So you think that Cologne Comedy Fest is pretty big?

Then you’ve got a shock coming, because The Edinburgh Fringe is absolutely huge. I don’t know if any of you looked through the PDF that Knacki posted, but the actual hard-copy Fringe programme is about the size of a small telephone directory. There are VENUES with bigger programmes than Cologne Comedy Fest!

The fringe is not only comedy, of course, as it includes Dance, Theatre and Music. Add to that the fact that the fringe is actually only PART of the Edinburgh festival, which incorporates several festivals all rolled into one. We managed to count the Edinburgh International Festival (Opera and Classical), Edinburgh Book Festival, Edinburgh Islam festival, and, for all I know, Edinburgh Festival Festival (with classes on how to organise a festival and cities which are looking for a festival to put on..)

This means that Edinburgh is absolutely jam-packed solid, with performers, shows and people looking for shows to go to, and so accomodation is very expensive. Fortunately I have relatives in the area who work at a Hotel in North Queensferry, who fixed us up with accomodation (at staff rates too! Thanks Andrew!) and we commuted over the Firth of Forth using the Park & Ride buses. The Park and Ride works out at about 4.50 UKP day return. Note that it is best to use Stagecoach buses and that tickets are not transferable between different buses. Bear in mind that the last bus goes sometime around 11pm, which means that you miss a lot of the late shows.

We arrived in the Bus centre, in the New Town, and made our way toward Old Town, where the Castle is. A lot of the Fringe is centred on the Old Town on what is termed “the Royal Mile”,but not all of it. However, a visit to the Royal Mile is important, because not only are there a large amount of shows going on in pubs and bars there, and in the side streets, but the streets are full of performers – not just street performers, such as jugglers, fire-eaters and magicians, but theatre companies on small, portable stages. In fact, it’s more like Karneval in Cologne than a comedy fest. It is virtually impossible to walk down the streets without someone stopping you and thrusting a flyer for a show into your hand. It can be a bit irritating, but ultimately rewarding, because you will often find shows and performers that you never knew about, and this is where we struck real comedy gold. Not only that, you often come into contact with the performer themselves, handing out leaflets : We ran into Jem Brooks from Laughing Horse, who I knew from Hollywood’s Comedy Night.
A lot of the funniest things we saw cost us absolutely nothing : For example, at the Waverley Railway Station shopping centre, there was an exhibition of funny signs from round the world, and you haven’t lived until you’ve heard the theme from “Star Wars” played on the bagpipes by someone in full Highland regalia.

Beyond the Royal Mile, There are several concentration points for comedy. The stand-up venues in Edinburgh open multiple stages at various points : the “Stand-Up”, one of Edinburgh’s all-year-round comedy clubs, had about five or six, and “The Pleasance”, a legendary Edinburgh fringe venue so-named after the street it’s on, expands to five or six venues with multiple stages. The Pleasance Courtyard is turned into an open-air bar, where you can enjoy a drink whilst waiting for your show, or book a ticket, or read pasted-up reviews of the comedians. We went to see Chris McCausland, the UK’s only blind comedian, performing his solo show “7 Strikes” at Pleasance Below. We enjoyed Chris, who has a very dry sense of humour like my own, but didn’t enjoy the venue, which had very cramped and uncomfortable seating. After an hour, it was a relief to get out of the theatre.

The Fringe is far too big to take in. You can spend a good month just pouring over the programme, trying to work out who to see. You can quite easily take in about 6 – 7 shows per day, as shows start at about ten in the morning and go on until late into the night. Venues range from small backrooms in pubs, to huge theatres. Add to that that the cost of both attending and putting on a show has risen, and you’ll soon realise that you can go through a lot of money very quickly. Personally, I missed a lot of the shows that I thought I’d go to, for various reasons, such as the cost, the time and because I was on holiday with my girlfriend, who wanted to see the sights, not just the Fringe. I would have loved to see American Comedian Janeanne Garofalo, who was performing, as well as Sarah Millican and legendary Scottish musician Edwyn Collins, but they were all booked-out, or expensive, or at the wrong time.

Due to the high price of the fringe, two movements have arisen : the five-pound Fringe, and the PBH Free Fringe. The idea behind these two movements is to generate publicity for new acts by presenting mix shows that give the audience a sampler of new comedians, and to allow the comedians to promote their solo shows. With the free fringe, although it’s free to enter, it’s not free to leave : the audience is expected to donate money at the end when the bucket is passed round, so the comics at least get some money out of what could be a potentially loss-making operation. It’s a wonderful way of finding new comedy. It can be a bit hit-and-miss, but I found a number of new comedians this way. I also unfortunately found a couple of hack comics, but that’s the risk you take.

Finally, if any of you feel like going to the Fringe, here’s a few tips:

1) Be prepared to budget. Accomodation and food are expensive.
2) Some of the best stuff is free. Spend time on the Royal Mile and go to the square next to the Galleries. The street performers at the Fringe are some of the best in the World.
3) Prebook the shows you really want to see before you set out, because queues at the Fringe booking offices are long.
4) Check out the Fringe kiosk by the Galleries. Half-price tickets are often on-sale.
5) Support the Free and five-pound fringe.
6) Be prepared to take risks. Nothing quite beats seeing the next big comedian just before they hit the big time.

Unser Gastautor Steve Dix ist Stand-Up Comedian, Blogger und zeichnet Cartoons. Mehr zu ihm erfahrt ihr auf www.stevedix.de.