Comedy

This is officially the wettest Edinburgh Fringe Festival ever. By ‘officially’, I really mean ‘in my opinion’, because I haven’t had the time to check the actual facts out on the net, but, judging by my constantly soaking clothes and nasty case of trench foot, I’m willing to put a bet on me being right.

But has it dampened the spirits? Has it affected audiences’ enjoyment? Our survey says: too bloody right it has. Again by ‘survey’ I mean ‘me’. I have sat in more half-empty rooms this year than I can remember and the few people who have been in there with me have all smelt like wet dogs.

The big debate going around is whether or not the creation of ‘Edinburgh Comedy Festival’ by four of the major producers – the Pleasance, the Gilded Balloon, the Underbelly and the Assembly Rooms – has had an adverse effect on the Festival as a whole and whether or not it will damage ticket sales outside of those venues. Feature continues

This comedy cabal took it upon itself to, somewhat arrogantly, declare that the comedians appearing at their venues would be performing for the first time in this new and exclusive ‘cultural comedy extravaganza’, or, as it is also known in the trade, ‘marketing opportunity’.

Although the four producers claim it was set up to simply encourage more people to come and enjoy the Festival as a whole, one can’t help but feel this is disingenuous, considering only their acts and venues were included in the brochure, leaving several hundred other acts and spaces out in the cold.

This has caused many dark rumblings across the city and a constant low level of bitching during the ubiquitous late-night drinking sessions. Comics have been set against comics. Those who have gone with the Big Four are either seen as ‘scabs’ out for themselves, not supporting their comrades in laughs, or as lucky bastards who got to perform in the nice big places with all that juicy marketing and all those cash-toting members of the general public – depending on the honesty of those who are talking.

The split has made for a strange and unpleasant atmosphere. It’s not a very pleasant state of affairs and, much like sucking off a tramp, leaves a nasty taste in your mouth. Let’s all hope that before next year this whole issue is resolved in some positive way which benefits all the smaller producers, performers and punters and not just the few who chose to head for the mighty majors. Personally, I would get rid of the whole idea of an ‘Edinburgh Comedy Festival’. It feels divisive and somehow fundamentally against the spirit of this wonderful celebration of all the arts.

Let me just step down off this soapbox for a second, to tell you about the most important people. Obviously, I’m not talking about those making money from the Festival; I’m talking about the comedians. Actually, let me just step back up on the soapbox for a second and add a caveat to that: The Stand Comedy Club, which is the only actual venue in Edinburgh which produces comedy all year round, is one of the few places where, miraculously, no comedians lose money. This is due to its policy of supporting the comics it produces by underwriting all their core production costs and then offering a healthy box-office split once these costs have been covered. When you consider that most comedians on the fringe lose between £4,000 and £8,000 by coming up here, you begin to understand quite what a boon this kind of deal is for the artists lucky enough to work with such an enlightened producer. As Ben Elton would say, ‘Oops, little bit of politics there. Now on with acts.’

If I’m honest, from the acts I’ve seen this year, it hasn’t actually been a bumper crop. As a fellow critic said in a desperate text message, ‘Any hot tips? I’m lost in the realm of the three-star show.’ A lot of comedians seem to be performing shows which are ‘not bad’ or ‘you know, it was okay’. Those who have managed to poke their heads above the parapets of mediocrity include the wonderful David O’Doherty, who, in his new show ‘Let’s Comedy’, has strangely benefited from playing in a rather dead space. It has had the peculiar effect of making him have to leave his normal laid-back, somewhat fey and whimsical comfort zone in order to grab the audience’s attention. He’s far more energetic and butch and, although always a good comic, has become a really great one.

Geordie comic Jason Cook has successfully hurdled the difficult ‘second-album syndrome’ following his hugely critically acclaimed first show, ‘My Confessions’. His new show ‘Joy’ is as moving and life-affirming as last year’s one but with a healthy dollop of extra laughs.

One of the main reasons to come to the Festival is to try to discover people, and this year, so far, my main find has been Mike Wozniak. He is a total revelation. There is no way someone with his inexperience should be able to deliver one of the finest hours of non-stop, laugh-a-minute comedy I’ve seen in a long time. This quirky, moustachioed man has brought a ray of sunshine to what is at the moment a bit of a damp squib of a Festival.

Read Tim's Edinburgh Festival comedy blog