‘I’m really excited to get to age 36 and just be so unmistakably good at what I do!’

Following an international tour, Abby Govindan is making her Fringe debut, taking on everything from arranged marriages to big tech.

After going viral for claiming that she created Emily in Paris, it could be argued that Govindan is a bit of an authority on misinformation. It’s definitely one of the themes that will be taken to task in her upcoming run of “Pushing 30” in Edinburgh, but it’s far from the only thing! She speaks passionately about her family line and her place within it, as well as her relationship to her parents and tackling generational differences, even if it’s just how women in their 20s speak to women in their 30s.

You’ve already taken this show on an international tour – what have been your highlights? What have you learned?

Where I really cracked this show was in Australia, I was going on stage practically every day. And the show I got on stage with on the first day and the show I left the stage with on the last night – two completely different shows. I really had no excuse to not give every audience a better show than the one the night before got, so I very quickly arrived at what the show was.

But this is your debut run at the Fringe, what are you looking forward to?

I am so used to walking into rooms and being the only woman of colour or the youngest one there, or the only Indian woman. I’m so used to being underestimated and so I have this hunger to prove myself… and I think Fringe is the perfect opportunity to do that. The Fringe is one of those things, it’s like a cult. You just can’t explain to a normal person, ‘I willingly took a Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 1.30pm show spot’, but I fully bought it! I did a three-show run last year, there’s a shared sense of camaraderie from performing every day, from the exhaustion, the dedication, having your friends come to your show. I want to understand the dedication to do a full run of shows.

Your show is called ‘Pushing 30’- what are your least favourite clichés society puts on women heading into their 30s?

First of all, I hate how women in their 20s speak to women in their 30s. I’m 29 and it’s happening to me already! This girl asked me how old I was and I was like, ‘I’m 29’, and she’s like, ‘Oh my god, you look so young for your age!’ and I was like, ‘Relax!’ This fear of ageing… with stand-up comedy, the older you get the better you get, so I’m really excited to get to age 36 and just be so unmistakably good at what I do!

I’m lucky to have progressive parents. Everyone in the Indian community asks them, ‘When is your daughter getting married?’ 29 is seen as pretty old to be unmarried, I’m definitely the first woman to be unmarried and not have kids by age 29 in my whole bloodline. My parents are really great and supportive… but I imagine it’s going to be harder for them the older I get.

Speaking of your family, a big part of your show is breaking generational curses…is there an amulet involved or is it a bit more complicated than that?

My first show was about telling my parents I wanted to be a stand up comedian, how our relationship fell apart and how we built it back up together after my brief time in a mental hospital following a suicide attempt. In this one I trace back my lineage a bit further, I talk about the legacy of arranged marriage in my family… while my mother had a choice she couldn’t opt out of marriage altogether. I’m the first to have 100% say in who I get married to and if I even wanted to get married, and how I don’t take this decision lightly.

A lot of women are disillusioned with online dating – is arranged marriage ever an option?

No. I think the entire institution should burn to the ground and I hate it, I hate it. It’s just another way of keeping women down. I am proud of my culture and my heritage, but I think I am also logical enough to look at the aspects of Indian culture and Hindi culture that I find very problematic and I don’t agree with and the caste system is one of them. I would literally rather die alone than be arranged to be married. I would literally rather die alone than be arranged to be married.

I have a problem… how can we trust anything you say after you went viral for claiming that you created Emily in Paris?

This is something I talk about in the show, we’re in such a misinformation age now, and not everyone does it in a benevolent, harmless way like I did. This is how pervasive misinformation is… and frankly we’re all just fucking morons now. So you’re asking, ‘Why should I trust anything you say?’ Frankly, you shouldn’t! Anything I say, you should immediately go on Google, you should fact-check it!

What else do you want audiences to take away from ‘Pushing 30’?

The themes are so inherently Indian… but also very universal in the stories that I’m telling. So many different immigrant communities showed out for my first show in different places. A Peruvian girl my age had brought her parents and… she was just talking about how relatable it was to her and her parents were talking about how nice it felt to watch a show that empathises with the struggle of parents raising their kids in a different culture. Patriarchal values can transcend borders and cultures… so seeing it resonate with different communities has been really meaningful to me. I want to normalise avenues outside of marriage and kids, while also really wanting to get married and have kids!

Sum up your show in 5 words?

Make friends, big tech sucks.

‘Pushing 30‘ is Pleasance Courtyard – Baby Grand from Wed 5 to Sun 30 Aug 2026