Edinburgh Festival 2012. Anyone going?

[coffeymagic]

You may/may not know (indeed given some of my posts on here you may be absolutely stunned to find out) that as a bit of a hobby I do a bit of yer very own stand up comedy.

I'm doing a few lunchtime (12-1pm) spots during this year's Edinburgh Festival at The Beehive.

It's a lovely pub in (on?) The Grassmarket that does a great pint and great food so there's a reason to pop in on its own.

I hope to add more gigs as the Festival gets closer but for now my dates are.

11th, 14th, 18th (Burnley a) and 22nd of August

I'd love to see you up there so much that if you tell me you're coming I'll get you in for free.

Howzat?

for more info http://www.scottishcomedyfestival.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

'Tony Coffey - The one to watch' Manchester City Life (about 20 years ago) and 'Un-googleable' The Glasgow Evening Times.

[Gary the Enfield]

A mate of mine is a stand up comedian. He's in Montreux a t the moment. I don't think he's ding Edinburgh this year. Good luck. I hear it can be expensive.

[Little Green Man]

Good luck. I hear it can be expensive.

Serpently is, even if you go to only a fraction of the shows. The brochure for the Fringe alone is 350 pages long, packed with oodles of comedians and plays you've never heard of.

Mind you, the offer is a free ticket...

[Gary the Enfield]

Good luck. I hear it can be expensive.

Serpently is, even if you go to only a fraction of the shows. The brochure for the Fringe alone is 350 pages long, packed with oodles of comedians and plays you've never heard of.

Mind you, the offer is a free ticket...

I meant for the artists LGM. My friend Hal has mentioned before that for some (most) artists it actually costs them money putting on a show. Invitations to the right people to get a review, free tickets, schmoozing at after show parties etc.

[Little Green Man]

Good luck. I hear it can be expensive.

Serpently is, even if you go to only a fraction of the shows. The brochure for the Fringe alone is 350 pages long, packed with oodles of comedians and plays you've never heard of.

Mind you, the offer is a free ticket...

I meant for the artists LGM. My friend Hal has mentioned before that for some (most) artists it actually costs them money putting on a show. Invitations to the right people to get a review, free tickets, schmoozing at after show parties etc.

Ah, gotcha.

Yep, I think all but well known stars tend lose quite a lot of money. The Fringe venues charge several thousand for three weeks the tiniest, sweatiest windowless box. You've got to pay a large wedge to get your advertising in the guide, then there's the flyers, accomodation etc. I've been told you need to sell about 80% of tickets to break even. I've been to shows with less than 10 people in the audience, and often they can be Fringe staff who've got in for free.

Is your pal Hal Cruttenden? If so, he's on for the full three weeks.

[Gary the Enfield]

Yes it is Hal Cruttenden. He must be doing Canada then Edinburgh, then. I know he said he was away for 5 weeks. If you get the chance, go and see him. He's a very funny man, as he'll tell you himself.

[Little Green Man]

Yes it is Hal Cruttenden. He must be doing Canada then Edinburgh, then. I know he said he was away for 5 weeks. If you get the chance, go and see him. He's a very funny man, as he'll tell you himself.

He was on my short list but he never made it to the final cut as my pal who comes up every year wasn't that keen. More fool him. Anyway, I might hang around the Half-Price Ticket Hut one evening and see if he's heavily discounted.

[Gary the Enfield]

Yes it is Hal Cruttenden. He must be doing Canada then Edinburgh, then. I know he said he was away for 5 weeks. If you get the chance, go and see him. He's a very funny man, as he'll tell you himself.

He was on my short list but he never made it to the final cut as my pal who comes up every year wasn't that keen. More fool him. Anyway, I might hang around the Half-Price Ticket Hut one evening and see if he's heavily discounted.

pm me your details and I'll see if I can't swing something for you.

[Harry Genshaw]

Every year I think how good it would be to go to the Edinburgh festival, and I've never made it yet. One day..

Good luck Coffeymagic and lots of respect. Must take some real balls to do that

[Little Green Man]

Yes it is Hal Cruttenden. He must be doing Canada then Edinburgh, then. I know he said he was away for 5 weeks. If you get the chance, go and see him. He's a very funny man, as he'll tell you himself.

He was on my short list but he never made it to the final cut as my pal who comes up every year wasn't that keen. More fool him. Anyway, I might hang around the Half-Price Ticket Hut one evening and see if he's heavily discounted.

pm me your details and I'll see if I can't swing something for you.

Ta for the offer. I think I really ought to dip my hand in my pocket though, especially as he's on next week for only a fiver.

[Gary the Enfield]

Yes it is Hal Cruttenden. He must be doing Canada then Edinburgh, then. I know he said he was away for 5 weeks. If you get the chance, go and see him. He's a very funny man, as he'll tell you himself.

He was on my short list but he never made it to the final cut as my pal who comes up every year wasn't that keen. More fool him. Anyway, I might hang around the Half-Price Ticket Hut one evening and see if he's heavily discounted.

pm me your details and I'll see if I can't swing something for you.

Ta for the offer. I think I really ought to dip my hand in my pocket though, especially as he's on next week for only a fiver.

Yes, but if you tell me your name and post me your 'photo I could get him to make you the focus of his show.

[Little Green Man]

Good luck Coffeymagic and lots of respect. Must take some real balls to do that

Oops, mini-hijack over. Best of luck, coffeymagic! I may just come and snigger at you on one of those days.

[bobo the clown]

I always try to get a couple of days in.

For a tip for punters, book into the University Halls for accommodation, you can get a double room, b&b for about £50pn. It's about a mile to the centre.

Plenty of availability, decent quality & cheaper than any hotel you'll find.

[William the White]

Every year I think how good it would be to go to the Edinburgh festival, and I've never made it yet. One day..

Good luck Coffeymagic and lots of respect. Must take some real balls to do that

Me too. Ages ago I won a Fringe First for a play at the Traverse and couldn't afford to go up and collect it. The stage manager did and brought it back for me...

One year I'll go...

Best, Coffeymagic...

[Little Green Man]

Ages ago I won a Fringe First for a play at the Traverse and couldn't afford to go up and collect it.

Which Trav was that? The one in the new purpose built place, or the one before, or dare I ask, the original?

[William the White]

Ages ago I won a Fringe First for a play at the Traverse and couldn't afford to go up and collect it.

Which Trav was that? The one in the new purpose built place, or the one before, or dare I ask, the original?

You know, I never went... But the year was, I think, 1986... Not absolutely certain of that... The play was called Bodycount, the producing company was Paines Plough, the director was Pip Broughton... You could probably find out, and let me know! What's the current one like?

[coffeymagic]

Sod Hal Cuttenden and Bodycount! This is about meeeeEEEeee.

You can see how hard it is to plug your show when there's so much going on.

It's a real meat market up there and yes there are some real dives but luckily the Beehive has been around for years and the club has just been refurbished.

There some real dirge on for the full duration that's why I'm asking you to shun everything else you hear about in favour of me.

I will let you know as other dates get added (hopefully).

On the subject of dirge last year I was cajoled into going to see a play by a, what can only be described as a 'loose acquaintance'.

There were four of us and it was awful. The only saving grace were the knockers on the lead actress which were worth two stars on their own.

To give you an idea the play ended with her 'imagining' snow falling.

That sort of thing.

Afterwards the best I could say was 'You must be very proud'.

I made my excuses and left.

Think 'Poochie'.

Back on topic. My show is funny and not in a 'oh I get that joke' funny I mean ACTUALLY funny with funny stories and what not.

And no one liners or 'puns'.

I'd kill people who tell puns.

Puns aren't fun!

[Gary the Enfield]

Sorry, good luck with the show. If you see any fantastic knockers would you mind photographing them and posting them on here. Ta.

[Little Green Man]

Ages ago I won a Fringe First for a play at the Traverse and couldn't afford to go up and collect it.

Which Trav was that? The one in the new purpose built place, or the one before, or dare I ask, the original?

You know, I never went... But the year was, I think, 1986... Not absolutely certain of that... The play was called Bodycount, the producing company was Paines Plough, the director was Pip Broughton... You could probably find out, and let me know! What's the current one like?

It will have been the middle one, by the Grassmarket. It's now flats. I really like the new place. It's got quite an industrial feel to it but they can have some good stuff there especially during the festival. Saw Trainspotting done as a play there many years ago when they arranged the seating in the old traverse style. It was tremendous.

Paines Plough are back again this year. They'll not be as good as coffeymagic though, obviously.

[Lord Kangana]

I first saw Graham Norton in Edinburgh, back when he was actually a comedian with his own show. He did something about Karen Carpenter. The 3 other people who were left at the end of it (who weren't yanks and hadn't walked out in disgust because they'd wrongly assumed it was a Karen Carpenter tribute) were all related to me.

So, the moral is, Graham Norton owes me his livelihood. Ungrateful bastard.