Edinburgh Fringe 2022

[DrGreggles]

I think shorter runs will be more common now regardless.

[JCR]

I think Jordan Grey may have been hurt by the

Spoiler alert

nudity; she's up there naked for a long time. I wasn't shocked- hell I've seen numerous fringe acts get nude- but for someone who was easily embarrassed it may have been a long time to stare at full frontal nudity

[close]

[Sebastian Cobb]

Quite enjoyed my day out.

Seymour Mace' crowd interaction was decent.

Simon Munnery's nonsense was great.

Eleanor Tiernan's show was excellent but I don't think the Gilded Baloon suited her; the place was barely half full and there was a lot of bleed-through from other parts of the venue. In the past she played the 'free fringe' in the basement of a pub that was packed out with crowds that were all in. Her set was still excellent, just fell a bit flat imo.

[CaledonianGonzo]

I think Jordan Grey may have been hurt by the

Spoiler alert

nudity; she's up there naked for a long time. I wasn't shocked- hell I've seen numerous fringe acts get nude- but for someone who was easily embarrassed it may have been a long time to stare at full frontal nudity

[close]

It was a lot of nudity. Funny show though.

[PaulTMA]

Shannon Matthews: The Musical was everything it should have been.  Stew Lee appeared to be enjoying it a lot.  Kunt made an appearance too.  Lovely stuff etc

[JCR]

It was a lot of nudity. Funny show though

Oh yeah, definitely.

[zomgmouse]

congrampbell

[MarkyMark2000]

A lot of industry talk on the matter of shorter runs which may well become the norm for the next couple of years. Many comics have long bemoaned the length of the festival and most are now waking up to the fact that it's not essential and actually more indulgent than anything else. Generally agree with the nominations but thought Josh Jones was weak. The thing that surprised the most however was the rise of Monkey Barrel, delivering yet another nail into the coffin of The Stand, a club that has become stagnant due to weak comics and overbearing policies/staff.

[DrGreggles]

The Stand had 2 venues + New Town Theatre, so it was hardly doom and gloom for them.
I don't think Monkey Barrel's success would be to blame for it anyway, as they operate in a similar way, but the location doesn't help them at all.
Fine for me, as I'll go and see 5 or 6 shows in a row there, but the casual punter will be up South Bridge.
No walk-ins either.

[Thomas]

Went along to Eddybo for the last four days. Saw a lot of acts, but I think the standout was Kiri Pritchard-McLean. She was hilarious, obvs, and brilliantly navigated the facts of her relative privilege (noting from the stage that Monkey Barrel had an all-white lineup; also, I believe she financed a working class comic's Fringe run this year).

Speaking of people with slightly advantageous backgrounds, Olga Koch was really funny. She correctly identified my sexy shirt as an example of hoe culture.

If anyone was in the City Cafe's Las Vegas room at 1am on Friday morning, watching an English comic on an otherwise Irish lineup trying to deal with a drunken sex pest in the crowd, that was me (the comic, not the sex pest).

DESOLATE CELEB SIGHTING: as I queued for Stewart Lee's Snowflake, who happened to slither by but Ireland's foremost transphobe king? Quite a funny place to see him, considering the celebratory woke values of the show and his placement on Stew's recent email shitlist. I wondered if Linehan was deliberately walking past Lee's queue in the hope that someone might try to argue with him, but no one cared.

Also I chatted briefly with someone who attended the Oxide Ghosts screening on Saturday; he mentioned this place in passing. Hello man reading this - show yourself.

[Blue Jam]

Any sightings of Tall Grey Ponytail Man this year? I hope he's alright.

[dissolute ocelot]

The Stand had 2 venues + New Town Theatre, so it was hardly doom and gloom for them.
I don't think Monkey Barrel's success would be to blame for it anyway, as they operate in a similar way, but the location doesn't help them at all.
Fine for me, as I'll go and see 5 or 6 shows in a row there, but the casual punter will be up South Bridge.
No walk-ins either.

The Stand's owners have long complained about not being able to get people over to the New Town, and also bemoaned the lack of events in St Andrew's Square (and the Book Festival isn't in Charlotte Square any more, while other New Town/Stockbridge venues have closed in recent years). If anyone was organising the Fringe in any way, they should look at that.

But the Stand definitely seemed to be dependent on the same old acts, with evening showings offering Best Irish Comedians rather than one-hour single-person shows, while Monkey Barrel had lots of interesting new comedians (although I saw more at the Pleasance Courtyard). Stand 1 (the basement club room) even seemed to have reduced seating this year (in the past they've had a bank of seats in rows on a raised area to the right of the stage but this was curtained off when I was there). I don't know how well they are doing financially, and if their mixed bills are packing in the punters, but if you're looking for comedy as an art form you won't go there of an evening. On the other hand, the New Town Theatre did have some bigger, more established names (Sinha, Aida) getting good reviews.

It also seemed a bad year for the PBH Free Fringe, which didn't really trouble the comedy awards, and Sam Nicoresti seemed the only person making a buzz. (Although there was a lot of free magic and cabaret.)

[Wayman C. McCreery]

I love the Stand (though I say that as someone who hasn't done the fringe since the Monkey Barrel opened), but their lineup this year looked pretty dismal. Yeah they had Stew Lee and Paul Sinha who'd both be able to pull a crowd wherever they were playing, but who's going to be rushing over from the Pleasance to catch Vlad McTavish or Bob Doolally?

[Thomas]

As an inexperienced first-timer at the Fringe, the Stand venues did feel like an inconvenient gulf away from the hub of activity.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Stand 1 (the basement club room) even seemed to have reduced seating this year (in the past they've had a bank of seats in rows on a raised area to the right of the stage but this was curtained off when I was there).

To the right from the performer's POV, near the door to the bog? That wasn't curtained off when I went at the weekend and people were sitting in it, although it did definitely feel like the amount of seating was less dense in general, and only a few rows running back up to the bar, I'm sure there's been times where there's been standing rows behind that as well.

[CaledonianGonzo]

The number of seats has been reduced overall in the room, though not sure if it's a fire regulations thing or a post pando thing.

Then the seats down towards the toilets can be hidden behind a curtain depending on numbers of tickets sold.

Standing spaces are still there if you arrive and there are no seats left.

[Famous Mortimer]

https://www.comedy.co.uk/fringe/news/7005/edinburgh-festival-accommodation-costs-warning/

It's nice that they're bothered by it, at least.

[Malcy]

Never got to anything this year. Out of the three I had planned I'd seen one but really wanted to see it again, Jack Docherty, can see another later in the year, Paul Sinha.

I was looking forward to Anna Morris as she was brilliant a few years ago. Anyone see her new show or the other two?

Just had too much going on to get there even though I was in Edinburgh several times over the month.

[Pimhole]

CAB forum biscuit Jen Ives has added her Edinburgh show to her shop.

https://ko-fi.com/jenivescomedian/shop

[JCR]

As an inexperienced first-timer at the Fringe, the Stand venues did feel like an inconvenient gulf away from the hub of activity.

I don't think it's just the Stand; Reginald D Hunter was nowhere near sold out playing in George Street Assembly Rooms the night I went which surprised me. I think if he had been in Pleasance Courtyard he would have drawn better.

Monkey Barrel definitely have had stronger line ups than The Stand in recent years though.

[JCR]

Any sightings of Tall Grey Ponytail Man this year? I hope he's alright.

I saw him at a Stewart Lee show in June & he looked fine, but I didn't see him in August.

Only Z list celebs I saw (who didn't have shows) were Sophie Aldred & train YouTuber Geoff Marshall

[Timothy]

More than 30 Edinburgh Fringe comedy shows are to be made available on demand on streaming service NextUp.

The shows – including The Wrestling and the finals of both So You Think You're Funny? and the Chortle Student Comedy Award (pictured is winner Caitriona Dowden)  – were originally streamed live from the festival last month.

Now they are to be put online from September 15 to 19 under the banner Rewind the Fringe  to allow subscribers to catch up.

NextUp's founder, Dan Berg said: 'Rewind the Fringe is a chance to relive the Edinburgh Fringe over a weekend. So grab some snacks, draw the curtains, create that damp cellar effect by leaving the shower on, and watch back-to-back comedy.'.

The full line up for Rewind The Fringe is: Mark Watson, The Wrestling, Nick Helm, Abandoman, Tarot, John Luke Roberts, All Killa No Filla,  Brennan Reece, Sean McLoughlin, Jack Tucker, Tony Law, Arthur Smith, Josh Pugh, Christy Coysh, Katie Pritchard, Will Duggan, Javier Jarquin, Rob Rouse, Eleanor Morton, Comedy Arcade (ft.Mark Watson & Andrew O'Neill), Morgan Rees, Ignacio Lopez, Jake Lambert, Lynn Ferguson (ft Zoe Lyons), Shelf, Yuriko Kotani, Shazia Mirza, Jamie D'Souza, Jake Farrell, Conrad Koch, Rajiv Karia, Harriet Dyer, Chortle Student Comedy Awards Final and the So You Think You're Funny Final.

https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2022/09/08/51722/catch_up_on_the_fringe

[DrGreggles]

There may be more too.