A LOCAL musician rose above thousands of other performers to win a prestigious award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – which was previously won by the likes of Ed Byrne, Ross Noble and Flight of the Conchords.
Oliver Harris is a regular at the monthly Superjam Tea Party, where he spends his free time entertaining the elderly at the dementia-friendly event.
However, the musician has also been making a name for himself at the annual Fringe Festival – where he’s performed nine times – playing to packed-out crowds of international fans.
This year may have been his most impressive yet though, as the 31-year-old took home the Mervyn Stutter’s Spirit of the Fringe – or ‘Merv’ – award.
It is one of the oldest awards available, with winners being considered the best of the best, chosen from the 133 ‘Pick of the Fringe’ performers – all of whom already stood out from the thousands playing at the festival each year.
Oliver was one of eight to bag the award this year for his Roy Orbison tribute show, taking top spot in the music category.
“It feels great,” he said. “Mervyn’s got a big team who go out and if they like what you do you get picked out – it’s special.”
On top of his now award-winning show, Oliver did a daily Elvis performance during the four-week festival.
Altogether he did 50 shows across August, and after travelling back last Tuesday, he admits he can ‘definitely feel it’.
“I spent a lot of Wednesday sleeping,” he added.
“Every year I get asked if I want to take a day off and I say no.
“I think if I did take some time off it would just feel worse.
“It’s just a brilliant place to be, there’s so much to see.
“This year I actually got time to go out there to see some other shows and there’s amazing talent.
“There’s also a lot of Elvis fans in that area, so you get superfans coming out to my shows who are very excited.”
