Comedy 'at heart' of 70th Edinburgh Fringe

August 4, 2017
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In 70 years, Edinburgh’s International Festival and Fringe have become two of the biggest arts celebrations in the world.

Audiences for the milestone year are expected to exceed 4.5 million – that’s about the same size as the World Cup.

But be under no illusion: it’s unlikely most people will be racing to watch celebrity performers in opera, music, theatre and dance. The vast majority come for the comedy.

In the last two decades, the Fringe has snowballed into a commercial free-for-all of comedy and cabaret.

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 23: Edinburgh Festival Fringe entertainers perform on the Royal Mile as the festival enters its final weekend on August 23, 2013 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The largest performing arts festival in the world has been running for the past three weeks and has enjoyed an increase in venues and visitors compared with previous years. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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Edinburgh is ‘the place to be’ for fledgling comedians

Comedian Richard Herring has seen the change first hand. This year, for his show ‘Oh Frig, I’m 50!’, he’s celebrating his own personal anniversary – 30 years since his first Edinburgh show.

“In the early 90s, I’d come up and there were 30 or 40 comedy shows and people were complaining that was a lot!

“Now, I think it’s about a thousand comedy shows, so it’s become a comedy festival at the heart of this but all the other stuff is still going on.”

LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 06: (EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE) Richard Herring performs during the ZSL Roar With Laughter event at Hammersmith Apollo on October 6, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Ben Pruchnie/Getty Images)
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Richard Herring: ‘It’s become a comedy festival at the heart of this’

Despite the wealth of shows, Radio presenter John Robins believes the fringe still plays an important role in helping new comedy talent break through.

“I think it’s the only place where you get tested so intently over such a long period of time.

“The TV people come here in the third week, there are bookers and agents, absolutely everyone. In terms of exposure it really is the place to be.”

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The Festival itself isn’t trying to compete in a popularity contest. It is much more expensive to stage a classical concert and, lets face it, it’s a harder sell, so it relies heavily on grants.

It was founded in 1947 to provide a cultural lift to post-war Britain and it’s creative achievements in seven decades shouldn’t be overlooked.

Festival Director Fergus Linehan says: “This is a city with an extraordinary cultural landscape because it has had 70 years of this festival.

“That doesn’t just exist for 3 weeks, it spans the whole 12 months, so I do like to think of the many ways the festival enriches Edinburgh and Scotland.”

EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND - AUGUST 06: Chippendales promote their Edinburgh Fringe show on top of Calton hill on August 6, 2009 in Edinburgh, Scotland. The act returns to the UK for the first time in over 5 years with their show Ultimate Girls Night Out at the Gilded Balloon. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
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The festivals were started to give post-war Britain a cultural boost

Greek-inspired productions are an example of the boundary-pushing work the festival has produced. A retelling of the Oedipus story set in the seedy East End first staged in 1988 redefined opera.

This year it returns as a co-production between Scottish Opera and Opera Ventures, directed by Young Vic artistic associate Joe Hill-Gibbins.

“I think it’s good to be very open-hearted about the festival – that seems to me the spirit of it.

“It’s great that there’s opera here, there’s theatre and comedy too. Some comedy that’s going to be here is going to be of a high standard artistically, intellectually. It’s all good, I think.”

The Edinburgh International Festival and Fringe will see 53,232 performances of 3,398 shows staged across 300 venues. It runs until 28 August.



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