Edinburgh Fringe Chats (#69): Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper, HOLE!

12 Jul

As anticipation builds for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025, we’re catching up with a range of exciting creatives preparing to bring their work to the world’s largest arts festival this August. In this series, we delve into the stories behind the shows, the inspiration driving the artists, and what audiences can expect. Today, we’re joined by Jake Brasch and Nadja Leonhard-Hooper to learn more about their show, HOLE!

Can you begin by telling us about your show and what inspired it?

A.S.S: Hello my name is Jake Brasch and my name is Nadja Leonhard-Hooper and together we are AMERICAN SING-SONG. We write and perform insane, filthy, heart-forward musicals with nothing but a piano, a foley table, and a gay little dream.

The show we are bringing to Edinburgh is called HOLE! It’s a love story set in a post-apocalyptic world where a doomsday cult survives by wearing butt plugs to appease a wrathful god. It’s a raucous musical epic with hundreds of characters, and the two of us play all of them!

How did it come about? Well…HOLE! is really about two young men escaping Christofascism and falling in love. Which, incidentally, is what we are trying to do by leaving the United States for Scotland. Can we please stay here with you?

What made you want to bring this work to the Fringe this year?

A.S.S: Everytime we do the show in New York, people come up to us afterwards and say, literally, you MUST take this to the Fringe. This is perfect for the fringe. We’re very conflict averse so we figured we should just do what we’re told.

How would you describe your show in three words?

A.S.S: Prostrate, prostate, powerful.

What do you hope audiences take away from watching your performance?

A.S.S: We hope, and are pretty confident, that the musical will end homophobia.

What’s your top tip for surviving the Fringe?

A.S.S: This is our first time going as performers, but we assume it’s taking advantage of the free health care and getting steroid shots directly into our vocal chords? We don’t know! We’re just little baby girls! Tell veterans to reach out with tips (and maybe nudes?).

Where and when can people see your show?

UNDERBELLY COWGATE (THE BELLYBUTTON) EVERY SINGLE DAY** at 8:20pm, July 31-August 24 **Except for August 11th!! Unless you ask very nicely.