Sitting here alone in the Edinburgh rental flat. All the other guys took the morning coach and heading back to London, I am taking a train in the afternoon. Went to bed at like 5:00a.m. but only managed to sleep 3 hours. If anything I think I am feeling the hangover of Edinburgh.
View overlooking our Edinburgh Flat
The past 10 days went really really quickly, I think I spent in excess of £200 seeing anything from Stand-up to sketch show. All the shows I caught are only a fraction of whats on offer in Edinburgh, unless those shows have a year long run its hard to see everything in Edinburgh. In between I also done 9 gigs in the space of 10 days and learnt alot during those time.
I think the biggest pitfall for new comics is the mentality that to “make it” they needed to take a show to Edinburgh and things like fame and fortune will follow. This is far from the truth if anything anyone with such high expectations will most likely walked away disappointed.
Edinburgh is kind of like a “trade conference” for arts and comedy. Every artist/performers/comedians travel north every year to demo their wares to their potential audience. Problem is with such a large pool of talent to choose from its hard anyone to stood out from the rest of the crowd. Most performers will walk away from Edinburgh in the same place professionally as they first arrive (alas with alot less money) and only a few lucky ones will walk away from Edinburgh’s with potential deals.
What the Fringe has to offer is opportunity to sharpen us up as performers. Its the only time of the calendar year where you can perform 30+ shows in front of an international audiences who are not acts like most normal open mics. This is the time you found out whether theres any clout behind the material, your stage craft and ability to improvise and deal with different situations as they arises. The Fringe is like a comedy pressure cooker: either you come out ruined or survived and become a better comedian.
I made it a point that this Fringe for me is more about learning comedy via watching and less about performing in front of audience. I seen more comedy in the last 10 days than my life: I was oblivious to the comedy circus before Edinburgh but luckily Anthony was at Edinburgh same time as I was and I ended up going to see alot of shows with him. See Anthony’s been in the comedy business for over 10 years and knows numerous acts and promoters alike. Its like having your very own personal comedy tour guide!!!
During the past 10 days I seen loads of stand-up/sketch acts/musical comedy. My favour by far is Brendon Burns, Terry Alderton, Pappy’s fun club and Adams and Rea. Especially Brendon Burns, my favour gag of the festival was watching Brendon Burns read from the back of a can and turning it into a “black cock”. Than he proceed to used that gag as a reply to his critics in the Times and Guardian and other media outlet. Many people will find Brendon’s material crass and offensive but to me hes an intellect wrapped in your ideal Australian “bloke”: never uptight, always say things the way they are and never afraid to give it to people straight.
I would like to see more acts that considered as alternative like Jim Jefferies and Kim Noble but its hard to find time between doing gigs and rest to see all the comedians you like to see.
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As for new comics like me and all my comedy circus friends, this Edinburgh is a big learning experience for all of them. Anthea, Alex, Milly and Tom teamed up to do an hour standup show during the festival. It was part of the Laughing Horse Free Festival which means that audiences “contribute” as much or as little as they like at the end of the show. I dun wanted to start a spill of Free show vs paid show here on this blog, there are pitfalls associated with both format however this post is about my experience of Edinburgh.
L to R: Tom, Anthea, ALex and Milly
The four of them only been doing standup for 9-12 months at best and for Edinburgh shows audiences can be some of the toughest audience you can play to. They were part of the Free Festival and in a relative convenient location the turn out for their show was quite good, they only have to pull one show due to poor attendance. The flipside is being “free” show means people from all walks of live can turn up to the show and generally have no idea of what to expect. Very much like the crowd Comedy Brewhouse gets: They like to see comedy but not 100% sure what the night is like because they never heard of the acts on the bill.
Gigs like this usually goes up and down : If you succeed in winning the audience than you will have a good gig. If you failed to win them than the whole night will be an uphill battle. In Tom/Anthea/Alex/Milly case it is complicated by the incompatibility of 5:25p.m. timeslots and Alex’s and Milly’s dark and ironic material. Let just say jokes of sex/self-harm/peedos usually not a feature of your average afternoon tea conversation.
Its good to see both Alex and Milly took the experience in strides and persevere. There is a niche for all style of comedy and it will be a shame to see them blunting their “edge” for the sake of winning over audiences. I remember someone told me once if they don’t like your material they not your audience anyway, fuck them!
Contrast to Anthea & Co, Shane and Denis been running their 2 men paid show at the Caves at a 9:30p.m. slot and going through a very similar experience: Shows gos up and down and some people loves the show while others walk out in disgust. Shane and Denis angle is fairly similar to Jim Jefferies: Denis is the mad Russian firebrand who like to rant and yell at his audience while. Shane is the smartass Australian who loved to call his audience “cunts”. Let just say if you like your comedy warm and fuzzy than look elsewhere.
Their comedy is very different to mine: either the audience loved their style of comedy or they will do their best to walk them out of their gigs. They will rather play to a small audience who loves them rather than seeing their show sold out on a regular basis. It takes “balls” to be an alternative standup comedian especially if you choose to do comedy as a full time job.
The point I am trying to make is whether you are edgy comedian with crass material like Jim Jefferies or the garden variety standup like Michael McIntyre or an ethnic comedian like Chris Rock or as surreal as someone like Harry Hill theres room for all style of comedy and we should embrace it all with open arms.
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So whats mine Edinburgh experience like? I am tired but have the best time! I learnt alot playing my 9 gigs and have alot of fun doing it! I also had one of the best gig since the Exhibit 8 months ago. It also felt good to die in my last gig in Edinburgh to give myself a reminder that I still have alot of work to do.
Phil - Setting the room ablaze with fire with his high energy act!
Yes, it is STAND UP!
Looking at my friends whos been doing show it also educated me about what it takes to run an Edinburgh show: The ability to flyer and promote yourself and your own show, ability to be dynamic and “read” the audience and ability to cop with the ups and downs of a month in Edinburgh and ability to manage to balance the number of your gigs so you dun become overloaded with gigs and have no downtime. It will be interesting to see who will still be in the comedy business after Edinburgh – I have a feeling that there will be a few familiar faces next year.
Arthur’s on Saturday – Checkout Phil’s Reception!
Coo Comedy and the Beta Males Picnic – I never stormed a night as hard as Coo!!
Marc from comedy course who put on an hour show in Edinburgh as part of a £1 bet!!
Sometimes you do forget theres more to Edinburgh than comedy!!
For me, I would love to take a 30 min show up to Edinburgh next year and make it to the “So you think you funny” final in 2010. I would also make sure to allow some downtime to catch a few shows and some down time. I will also have to make it a point to work on my diction so the audience can understand me alot better.
Have to make it part of my Edinburgh ritual to climb Arthur’s Seat whenever I am up in Edinburgh whether its rain, hail or shine. I took my last day out from seeing shows and climbed up Arthur’s Seat and enjoyed the view of the city. Awesome place to chill out!! *Pun intended* You felt like as if you were King of Scotland’s comedy if only for a day.
Panoramic spot for lunch - I am at the pinanncle of capital of Comedy!!
*Sigh* I will be sad round come Tuesday when all this finished, back to work I go!!!
