Hi Matt, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m from Cornwall and I live in London.

When did you realise you were, well, funny?
Years ago, I worked in a fish factory and from day one, I worked out that the only way to survive was to learn to be quicker than the other people working there. It was a brutal style of humour that helped to get us all through a tedious job and it proved handy on the club circuit in terms of putting down hecklers.

Who are your comedy idols?
Sean’s Hughes has an album called “Alibis for Life” and listening to that really changed how I felt about comedy. It’s hilarious and personal and a bit off the wall in parts too. As a kid I really liked Laurel and Hardy. It was very funny, but there was something slightly scary about it too. And of course, Billy Connolly.

You have worked as a ghost writer for some of Britain’s most notorious gangsters. What’s that like?
I’m really interested in people and criminals, in this instance retired criminals, are just people. They are surprisingly normal when you meet them, even though their lifestyle is so far removed from anything I have known. They do have amazing stories, which was my reason for being in their company. Active criminals go about their business without anyone knowing, which is very sensible. I haven’t spoken to active criminals about their business. This is also very sensible! The people I’ve helped to write are all retired. It was fascinating. They are funny and insightful and it’s an experience that I wouldn’t have missed for anything. I laughed a lot and I learned a tremendous amount. I actually carry myself in a different way after our lengthy conversations. I had deeply personal reasons for being there in the first place, having been on the receiving end of a crime and I’ve changed my mind about a lot of things. But mainly about how I see myself…

What does Matt Price like to do when he’s not being funny?
I really like to cook and my most recent discovery is harissa paste. Other than that, I like to relax at home with my missus.

You are bringing ‘The Weed Fairy’ to the Fringe. Can you tell us about it?
Last July I went to visit my Dad back home in Cornwall and saw that his front door had been kicked in. He’d been arrested for growing marijuana in his greenhouse. It’s evolved since then as I’ve had a few things that have happened over the last year that have impacted my life. It’s not a show about drugs. I don’t do drugs. It’s a show about my Dad and our relationship and learning to let go of the past. Without giving too much way, my Dad who is now known as the Weed Fairy to South West Police, has never been arrested before and could have lost everything. The show is a silly, fun and heart warming story that has evolved into something very personal and I hope very funny too.

Your Fringe shows have a certain quirkiness to them, what motivates you to create in such a way?
I can only really be myself on stage. That’s when I think I connect with the audience the best and when I get the best reaction. I also usually end up having a great story as life seems to hand me certain gifts in that respect. So I take a story and make it into a show. And I suppose they are bit different to the norm, but I like that. I’m the sort of person who things happen to and no matter how bad or weird they might be, I eventually turn them into material. As far as being quirky goes, I’ve been a comic for a long time and I don’t think I could change what I do. It would be nice to be more conventional perhaps, but my aim is to play the room in front of me and entertain the audience that are there and make them laugh, which is why I sometimes interact. In short, I’m constantly trying to be a better version of myself. It seems to work for me.

How do you find performing at the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?
I’ve been going to Edinburgh since 2005 and I think I only missed out one year since then. I feel comfortable in Edinburgh and it’s a great city. I pace myself over the month and the aim is always to come back a better comedian and having written and performed a show that I’m proud of.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Matt Price?
To be honest, right now I’m just focused on this year’s Fringe and doing the best show I can every day. With something this personal to me, I want to get it right and for audiences to really enjoy it. Beyond that, I might go to Australia again.

MATT PRICE WILL BE FLYING INTO THE FRINGE

ON THE WINGS OF HIS

WEED FAIRY

Aug 3-27 : Cabaret Voltaire (19.45)

Hi Nathan, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I’m from Birmingham and now I live in Hackney in London.

When did you first realise you were, well, funny?
I was about six and it was that atrocious bit at a wedding between the ceremony and the dinner. It was a community hall and I entertained everyone for an hour on the stage. Technically it was my first hour show. I can’t remember the detail but I remember everyone laughing and probably getting emotional at the 40-minute mark when I did a bit about marriage inevitably failing.

Who are your comedy idols?
Growing up it was Rick and Ade, Alexei Sayle, Fry and Laurie and Rowan Atkinson. I’m slightly older than I look (I’m mid to late 20’s). Now it’s Bill Burr, Louis CK, Steve Coogan and anyone on youtube chucking ping pong balls into glasses from a slight distance.

Upon which life-experiences do you draw your own comedy?
I write a new show every year so it’s what’s going on around us now that I’ve drawn upon for my new show – I cover terrorism, politics, Syria, 2 mins on comedy criticism which silly people will say is what the show is about, and of course some obligatory dated references like the death of Dodi Fayed and Rod Hull.

What does Nathan Cassidy like to do when he’s not being funny?
I’m working with the Rat Pack Productions in making other people as funny as possible, working on their shows from a writing, directing and production perspective.

You’ve been performing in Edinburgh since 2010. How do you find performing at the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?
I love it. Comedy is an addiction, we are addicts. I get no high from performing but if I don’t perform I get low – if I didn’t do Edinburgh in August I’d have to spend the month in Vegas and I’d lose my house (doing Edinburgh I just have to remortgage it).

Each year you tend to come up with a trick or two to convince folk you’re the man to see. Can you elaborate & what’s in store for this year?
No gimmicks this year, promise. That said… I am involved with something a little bit tricksy that is on paper the funniest idea I’ve had for a while, look out for something in the Potterow underpass.

You’re also branching out from comedy into theater this year – 2 shows – what propelled, or perhaps, compelled, you to do this?
I wrote for theatre 15-20 years ago. One of my first Edinburgh experiences was writing a musical ‘DIY-The musical’ about a strip club in 1997. It was on at the same time as the Full Monty and there was a double page spread in the Daily Record of me in red rubber pants. So probably the thought of that happening again spurred me on. In seriousness, something happened to me recently which made me think that a perfect love story that has happened in my life was something I wanted to talk about, and it didn’t quite fit into stand-up so I’ve done it as a one-man theatre show. People’s reactions so far have been really satisfying, people have said I really talk to them on a deeper level, and am saying things about love and life that they have been thinking but never voiced. You never get these reactions with jokes about Rod Hull.

What is it about performing live you love the most?
That, more often than not, what happens is down to you. In stand-up and one-man theatre, people’s experiences are pretty much down to you. If it’s great it’s because of you and if it’s not you have no one and nothing to blame. Apart from maybe the hot room, the weather, an annoying heckler or cocaine.

Can you sum up your two shows this year in a single sentence each?
My stand-up show is about bravery in a volatile world. My one-man theatre show is a perfect love story in a swimming pool.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for Nathan Cassidy?
Ooh, by the end of the year I’ll be doing scratch performances of my new stand-up show. I can’t say too much yet but I fear the subject matter of this one is going to welcome in the death of my career. So I’ll try to rescue it by writing another one-man theatre show for which I will no doubt be digging out the red, rubber pants.

Nathan Cassidy will be performing twice a day throughout the Fringe;

****

WATCH ME. LOVE ME. ITS DEEP. (theatre)

Aug 3-27 : C Venues (C Cubed) – Brodie’s Close (13.45)

THE MAN IN THE ARENA 

Aug 3-27 : The Free Sisters (19.45)

Josh Howie, former trainee Rabbi, brings cult-edge comedy to Glasgow

Josh Howie, who’s avant-garde, geeky comedy has made him one of Britain’s cult-edge superheroes, both in the UK and around the world, will headline Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate, Glasgow, on Friday 07 July 2017.

Danny O’Brien, a leading young Irish comic, together with the charismatic and uninhibited Glaswegian comedian, Rosco McLelland, will join Josh Howie on the Drygate Brewery stage. Glasgow based comedian Scott Agnew, an extremely talented and entertaining compere, will take charge of the mirth-fuelled evening, keeping both comedians and audience in check.

With his ‘technical expertise in creating gags’ (Chortle), Josh Howie sees comedy as a ‘necessary function to challenge taboos’. Although he is pretty provocative and loves winding people up he’s absolutely hilarious, delivering sharply drawn and intensely personal self-deprecating stories, coupled with a succession of playful and risqué one-liners.

Josh Howie is the son of legendary PR guru Lynne Franks, the woman who inspired Jennifer Saunders’ character Edina in Absolutely Fabulous. He is an ex-public schoolboy, raised as a Buddhist, before living with Native Americans and finally settling down as a trainee Rabbi. However he was kicked off the programme for being caught with a naked (non-Jewish) girl.

County Wicklow’s Danny O’Brien has a warm, chatty, anecdotal style that was honed whilst performing in tough Dublin pubs. Memorable Danny O’Brien moments have included having to physically wrestle a semi-naked man off his stage and seeing a woman glass her boyfriend in the front row. Fortunately for this Irish charmer, he’s very funny and can leave the less salubrious venues behind, instead drawing in an audience and bringing on the big laughs with ease.

As Winner of Scottish Comedian of the Year 2016, Rosco Mclelland, has proved himself as a rising star. He is leading the way in the Vanguard of Glaswegian alternative comedy. Tall, bearded and messily dressed, this rangy comedian, with a gravelly and animated onstage presence, is loud, in-your-face and full of chaotic energy. His naturally humorous delivery and surreal observations of Glasgow’s citizens emit continuous laughter from his audience.

As compere for the evening 6’5” powerhouse Scott Agnew’s easy-going, laid back delivery and friendly approach to stand up will lull the Glasgow audience into a false sense of security before he spins yarns of general misadventure, mixing tales of nightlife, gay life and tramp life, that will both shock and have them laughing uncontrollably. In recent years Scott has taken the Scottish comedy scene by the scruff of the neck proving that gay comedy doesn’t have to be camp to be funny.

Hello David, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I was born in Oxford, then went to university at Warwick, where I helped found the Warwick Revue. Now I live in London; Leytonstone specifically.

When did you realise you were, well, funny?
I was part of the Writing Society at university and during one session we had to try to write something funny. I tried and the half a dozen laughs in the room felt like a rip-roaring success. I later wrote a five minute routine about how police commissioner Cressida Dick has a funny name, and performed it to an overly generous audience at an open mic night.

Who are your comedic inspirations?
I’m pretty inspired by loads of the people I know on the alternative comedy scene. I’m a big fan of the Weirdos collective and the acts who do gigs like the Alternative Comedy Memorial Society. From the traditional comedy canon I love Chris Morris and I think The Simpsons is quite good.

You have studied clown at the prestigious Ecole Philippe Gaulier. For you what makes a good clown?
Clown is so difficult and ‘good’ is far too high praise. I try to have loads of fun performing and do material that makes me laugh, and that helps me be playful and ridiculous. I’m pretty stupid and I don’t worry about looking like an idiot if I think it’ll be funny.

You are a part of the London comedy scene – what’s life actually like being a capital comedian?
I eat a lot of supermarket meal deals on the tube and my skin is pallid. Apart from that I think it’s probably the funnest thing I could be doing with my life. I don’t perform at the big weekend clubs but the alternative comedy scene in London is great and growing. I run a night called ‘Oh Boy, Comedy!’ which keeps me pretty busy.

What does David McIver like to do when he’s not being, well, funny?
Nothing, such a moment has never passed, and never will. I do however like dancing badly to indie pop at poorly-populated club nights in London, and going for lengthy procrastinatory runs when I should be writing.

You have performed comedy on BBC Radio 4 Extra, how did you find that?
It was part of the BBC New Comedy Award, which I was selected for in 2015. I had a great time, the audience was packed out and they were kind souls. I kept worrying I would accidentally drop an f-bomb and get banned from the radio forever, but I kept myself in check. Well done me.

You’re bringing a show to Edinburgh this August : “Stop It, David, We Are Having Too Much Fun”. Can you tell us the thinking behind its inception?
At the moment I think the show is a spiritual journey of self-acceptance told through the medium of absurdist stand-up and character comedy. I’m interested in mindfulness, and I think in some ways it holds the key, not only to happiness, but to being a good comedy performer, and I wanted to explore that in the show. Mainly though it’s just an excuse to put on revealing costumes and do some really stupid characters.

What does the rest of 2017 hold in store for David McIver?
I have literally no idea. My life revolves around the Edinburgh Fringe and so I only plan as far as August. I imagine in September I’ll start working on next year’s Edinburgh show. My life is sad and there is no escape.

David McIver: Stop It, David, We Are Having Too Much Fun
Venue: Southsider (PBH Free Fringe)
Dates: 5th-26th August (not 15th)
Time: 8.15pm (45 mins)

Marcel Lucont, easily the greatest UK-based French Comedian, to charm Glasgow

Expect louche musings, deadpan wit and Gallic superiority when the multi-award-deserving French comedian, Marcel Lucont, headlines Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate on Friday 02 June 2017.

The legendary flâneur, raconteur and bon-viveur promises to charm the women and mock the stupid; such is his unassailable arrogance.

The French, self-centred alter-ego of Alexis Dubus, Marcel Lucont has toured the world with his dry wit, bawdy chansons, literary sophistication and exquisite sex poetry; The Tits Of The Brits and Baise-Moi Ce Soir Dans Le Pissoir, among the legendary titles.  Now he is making a special trip to the second city of The Empire and promises that every one in the audience will have their life enriched by this experience.

Adopting a status higher than Mont Blanc this philosopher, poet, lover and bon vivant will spend the best part of his set on his two favourite subjects: himself, and how much better than you he is.

Marcel was named the best sketch, character or improv act in the 2015 Chortle Awards, a year after being nominated in the same category. He was winner of the 2012 Amused Moose Award for the Best Comedy Show of Edinburgh Fringe and the 2013 Fringe World Award for Best Comedy.

6’ 2” skinhead Gary Little, who is blessed with that special brand of Weegie banter, will join Marcel Lucont on the Drygate Brewery stage.  He is one of the most consistently funny acts in Scottish comedy, forcefully opinionated combined with unflinching honesty and openness. His imposing physical presence and his masculine, sweary persona is undercut by his obvious warmth, personable style and slight vulnerability.  When Little speaks from the heart about such things as his man-of-few-words father, religious figures and sudden deaths, this is when he really shines.

Jojo Sutherland, the charismatic comic with a commanding stage persona, will compere the evening, keeping both comedian and audience in check.  She is in as much demand for her compere abilities as she is for her comedy routine.

Her natural stage presence alongside her “healthy neglect” approach to life and parenting forms the backbone to her material.  This is interspersed with everyday grievances and motherly advice.  It is a comedy journey through life’s ups and downs and twists and turns. As an accomplished actress Jojo frequently appears on stage and undertakes work from a variety of fields including radio presenting and improvisational forum theatre.

This weekend, Steve Gribbin will be headlining the Monkey Barrel Comedy night in Edinburgh –  the Mumble managed to catch a few words with the fellow… 

Hiya, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?
I was born & brought up in the North Liverpool suburb of Waterloo, named after the famous battle, next door to Crosby, the third most Catholic place in England! It’s also the traditional seaside destination for North Liverpoolians, although if you swim in the River Mersey you would need a Black Armband! Nowadays I live in the SE London Borough of Lewisham in a part of it called Ladyell, which is being rapidly overrun by bearded hipsters and has six artisan coffee shops to very person, and some very nice ironic Victorian moustaches

When did you first realise you were, well, funny?
It was in a Nativity play at my Junior school, St Edmund’s, Waterloo, when I was about 10 years old. I was one of the Three Shepherds, and I had a line that said “Hark! I hear The Angel of The Lord in the distance!”, but on the word “distance” my voice suddenly went up three octaves and the whole audience fell about laughing. Even though I was mortified, I can still remember the feeling that I had stumbled on something. That laughter was like catnip. Mrs O’Shaughnessy, the Drama teacher, was apoplectic with rage, which was another plus

Who are your comedy idols?
Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson and Alexei Sayle are my Comedy Holy Trinity, but I also love Steve Martin, Woody Allen, Mort Sahl, Mark Steel, Mark Thomas, Jeremy Hardy, Bill Bailey, Tim Vine, Bill Hicks, Linda Smith, Victoria Wood, Zoe Lyons, and George Formby. It was really Alexei Sayle that got me into comedy in the first place…seeing him in Edinburgh in 1982 blew my mind, he was like a coiled spring of righteous rage with all this Surrealist stuff going on as well

Your first forays into comedy began in the early 80’s SKINT VIDEO, can you tell us about the project?
Well, it wasn’t really a “project”, as such, it was just something I fell into by accident! When I was the lead singer in bands playing in Liverpool I often used to cover broken strings, false starts, endless tuning up etc…with little jokes, and I discovered that I quite enjoyed it. Skint Video started as an attempt to gain a precious Equity Card, because I really wanted to be an actor, but after I had done about 12 gigs, I thought, sod being told what to do by a poncy Director… in comedy you can do what you like, so I decided to go for it full time. We started life as a sketch duo, way back when sketches were about as fashionable as crocs are now, but we eventually developed the musical side of it as well, and began to spread our wings, touring constantly throughout Britain and Ireland. We felt part of a movement, really, “Alternative Cabaret”, which then morphed into “Alternative Comedy”, was just a reaction against all those reactionary frilly-shirted racist comics that had dominated our TV screens for decades. We saw ourselves in direct opposition to those wankers. My proudest moment as Skint Video was when Harold Pinter told us to “get the fuck out of my dressing room”, and he din’t even pause

Almost 35 years later, how has your approach to comedy changed, if at all?
Well, I still do get nervous before a performance, but now instead of ten thousand butterflies in the stomach which then turns into the obligatory pre-gig “comedy ablution”, my nervousness manifests itself in tetchiness and a sort of pre-show “trance” where I try not to think of anything, just let my mind go blank, like a contestant on “The Apprentice.” As to the writing, I just try and write something that makes me laugh, although the fervent hope is that the audience may be induced to guffaw also. The subject matter has not really changed, I am always trying to “punch up” at the rich and powerful, and Evertonians. One thing that has changed is that I am much more open to being silly and stupid onstage than I used to be. If you’re gonna be onstage, I think you should be prepared to look a prat. Luckily, my hair has decided to f*** off and give me no choice about that!

What is is about performing live you love the most – I mean 3000 gigs & counting, come on, you must love it?
The live gig is still the arena that matters, in terms of the relationship between the performer and the audience, which TV can never really capture. The feeling that anything that happens is happening right here, right now and can never be replicated, is a powerful one. It’s like the feeling you have when you are in the crowd of a huge gig, a sort of current that runs through the audience. And that laughter is STILL like catnip!

What are the differences between regional comedy & that of London?
That’s an interesting one. In the pre-alt.com days, of course, there were very strong regional differences, but I think TV and the Internet have smoothed those out to a certain extent. Where I do think it is noticeable is if a London-based comic keeps going on about “The Tube” and “Oyster Cards” in front of a Newcastle audience, then they may get a little pissed off

What does Steve Gribbin like to do when he’s not being funny?
I am a very keen swimmer, like to go every day if I can, I read a lot of books, currently reading a book about North Korea called “The Impossible State”, plus Ray Davies’s new autobiography “Americana” and a fascinating book about football called “And The Sun Now Shines”, which is brilliant. I also have my golden Labrador called Pablo, who I walk every day, although he is so badly trained that he has got me punched a few times. I also have a 6-piece Country band called The True Believers, for whom I write all the songs, sing lead and play rhythm guitar

You are soon to be headlining the Monkey Barrel in Edinburgh : have you done it before?
Yep, did it in January, and had an absolute blast!

How do you find performing at the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?
It’s such a great feeling to put together a full one-hour one-person show, very artistically satisfying. But then comes the bewildering business of publicity, trying to be heard above the million and one voices of The Fringe

What have you got in store for us this year?
I shall be performing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe with a show about Britain’s Rail Network called “Shunted Again!” at Stand 5 at 3:45pm Fri 4th- Sun 27th August (excepting Monday 14th). I’ll also be touring in the Autumn with a fuller version of that show. And my band The Tue Believers will be releasing an EP in September entitled “Songs In The Key Of Heartbreak”

Its early May, & Scotland has just had two days of unbroken sunshine IN A ROW – my god it must be Summer. That means the Fringe is coming & the Mumble will be getting ready to for the onslaught of Comedians into Edinburgh, some of whom we will be interviewing, beginning with Abi Roberts.—-

—————————————————————-

Hi Abi, so where ya from & where ya at, geographically speaking?

Born Ely Estate, Cardiff, moved to London when I was about 6, went to Swansea University to study Russian, then to Moscow Conservatoire to study opera. Now live in London but gad about gigging all over the shop.  This week: Folkestone, Cambridge, London. Next week, Derby, Brighton, Exmouth!

When did you first realise you were, well, funny?

I realised I was able to be funny and hold attention of a group at school. I had a Miss Herbert – a real bully of a geography teacher. She was very patronising, posh and a right twat. She looked like a hippopotamus. At a school revue, I dressed up as her and did an impersonation of her and everyone laughed. The second time was about 14, my school put on a production of Cinderella. Course I wasn’t cast as Cinders…that went to my pretty, blond classmate..so I was cast as the Fairy Godmother. They gave me a really dull script so I ignored that and I changed all the lines to a Billy Connolly Glasgow accent, with loads of “wee man” and “big man” and it brought the house down..got into a lot of trouble for that one….I used the word “bollocks” without knowing what it meant….

Who are your comedy idols?

Richard Pryor

Eddie Murphy

Billy Connolly

Jim Carey

Lee Mack

Upon which life-experiences do you draw your own comedy?

All of them. School, University, Being a dancer, musical tastes and singing styles and singer, Russia, the general public, my mother. Language and accents. My other half. Everything really. My comedy is very physical, so I act out a lot of the stuff onstage. I’m not a stand in one spot comic.  My life is frenetic, so my comedy is as well.

Last year you performed in Russia – in Russian – can you tell us about the experience?

I don’t want to give too much away so you’ll have to come and see the show! To give you a taste..I went there last year and was heckled by the Russian Mafia….who later bought me a HUGE bottle of vodka because my Russian was so good and they enjoyed the show.  There is opera, hip hop, Cossack dancing and a dog that uses a human loo.

What are your own links to Russia?

Well, I speak Russian and my family has always had links to it….via my father who went to Russia a lot as part of his job.  I hadn’t been back there since the 90s when I was at the Conservatoire studying opera, but I went back there last year to be the first UK comic to do stand-up in Russia in Russian. I did four nights out there and it was fantastic…packed out a 160 seater every night. A wonderful experience and it’s all in my ANGLICHANKA show.

What does Abi Roberts like to do when shes not being funny?

I watch Columbo…I am addicted. One day soon I am going to do a show about Columbo and his detective philosophy of life. I’m a big film buff so I watch a lot of films.  I’m currently writing a pilot for TV so that’s taking up a lot of my spare time at the moment.

How do you find the mega-mash-up that is the Edinburgh Fringe?

Love it. I did Edinburgh as a singer/cabaret act in the past and since 2012 (when I became a full time stand up), I’ve been doing stand-up shows there. It’s so nice not having props, costumes and endless music cues and just being able to talk to an audience and make them laugh. It’s also a great chance to catch up with friends you don’t see much of…when you’re doing comedy clubs week in, week out, you only see friends for 5 minutes in the green room before you do your set, so Edinburgh is a great chance to catch up and the best example of working hard and playing hard.  It also is a fab opportunity to hone material..25 shows over three weeks…and this year I’m doing two shows: ANGLICHANKA at the Underbelly and my new work-in-progress show FAT GIRL DANCING at the Voodoo Rooms as part of the PBH Free Fringe so I will have tons of new stuff honed and ready for use in clubs. I usually take a holiday straight after Edinburgh as I’m knackered.

What have you got in store for us this year?

ANGLICHANKA is currently touring but coming back to the Underbelly White Belly at 6.40pm from 3-27th August and my new work-in-progress show FAT GIRL DANCING is at the Voodoo Rooms Speakeasy in the Edinburgh New Town at 4.15pm 6th to 27th.  I’ve just been in two comedy films as well, “One Under” and “The Honeymoon” which everyone should be able to see later this year. There’s also other very exciting stuff happening for me toward the end of this year but I’m sworn to secrecy.. watch this space!

On first moving to Edinburgh in 2004 & experiencing its International Festival, two things struck me. One, there was loads of amazing entertainment on offer, & two: I couldn’t afford to see any of it. Then Peter Buckley came along & set up a system where performers could bypass the epic funds needed to put on a Fringe show, meaning we punters could chuck money in a bucket at the end of the show instead. Which basically meant more money for beer! Some stuff was excellent, some stuff was… well, not. Either way, the Free Fringe is now a staple during August, & its performers are all now getting themselves ready for the greatest show on earth. But what does it really mean to put on a Free Fringe Show.

The deal is this : the venue gets beer money, the performer gets the bucket money & we get a cheaper night out. The organiser, Peter Buckley, also gets an free army of free fringe flyerers, as he’s stipulated that any of the performers, when handing out their own leaflets, ‘must also offer the Wee Blue Book to the public. This doesn’t mean having one tatty copy available on request; the offer must be of the Wee Blue Book and your show flier, in that order.... by these means everybody is publicizing everybody else’s show. You will find that the Wee Blue Book brings in more audience than your show’s leaflet. It works to everybody’s advantage.’

After several decades of experience doing the Edinburgh comedy festivals Buckley has developed a mantra for how to flyer to the optimum effect. He says; ‘Because the WBB is so powerful and because the Free Fringe has built up a reputation over its 21 years, there is no need for excess publicity. Yes, you will need to have a presence on the street with leaflets, combined with the Wee Blue Book. But flooding the streets with too many leaflet distributors is counter-productive and anti-social. And having people leaflet for your show who have not themselves seen the show and are not committed to it is a waste of money, and reduces the value of your show. A further waste of money is having more posters than a small number (10 to 30) for around your venue and anywhere else you can put them up. Another waste of money is buying enormous posters (“big head posters”) on public sites, like many shows at the larger money venues do.

You may say: it’s my money, I’ll waste it if I want. No. We don’t like that. By founding the Free Fringe, we’ve saved you thousands of pounds you would otherwise have paid to the money venues. This stops you making a massive loss at the Fringe. If you spend the money you’ve saved on publicity, this forces all similar Free Fringe shows to spend just as much. The result is that everybody spends more and nobody benefits. That’s not why we started the Free Fringe; we started it to make the Fringe better value and a happier experience for the majority of performers. We don’t want our low-cost system to be exploited by people who want to gain fame at the expense of others. Keep your display and publicity to a reasonable level.

So that’s a little inside info on just one of the multiple aspects of the Edinburgh festival. The Mumble likes to be active right at the heart of it all, & in about three months from now the first of those ‘10 to 30 posters’ cited by Buckley will be finding their way on to the walls of this years Free Fringe venues.  And the Mumble, for one, cannot wait.

Damian Beeson Bullen

Rob Deering, ‘The Finest Comedy Double Act’, to headline at Drygate Brewery

Rob Deering, the UK’s foremost guitar-wielding, loop-layering stand-up comedian, will headline Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate, when it returns on Friday 7 April 2017 after a very busy Glasgow International Comedy Festival.

Joining him on the brewery stage will be Micky Bartlett, one of the funniest and fastest rising stars on the live stand-up circuit, and fellow Irish comedian, Catherine Bohart, a finalist in both the BBC New Comedy Awards and Funny Women in 2016. Ray Bradshaw, one of the funniest and most dependable acts on the UK comedy scene, will compere the evening of mirth and music driven entertainment, keeping both comedians and audience in check.

With his easy charm, cheesy singing voice, razor-sharp wit and clownish physicality Rob Deering has established himself as a firm favourite on the nationwide comedy scene.   Some even say that Rob Deering and his guitar are ‘the finest double act working in Britain today’.

Widely hailed as one of the funniest and fastest rising stars on the live stand-up circuit, Northern Irish comedian Micky Bartlett (from BBC NI’s Monumental) will also be taking to the Drygate stage to entertain Glasgow with his unabashed and hilarious observations of life, the world, and the people in it. Catherine Bohart is a Dublin-born comedian, writer and actor who started performing stand-up in 2015; quietly subversive manner and dry acerbic observations. Since then ’the OCD, bisexual offspring of a Catholic deacon’ has enjoyed a rapid rise through the ranks of UK and Irish comedy, with a finalist spot in both the BBC New Comedy Awards and Funny Women competitions in 2016.

Hailing from Glasgow, Ray Bradshaw, compere for this Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate gig, is one of the funniest and most dependable acts on the Scottish comedy scene.  A double Scottish Comedian of The Year Finalist, Ray has travelled the length and breadth of the country telling jokes to anyone that will listen. He’s a thoroughly engaging comedian.  His utter joviality and friendliness, coupled with witty and unexpected asides and great audience interaction, make him a real ‘people pleaser’; and raucously funny with it.

Rob Deering, Micky Bartlett, Catherine Bohart with compere, Ray Bradshaw – Gilded Balloon Comedy at Drygate – Friday 7 April 2017