memories won’t leave, so you make them rhyme.”

Winner First-Prize Pipeline Arts Foundation Award for New Musical Theatre, NYC 2023 (SOUTH)

Winner Outstanding Performance in Musical Theater HOLA Awards, NYC 2024 (SOUTH)

Finalist National Alliance for Musical Theatre NYC 2024 (SOUTH)

Winner Global Music Awards & Hollywood Songwriting Contest 2017 (Who’s Flo)

‘An enchanting and wonderful gift to all who attend.’ ★★★★ ½ Front Row Center (SOUTH) 

‘Her greatest gift to the audience is her voice… tinged with the sounds of South America, reminded me of classic female folk singers.’ New York Theater (SOUTH) 

‘A charming new musical… At the center is the radiant presence of Iriondo, an engaging performer with a flavorful story to tell… An aural hug to the audience.’ TheaterMania (SOUTH) 

‘Personal and conversational, like a Bridget Jones’ Diary or a Sex & the City for a generation of global economic migrants.’ The Scotsman (Meet Me in Buenos Aires) 

Cast & Creative

Written & Performed by: Florencia Iriondo (Book, Music & Lyrics; South, Meet Me in Buenos Aires)

Dramaturgy Adam Mathias (Drama Desk Award; Head of the BMI Musical Theatre Bookwriting Workshop)

Guitars & arrangements: Federico Diaz (South, Erial). Cello: Latin Grammy Award winner Agustin Uriburu (Ben Platt Live at The Palace).

Running Time: 60 mins | Suitable for ages 8+ 

Supported by Pipeline Arts, Consulate General of Argentina in New York, NYC Department of Culture. 

Song Society 

DATES: 30 July – 25 August (except 12)  |  Previews 30-31

TIME: 1.15 pm 

VENUE: Underbelly Bristo Square, Teviot Place, EH8 9AG

TICKETS: Full: £11 (£8 concs) 

#EdFringe News – DANIEL MARTINEZ FLAMENCO COMPANY #Yotel #Flamenco #WhatsOnEdinburgh #Dance #Music #Flamenco

 

DANIEL MARTINEZ FLAMENCO COMPANY 

 2 Spectacular Shows

  World-Class Flamenco Music & Dance 

Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 

  

Award Winning Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company 

presents  

 

Art of Andalucia  &  Flamenco Fringe

   

Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company presents brand new production Art of Andalucia at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025 daily at 13:00. 

Join award-winning guitarist and composer Daniel Martinez and his acclaimed flamenco company for Art of Andalucia—a spellbinding production that brings the raw power and beauty of flamenco to the stage.

In just two years, the company has performed to over 100,000 audience members across the UK and Europe, captivating crowds with their vibrant and authentic take on this timeless art form.

Art of Andalucia is a bold celebration of both flamenco music and dance. Audiences will enjoy a carefully curated journey through Daniel’s most celebrated works, including music from his award-winning production Art of Believing, his latest album Andalucia, and exclusive new material from his upcoming third album.

At the heart of the show are two exceptional dancers: Angel Reyes, a rising star in the global flamenco scene who regularly collaborates with flamenco icons Manuel Liñan and Jesus Carmona, and Gabriela Pouso, the company’s principal dancer. Together they deliver explosive, emotionally charged performances that capture the spirit of southern Spain.

Completing the ensemble are Inma Montero and Danielo Olivera on vocals and palmas, and Julian Ticotico on percussion—bringing rhythm, power and soul to this unforgettable performance.

Don’t miss the UK’s most exciting flamenco ensembles at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Secondly, Daniel Martinez Flamenco Company returns with Flamenco Fringe at Edinburgh Fringe 2025 daily at 19:00.

Experience the raw, intimate magic of a true flamenco tablao at Flamenco Fringe—a thrilling production presented to you by award-winning guitarist and composer Daniel Martinez.

This is flamenco at its most authentic: no scripts, no filters, just pure improvisation and emotion. The show features incredible dancers direct from Spain, sharing the stage with the company’s own acclaimed regulars to deliver a vibrant and unforgettable night of flamenco.

Whether you are a flamenco aficionado or new to the art form, Flamenco Fringe promises an electrifying and immersive experience at this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

 

 

Don’t miss these 2 Fringe Shows, each bringing a taste of pure flamenco and outstanding musicianship and dance to 

Edinburgh’s Festival Fringe 2025. 

Emotive, exciting, moving and technically brilliant, these are 2 truly unmissable Flamenco experiences.

 

Listing Information

Venue: No. 572, ImagineX at Yotel, 68-73 Queen Street, EH2 4NA

Art of Andalucia: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/art-of-andalucia

Flamenco Fringe: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/flamenco-fringe  

Box Office: 0131 226 0000

#Review by Lou of The Pod Couple by Adam Leigh #AdamLeigh @RandomTTours #podcasts in #book form #ContemporaryFiction #RomanticFiction

The Pod Couple
By Adam Leigh

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Podcasts. They’re still big business, containing all sorts of interesting insights into humans. The Pod Couple very cleverly sets itself up like this, but in book form, letting you see all sorts of aspects of life, especially love and the human condition.

Blurb

When Chloe Adams embarked on the publicity tour for her new book, she didn’t expect to appear on a live radio interview alongside Joe Harris promoting his memoir on the same subject. 

 

Relationships.

They had last met years ago when Chloe abruptly ended theirs. Now a successful journalist, she is married to an equally ambitious film director, while Joe, still single, has struggled to move on.

The spiky reunion leads to an offer they can’t refuse – hosting a podcast about failed relationships – and three months later they launch Ex-Communicate, exploring other people’s heartbreak while tiptoeing around their own complicated history. Their on-air chemistry makes the podcast a rapid hit, but as their professional success grows, they’re forced to confront the feelings they’ve buried for over a decade. Soon they realise there is a price to pay for discussing their emotions so openly in the pursuit of downloads.

The Pod Couple is a witty examination of our cultural obsession with failed relationships, exploring the uncomfortable truth that time rarely heals. It just makes things more complicated.

‘Wickedly clever and gloriously sharp’

 Rob Rinder, author and broadcaster

Review

The Pod Couple is sharp with wit and emotion. It fascinatingly takes readers into the podcast diarist which readers can get to know what’s been going on in the lives of Chloe and Joe over the past few years. The layout and format of the book works really well for this.
 
The Pod Couple interestingly allows readers to glean over the culturally popular reasons why people may tune into a podcast and why we like hearing about relationships. The storytelling comes across at times as brutally honest when it comes to relationships, parenting duties and more… perhaps some readers will recognise the feelings of all or part of the elements.
 
The exploration and directions the books take you into, in-terms of human nature and the way the characters relate to each other is compelling, especially as they dig into their pasts that then holds something for their present and perhaps their future. It’s also honest how it doesn’t sugar coat failed relationships and how time is not necessarily a healer.
 
This cleverly written book is rather refreshing and one to give a try this summer.

#Review of The Good Father by Liam McIlvanney @LiamMcIlvanney – @@BloodyScotland Longlisted for #McIlvanneyPrize @RandomTTours #BlogTour #ScottishNoir #PsychologicalThriller #TheGoodFather

The Good Father
By Liam McIlvanney

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The Good Father, at time of writing this review has been longlisted for the McIlvanney Prize (William McIlvanney that is) at Bloody Scotland. Having just read it, I can see, with such strong writing, why it’s on such a prestigious list. Readers of crime/psychological thrillers are in for a treat. Check out the blurb below and then my review to discover more…

Blurb

‘Heart-stopping and heart-rending, this is Liam McIlvanney’s best novel yet’ VAL MCDERMID

WHEN A CHILD DISAPPEARS, NO SECRET IS SAFE . . .

Gordon and Sarah Rutherford are normal, happy people with rich, fulfilling lives. They have a son they adore, a house on the beach and a safe, friendly community in a picture-postcard town.

Until, one day, Bonnie the Labrador comes in from the beach alone. Their son, Rory, has gone – the only trace left behind is a single black sandal.

Their lives don’t fall apart immediately. While there’s still hope, they dig deep and try to carry on.

But as desperation mounts, arms around shoulders become fingers pointed – at friends, family, strangers, each other. Without any answers, only questions remain. Who can they trust? How far will they go to find out what happened to Rory?

And the deadliest question of all: what could be worse than your child disappearing?

When the truth begins to emerge, they find themselves in a world they could barely have imagined.

‘Beautifully written, this is easily one of the finest crime novels I’ve read in a very long time’C.M. EWAN

Review

The writing stops you in your tracks right from the start. It grabs your attention in a way that makes you want to drop everything else that you’re perhaps supposed to do and read on.

Readers meet Robert Rutherford and before his name is even mentioned, there’s a sinister feel just before the blow of full-on directness in behaviour. His and Sarah’s son has gone missing. There’s the usual finger-pointing at the parents and the seaside town wanting to move on. There is also, however some strikingly beautifully, yet heart-wrenching passages of overwhelming sadness and despair and how that can feel. You go on a very emotionally charged journey with them, following them every step of the way to try and find out what happened to Rory. As you do so, you also see other people’s perspectives too, which is interesting as is the time-lapses. You also see the lengths people will go to in such a situation and feel the tensions mount. Who is trustworthy and who is not?

There are some shocking twists, clearly not written just for the shock factor, but really work in-line with the storyline and yet also keep you hooked in. There are a few hard-hitting themes that bring current topics to the forefront and are addressed very well. 

The Good Father is a strongly written emotional psychological thriller for summer that entrances and captivates into a seaside town with sinister activity.

#Interview by Lou with Renowned Magician, Kevin Quantum – Unbelievable Magic For Non-Believers @kevinquantum @ARedinburgh #MagicShow #Tricks #FamilyShow #Summer #EdFringe

Kevin Quantum, Unbelievable Magic
For Non-Believers

Assembly Rooms, Ball Room 
31 Jul to 24 Aug | 19:40
Tickets: Full price £16, concessions £15
Find out how to book after the interview

Let’s welcome magician extraordinaire who has a new show –
Unbelievable Magic for Non-Believers.

Kevin Quantum is becoming quite the stalwart at The Edinburgh Fringe with his amazing magic shows. I have seen 3 of them before and they’re all very different.
Discovered on Britain’s Got Talent, he was then trained by the almighty Penn and Teller. Today, I have the absolute pleasure of interviewing him about his illusions, joining the prestigious Magic Circle, another magic show he does and of course, what Simon Cowell is really like. The answers are fascinating!

First, here is a look at what his latest show is all about and then onto the interview and how you can get your hands on the tickets before they magically disappear before your very eyes.

Could it be magic? Kevin Quantum is Ready to Blow Your Mind

Are you a sceptic about magic? It can’t be real. Or can it? Former physicist Kevin Quantum was a non-believer – but an uncanny experience changed his mind. You might do the same – take a chance and go along to the first ever magic show for people who don’t believe. There will be spectacle, illusions, sleight of hand, trickery, danger, charm, comedy and maybe even the truly impossible. Kevin will also reveal the story of what turned made him realise that there may be more to the universe than meets the eye.

Scotland’s own international star of magic and Scottish Comedy Award nominee, Kevin Quantum, is fresh from the Adelaide Fringe where this brand new show was a five-star hit. This year the Edinburgh-based performer celebrates 20 years in magic. Trained by Penn and Teller and earning celebrity on Britain’s Got Talent, he is now an Ed Fringe favourite, amazing audiences with fun, fresh and mind-boggling shows each year. 

Think you know what’s real? Think again. Book now for big gasps and raw, unfiltered magic from a world-class showman. 

“A slick intriguing slice of magic…brilliantly different” ★★★★★ The Stage
“Master illusionist, unbelievable.” ★★★★★ Adelaide Advertiser

1. You are a former physicist. What attracted you to give that up, become a magician and appear on Britain’s Got Talent, where you found fame and an initial outlet for career longevity?

I didn’t really give up physics — I just started performing it. I was a PhD student designing fighter jet cockpits when I was chosen for a BBC reality show called Faking It. They trained me to become a magician in just four weeks, and I accidentally fell in love with the craft. Suddenly, my love for science collided with the storytelling and theatre of magic. As for Britain’s Got Talent — that gave me a way to reach millions in minutes. It’s one thing to perform at festivals; it’s another to blow someone’s mind live on primetime TV.

2. What was it like to be judged by the likes of Simon Cowell and the team on Britain’s Got Talent through all those rounds?

Honestly? It was far less brutal than you’d think. The team at Syco were incredibly supportive behind the scenes, and the judges gave refreshingly honest insights into my act — the kind of feedback that actually sticks. I still reflect on some of those notes today when I’m building new material. The whole experience pushed me to be sharper, clearer, and bolder on stage. You get very good at delivering something impossible in under 90 seconds. And you learn quickly what makes people lean in… or hit the buzzer.

3. You were fortunate to be trained by world-famous magicians, Penn and Teller. How did that come about and what was that experience like?

That was a once-in-a-lifetime thing. During Faking It, I was flown to Vegas to train with Penn & Teller. They were brilliant — sharp, generous, and refreshingly no-nonsense. They didn’t just teach me tricks; they taught me how to think like a magician. It shifted my brain from the scientific method to theatrical misdirection — while still using the same curiosity about the universe.

4. How do you go about curating a magic trick, whether it’s sleight of hand or other illusions, around the storytelling you do within your shows?

Story comes first. Always. I ask: What’s the feeling I want to create? Wonder? Fear? Laughter? Then I build the trick that earns that moment. Whether it’s a sleight-of-hand coin vanish or a Tesla coil firing a million volts through my body, the illusion has to serve the narrative. I like the audience to feel like they’re uncovering a mystery rather than watching a stunt.

5. How did you become a member of The Magic Circle and how has that enhanced your career?

To get into The Magic Circle, you have to pass a live exam in front of other magicians — no pressure. I joined early on and it felt like being handed the keys to a secret library. It gave me access to generations of knowledge and a network of the best minds in magic. It’s also a brilliant mark of credibility — especially when blending science and theatre as I do.

6. Your latest family show is called Unbelievable Magic for Non-Believers. How do you go about opening the minds of sceptics so they can enjoy the spectacle of magic that you perform?

I never ask anyone to believe in magic — only to experience it. The show invites sceptics in with logic, humour, and a healthy dose of self-awareness. We talk about free will, psychology, even probability… and then I smash those ideas with something that feels truly impossible. It’s not about fooling people — it’s about surprising them out of their certainty.

7. You also perform a show called Edinburgh Magic in the evening. How does that differ from your daytime show?

Edinburgh Magic is like slipping into a velvet-lined secret society. It’s intimate, luxurious, and aimed at adults who want to be dazzled. Think levitations, mind reading, and tricks that once fooled Houdini. In contrast, Unbelievable Magic for Non-Believers is for families and thinkers — it’s high-energy, story-driven, and a bit cheekier. Both shows bend reality, just in different lighting.

8. You appear a lot at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. What attracts you each year to perform there?

The Fringe is chaos in the best possible way. It’s where new work is tested, limits are pushed, and artists walk a creative tightrope every day. I love the energy, the risk, the sense of a thousand stories unfolding across the city all at once. Plus, I live here — so it’s either perform or lend my flat to a juggler.

9. What’s next for you and your impressive magic career?

I’m developing a new immersive show called Magic Awareness Society — part government lecture, part magical resistance movement. I’m also touring Unbelievable Magic for Non-Believers to science festivals and international venues. And I’m quietly working on a show where the Sword of Damocles literally hangs above me — but that’s another story… and probably another insurance form.

Bookings:

https://assemblyfestival.com/whats-on/981-kevin-quantum-unbelievable-magic-for-non-believers

www.assemblyfestival.com

Tel: 0131 623 3030



#Spotlight By Lou on My Husband’s Lies by MaryAnn Webb @bonnierbooks_uk #CompulsiveReaders #BlogTour

Psychological fans get ready for the thriller of the summer! My Husband’s Lies will have you questioning and thinking about everyone as it plays with your psyche. Who can you really trust? You think you might know those around you, but how well do you really know them? What secrets are they harbouring and what activities are they up to, that they’ve not told you? That person just might be your nearest and dearest, the love of your life, your husband, who’s got something as yet untold.
Take a look below at the enticing cover and the blurb to find out more about the book that’s available now so you can discover what’s going on behind those doors in this psychological thriller…

 

How well do you really know the people closest to you?

Aria Miller used to think she had the perfect life, but now that the honeymoon phase is all but a distant memory, she can’t shake the feeling her perfect life is a sandcastle waiting to collapse.

Recently she’s felt a prickle of anxiety when her husband Ethan says he has to work late. She’s trying to shake the feeling that he’s been lying. After all, trusting men has never worked out well for Aria . . . But sweet, kind Ethan has never given her a reason not to trust him, has he?

Perhaps the stress of trying for a baby is finally getting to her, recently she swears she feels someone is watching her as she grabs her morning decaf coffee.

Then, during a girls’ night that was supposed to take her mind off things, her best friend Isla is brutally murdered in a dark bathroom bar.

Aria is still reeling from the shock when the text arrives: How well do you know your husband?

And suddenly, amid a police investigation and Ethan’s increasingly strange behaviour, Aria is forced to question everyone around her – including herself.

He said he loved me. He said I had nothing to worry about. What else don’t I know about my husband’s lies?

***Please note this was previously published as How Well Do You Know Your Husband?***