Unveiling the Truth About Edinburgh Fringe Week 1

My Friday Night

The week has flown by and, in all honesty, it is a privilege to be here. It’s fun, there is a buzz around this beautiful city with thousands of people happy to have shows here in this town.

Here are just a few things I have noticed so far:People will see that you’re doing Edinburgh Fringe and they might feel certain ways about it. They might wish you luck or they might envy you for going. I just want to remind anybody that might envy the decision of anybody to bring a show here that it is only personal factors stopping them from doing it. There is no bar to entry, no audition process that allows you to come to this place. It’s just: do you have the money and holiday time to take it off work, or will your family and personal life allow it?

If not, there is no reason you couldn’t bring a show up for a couple of days or a week. Plenty of people do that and have very successful runs.People, in some aspect, believe that doing this international festival means that it attracts the cream of the crop – and it does – but it also attracts the sediment too.

My first week has been a tough one. It looks a little something like this in terms of audience numbers:

Saturday – 1

Sunday – 5

Monday – 7

Tuesday – off

Wednesday – 6

Thursday – 6

Friday – 0

Now, from what I’m told, that is pretty normal numbers… A lot of people are getting those numbers, which is tough for me because I’ve got my good friend Bilal up here getting upwards of 40 people in a night.

We have spoken about what we think might be the difference, and we think it’s a couple of things.

Bilal sells his gig well because he is great at handing out flyers. That is something that you will have to do while you’re here. That, or pay somebody to do it. But it will have to be done, and it is something that he happens to be a wizard at!

Another thing is that his title is incredibly intriguing: “Bilal Rashid – The Pros and Cons of Joining ISIS”.

He also has a great venue in an excellent part of town. There are different parts to the Fringe — there is the main part around Cowgate and Grassmarket, and then there is the “fringe of the fringe” where I am. Which has made it more difficult.

This isn’t to take anything away from Bilal. I’m going to catch his show tonight and I know he is hilarious as I’ve seen all of his stuff before. If he was no good, I’m sure people would have heard about it by now, but in fact, quite the opposite — he has people coming by to review his work.

The 3 things that are mentioned as well: marketing, title, and location. Do they matter? Yes. I think in a triangle, having one of the three is very helpful, and having two of those three is amazing. But I have seen shows up here that have none of those things and still get good numbers in — in the same venue that I am in, no less. So it can be done.

Hopefully, this isn’t coming across too petulant of me. I mean, I am annoyed that I haven’t had more people in, but at the same time, it’s what you sign up for when you come here. For the most part, I’m very happy to be here, and despite numbers of audience not being as high as I had hoped they would be, they seem to have been really enjoying themselves at the shows, which I am very happy about.

So much of being up here is managing expectations. There are thousands of shows, which means there is a heavy amount of competition to get people into your show. I see some people and speak to some people out there that are having a real hard time, and it’s because they aren’t yet meeting their goals.

For me, this is like a holiday that I have paid for, where I get to do exactly what I want to do all the time. Comedy all day, every day! That’s the dream, and despite my desperation to have a few more bums in seats, I’ve already won.

Some people up here want to make their money back and some people up here want critical acclaim — some want both. Making money here isn’t the easiest thing to do on Free Fringe. Despite it being largely pay-what-you-want, artists would still like some money, which I understand, especially if they come and tell you that “you were amazing” but somehow not good enough to chuck a fiver in. I can empathise with that.

For me, when I do a bucket speech I don’t even ask for money… I just say:“Free Fringe, if you would like to donate some money, that would be really nice! If not, not a problem, I had fun being here with you.”

There are a million compilation shows here! They are great to get on, especially as some of them get great crowds and you doing 5 minutes on there is great advertisement for your show, that people may wish to come and see. Then again, maybe not. That’s the thing — they may come see it or they may be on their way and decide that there is a show of another unknown comedian closer to them and decide to go there first, because that way they get that sweet beer nectar down their gullet as fast as they can.

What else they are is a great way of making connections to people in the bizzz. Plenty of people come up that run nights elsewhere and may well give you spots at other nights when the Fringe is over. Regardless of if you have a great run or what you do, it is an excellent place to make connections with people.

I watched a few shows while being here and I have to say “Tim Biglowe's – Landlubber” is easily one of my favourites. He has quick delivery, a great narrative to his set, interesting, brilliant punchlines and great accents throughout. Would very much recommend seeing him.

Watching shows is a great thing to do while you’re here. You might watch some reviewed shows that you feel are not your kind of thing. That, in my opinion, is an excellent thing to do. It reminds you that people like different things and whilst this person had a 5-star review with an independent publication, it might not be your bag. Similarly, it could have a 1-star review and be the best thing you have seen thus far.

A review is just a suggestion from a person that you would never hang out with in your day-to-day life. Try not to take them too seriously when choosing what to watch. There are plenty of shows that don’t manage to get the reviewers by that are excellent.

One thing is for sure: if you come here, be ready to do more walking than you have ever done in your life and still somehow remain fat. And if you walk more than 5 miles a day usually, then I guess I’m wrong — in that case, get ready to have a nice rest because it’s only about 5 miles a day.

I feel perhaps I have painted a bleak picture of this festival, and I just want to say it isn’t bleak, it’s great here! It’s just hard. Anybody that thinks getting enough material together for a show is enough will be sorely mistaken. That is just the start — when you get here, the real test begins by trying to get bums in seats.

Luckily, it’s in Edinburgh too, because this city is gorgeous and international. So you get people from different places that will enjoy your jokes — some of them they may not enjoy, some you may have to explain — but all that does is make you a better writer and a better comedian.

Anybody coming here during this time may pay a lot for accommodation but will not pay too much for any activities because there is simply so much going on. Regardless of whether you wish to do anything, just being in this beautiful place is great. To wake up to the fresh breeze, which is a godsend after the heat I’ve been used to on the south coast of England. The weird and wonderful sound of bagpipes — which at first sounds like an annoying car horn that has remained compressed after a car crash — is actually quite pleasant.

You will see that people have big advertising boards and lots of flyerers, and notice that those that can afford good spots and slots typically get more critical acclaim. Lots of people get upset by this and the classism involved in comedy, etc. It’s definitely another hurdle to overcome, but it’s the same in anything — those who are able to pay for more usually do better, and if they have done well enough in their career to afford them a greater opportunity, then as envious as that makes people, it’s been well earned.

My plan for next week: all I can do is more flyering and get as many compilations as I can to advertise my night. It is the best that I can hope for currently as plans go. There is still a lot to learn when selling your show. Lots of people do marketing courses and things before coming to Edinburgh and, now that I’m here, I’m starting to think that perhaps I should have taken advantage of their free seminars. Also I should have bought nail scissors

Anyway, that’s all the stuff I’ve noticed in the first week at Ed, and I’m looking forward to the rest of the run.

If anybody reading this would like to catch me on the rest of my run you can click here "Sam Love - Silly Gross Rants and Jokes" its part of free fringe so look forward to seeing you there

If anybody has any questions, let me know and I’ll try to answer them.