A New Face of Comedy at the 2025 Just for Laughs Festival, Maxx Eddy has quickly built a reputation for his sharp writing and high-energy storytelling. He recently made his US television debut on Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen. Maxx is bringing his debut show, ‘Bi Meets World’ to the Fringe. We spoke with Maxx about his show, performative masculinity, and his hopes for August. 

Can you tell us about ‘Bi Meets World’?

At its core, ‘Bi Meets World’ is the story of my struggle with my identity and the silly decisions that the struggle catalysed. The main narrative of the show involves me meeting a Brazilian woman online, flying down to meet her and accidentally smoking a PCP-laced joint on a beach in Rio. But the emotional throughline of the show is how my insecurities around my bisexuality and my masculinity led me into that batty scenario and how I matured in the aftermath. It’s a coming-of-age story sprinkled with queerness, self-acceptance, and a hearty dose of angel dust.

For those who might be unfamiliar with you, how would you describe your comedy and your approach to performance?

Although I am American, my comedy has always had a more British bent to it: I structure my sets as stories rather than disparate jokes. The first jokes I wrote were all about my family (getting an accidental sext from my mom, coming out to my grandfather) because stories about people have always been what sticks with me most comedically. I’m also a bit of an enigma performance-wise: I’m a queer comic, and I talk about it in my act, but my style is more aggressive and bombastic than you usually see from queer comics. This hour is an exploration of the origins of that paradox.

‘Bi Meets World’ deals with ideas of masculinity as performance. How do you incorporate such a wide-ranging topic into your show?

In the show, I focus on how I have absorbed and performed my masculine identity, rather than trying to take on the monolith of masculinity in theory. Focusing on the specific things I’ve done to appear manly (and their disastrous effects) makes it much easier to tell a funny, engaging story. I could spend an hour dissecting how Andrew Tate is an unhappy moron, but there’s just more comedy to be had in recounting and examining my own follies. And, thankfully, I have plenty of follies to choose from!

We of an older generation may assume that there would be less pressure to conform to ‘traditional’ ideas of masculinity. ‘Bi Meets World’ would suggest otherwise. What contemporary pressures are there that us young Gen-X’ers/elder Millennials may not have envisaged?

Men, on average, have trouble asking others for help. We take longer to seek medical care, for both physical and mental issues. Hell, my dad once yelled at a guy for trying to hold the door open for him. It’s rooted in this idea that being a man is about overcoming obstacles alone: relying on others is weak and reduces your inherent value. But tying your identity to your ability to dominate your problems too often leads to pain and isolation. I’d recommend that my Xillennial brothers check in with themselves regularly to make sure that they aren’t depriving themselves of love or health for fear of feeling less than. On that note, get your prostate checked boys! It’s time!

What are your hopes for the show? What would constitute a successful Fringe for you?

My main goal for the Fringe is to end the run with a show that I love. The Fringe provides an unparalleled opportunity to construct and refine a piece: in a comedy landscape where it feels like everyone is focused on finding their next 60-second clip for social media, the Fringe remains fertile ground for weirdos to build something bigger and bolder. My second goal is to go the whole month without someone calling me James Gaycaster. That goal, unfortunately, feels a lot more ambitious than the first.

What are you looking forward to, or perhaps dreading, about the Fringe?

While I’m obviously excited to meet other artists, see shows, perform, etc., I’m also looking forward to exploring the city of Edinburgh. I’m flying in a few days early to make sure that I can experience the city as a tourist before I do so as a (very tired) comedian. I’m a bit of a poetry nerd, so the top item on my itinerary is The Writers’ Museum. If I see a mouse at any point while I’m in the city, I will pull out a copy of ‘To a Mouse’ and (hopefully) get an autograph.

Besides ‘Bi Meets World’, can we expect to see you performing elsewhere during August; guest spots, compilation shows, etc?

Yes, of course! Doing my hour every night will be amazing, but I’m hoping to supplement those reps with traditional stand-up sets to let loose and do material that doesn’t quite fit in the show.

Are there any other shows/performers at the Fringe that you would recommend?

So many! Two buddies I made at the Just for Laughs Festival, Dan Tiernan and Vittorio Angelone, are hilarious and absolute stars. There is also a great slate of American acts making the trip: Sam Morrison, Wally Baram, Jamie Wolf, Geoffrey Asmus. Go see them all!

‘Bi Meets World‘ will be at Gilded Balloon Patter House – Blether from  Wed 5 to Mon 31 Aug