Edinburgh Fringe 2022
Interview
Dixie
Longate's
Happy Hour
Assembly Rooms - Bijou
Aug 4-14, 16-27, 19:00 / Tickets
July 22, 2022
Formally the world's greatest Tupperware Lady, Dixie's show is an air-tight packed hour of fun, filth, and laughter. Forced to give up Tupperware sales and homeschool her kids full-time under lockdown, now the belle from Alabama has emerged from her trailer to share all the things that she learned whilst the world was crapping on her lawn.
Hi Dixie thanks for talking to The New Current, how have you been keeping?
I’m delighted to be chatting with you. I’m doing well. Working on getting everything together for my jump back over to Scotland. It’s been ages but I am sure I will see many familiar things when I return: bars, shows, bars, skips, bars, etc. Looking very forward to that.
How does it feel to be heading back to Edinburgh Fringe this summer?
After almost 2 years of not being onstage due to the pandemic, I’m happier than a lesbian on Christmas morning opening a new set of power tools. Do you have those things in Scotland? Power tools, I mean.
This will be the first time you’ve graced the stages of the Fringe since your smash hit run with Tupperware party in 2009, are your kids Wynona, Dwayne and Absorbine, Jr. rooting for their momma?
They are always so supportive and I’m always so excited to leave them for awhile and use “Work” as the excuse. I was with them almost every hour of every day for the past 2 years. Argh. Time for momma to have some fun and see if they learned any of the survival skills I taught them.
Do they have any aspirations of joining their momma’s footsteps and head for the bright lights of stardom?
Honestly, they are just happy picking crayfish out of the gulley behind the trailer and hiking in the woods to see if anyone left a dead body back there. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, the news covers it so they get themselves on TV. It’s fun.
Edinburgh & cuisine…least said there the better but do try the deep-fried mars bar and haggis is actually real nice, are there any home comforts you’re going to miss from Alabama?
First of all, haggis is just a prank that someone made in their kitchen and y’all fell for it. I can’t even imagine sticking that in my mouth and I have rarely said that about anything.
I do love the Indian food over there. It’s like Jesus landed on my tongue and pooped a bit of heaven in my mouth. I’m looking forward to getting away from southern cooking for a bit and trying some of your nice other-than-southern cooking for a bit.
What makes the Fringe so special?
It’s like summer camp for creative people. I have never been to a place where there are so many interested people that are allowed to roam freely on the streets because there aren’t enough cells to lock them all up. It’s awesome to be swimming in the stew of so much energy. I know they are saying things might be a bit smaller this year, but I’ll take a slice of whatever amazingness is in store.
Can you tell me how Dixie Longate’s Happy Hour came about, do you have any regrets giving up the Tupperware sales life?
I still do my show, “Dixie’s Tupperware Party” here in the US. It has become one of the longest-running theatrical tours in US history. Isn’t that wild? But I figured it would be fun to come back to Edinburg and share some of the stories from the last few years of my life. We all have been through so much and I think it’s made people expect more from the lives they’ve been given. I’m here to find out what sort of happiness people have created for themselves out of this very troubling time. To me, a Happy Hour doesn’t just happen at a bar with a drink in your hand. You should be looking for it in every nook and cranny of your life.
Has it been cathartic looking back at you time under lockdown, any bad habits you needed to break?
Everyone was saying how time dragged on forever during the pandemic, but I think it flew by. And now that things are opened back up again, I think every day flies by in the blink of an eye. I actually wish I had gotten more done than I did considering I was stuck at home with my three kids who would have made for cheap labor if I had been smarter. I got plenty of bad habits. I didn’t give any of them up though because most of them are so much fun.
What was the most valuable lesson you learned during this period?
It definitely made me realise that there is more to life than what I thought. I think we all have things we went through during the early days of lock downs and such that we don’t even fully understand yet. I think there is more learning to be done in each of us. But that’s what makes life fun, right? We are never fully done learning.
Have you always been sociable and does Miss Dixie have a signature cocktail?
I have always been a very social gal. Ever since I was born and asked the doctor for a stiff pour of vodka because my momma’s breast milk tasted funny. I like being social with people. That’s how you find humour in the world. People are genuinely funny. Some in a good way and some in a “Steer clear of them like Thursday’s used underwear.”
As far as a signature cocktail, I’m an equal opportunity drinker. I like it all, but when I’m in Scotland, I really enjoy vodka and Irn Bru. I know that makes me sound like I’m not classy, but keep in mind, y’all eat haggis and don’t find anything wrong with that.
"For too long, people have been going through life not taking care of themselves or not realising that they are even allowed to."
What’s the secret to being a good Tupperware lady?
Bring booze to a party. People buy more when they drink more. There are decades of Tupperware ladies that figured out how to sell the iconic plastic bowls because they are so amazing. Now all I have to do is add a splash of happy juice to the party and the bowls go rolling out the door.
And finally, what do you want your fringe audiences to take away from Dixie Longate’s Happy Hour?
I hope everyone takes away a little encouragement and pats themselves on the back after the show. We all deserve to be happy. For too long, people have been going through life not taking care of themselves or not realising that they are even allowed to. We have been so trained to think that you have to go through the crap in life to get to the good stuff but that’s a bunch of nonsense we have been told. My goal is to help people find some happy hours where they least expect it.