Let me explain the fantastic idea that is the Free Fringe. I believe the Free Fringe (FF) is the essence of the fringe. It starts with venues that are prepared to let performers use their spaces for free in order to put their show on that will in turn bring people in to their venue and increase revenue through sales of food and drinks. The artists also have a bucket by the door so that if you liked their show you can put a few quid in and they get something out of entertaining you as well. Its kind of like indoor busking (which is very necessary in Edinburgh). But it really works. One of the main complaints that performers have mentioned to me is that the Fringe is now a massive money making machine for everyone except the artists themselves...which sounds to me like a rort. If the artists weren't there, the revenue wouldn't be coming in either and aside from MAYBE getting some recognition, the artists who aren't very well known (so 95% of them) are mostly working at a loss. I have now spoken to quite a few artists who had rented a space and whose tickets haven't sold well and who wish they had been part of the free fringe. One comedienne who had 7 people in the crowd said that with Free Fringe, people are enticed to come in because they know it might not cost them anything at all, so the crowds can be really good - she would have made more money from the same gig being FF because whatever is in the bucket at the end is hers. With a Paid Venue, she has to pay both venue hire AND a % of her ticket sales, not to mention that she already loses 1.90 on every ticket which the box office takes for the service. It was only an 8 pound ticket! Apparently the FF grew 40% YOY and that is evidence of an artist backlash against greedy venues. From the artists I have spoken to, I can tell you that this will grow again next year.
ANYWAY! Today the Adelaide Fringe people put on a seminar to let any international performers know what the deal is when they want to perform in Adelaide. This was worth going to because it answered a bunch of questions I had for me as I would like to perform a show a friend and I have written there. Handy. One of the things that I didn't quite agree with was that they were quite adamant that a "Free Fringe" type thing would work there but I think there is room for it too. Maybe in a limited capacity or for special circumstances but it is worth a try. One thing they did mention was that they are quite aware of the type of rent artists in Edinburgh are paying and that the venue hire is minimal by comparison in Adelaide. A performer in the crowd called it "negligible" by comparison, which is good to hear. Things are looking positive for Adelaide and if there is any way I could do Edinburgh next year as a performer, I would only aim at doing the Free Fringe.
Going to the Adelaide Fringe seminar was all I had planned to do today as it is kind of nice to have a day off from seeing shows when you see ten million in a week, but then I remembered a show I had planned to see and it was on the way home so I jumped off the bus (bus wanker!) and headed into the venue to get a drink before it started. I was unfortunately a lot earlier than I would have liked and I walked in to a performance that had already begun. Being far too polite to turn around and walk out, I took a seat. Now, I know that context is vital and that it is usually set up in the opening minutes of any show but in this show I don't honestly think that any amount of context would have made any difference. I had already seen some shows that were...unusual, but this one officially took unusual to a new level. And that level was deep beneath the earths crust where nothing is funny. I think that, as a wannabe comedian, it would be quite hypocritical of me to say that anyone else's effort at being funny was total shit, so I wont say that. What I will say is that I have an extremely open mind and find a lot of things funny where others don't and that I can usually find something of value in almost any situation. In other shows here at Fringe I have walked out grinning only to have someone else say "yeah that was utter rubbish, wasn't it?", mis-construing my smirk for a bemused look of horror, when really I was actually laughing at something from the show, either thinking that the performer was good or that I at least found the premise of a gag funny even if they didn't quite hit the mark. In this situation I found nothing funny and even thought the premise was a dud, thats all I'm saying. I'm not going to name the show or the performer. Just don't be early for Mae Martin. If you are, just grin and bear it and then wait for Mae Martin, because she is worth sticking around for.
ANYWAY! Today the Adelaide Fringe people put on a seminar to let any international performers know what the deal is when they want to perform in Adelaide. This was worth going to because it answered a bunch of questions I had for me as I would like to perform a show a friend and I have written there. Handy. One of the things that I didn't quite agree with was that they were quite adamant that a "Free Fringe" type thing would work there but I think there is room for it too. Maybe in a limited capacity or for special circumstances but it is worth a try. One thing they did mention was that they are quite aware of the type of rent artists in Edinburgh are paying and that the venue hire is minimal by comparison in Adelaide. A performer in the crowd called it "negligible" by comparison, which is good to hear. Things are looking positive for Adelaide and if there is any way I could do Edinburgh next year as a performer, I would only aim at doing the Free Fringe.
Going to the Adelaide Fringe seminar was all I had planned to do today as it is kind of nice to have a day off from seeing shows when you see ten million in a week, but then I remembered a show I had planned to see and it was on the way home so I jumped off the bus (bus wanker!) and headed into the venue to get a drink before it started. I was unfortunately a lot earlier than I would have liked and I walked in to a performance that had already begun. Being far too polite to turn around and walk out, I took a seat. Now, I know that context is vital and that it is usually set up in the opening minutes of any show but in this show I don't honestly think that any amount of context would have made any difference. I had already seen some shows that were...unusual, but this one officially took unusual to a new level. And that level was deep beneath the earths crust where nothing is funny. I think that, as a wannabe comedian, it would be quite hypocritical of me to say that anyone else's effort at being funny was total shit, so I wont say that. What I will say is that I have an extremely open mind and find a lot of things funny where others don't and that I can usually find something of value in almost any situation. In other shows here at Fringe I have walked out grinning only to have someone else say "yeah that was utter rubbish, wasn't it?", mis-construing my smirk for a bemused look of horror, when really I was actually laughing at something from the show, either thinking that the performer was good or that I at least found the premise of a gag funny even if they didn't quite hit the mark. In this situation I found nothing funny and even thought the premise was a dud, thats all I'm saying. I'm not going to name the show or the performer. Just don't be early for Mae Martin. If you are, just grin and bear it and then wait for Mae Martin, because she is worth sticking around for.
I'm not the biggest fan of saying that someone's act is "like someone else's act" but in this case the similarities are quite noticeable. Just so you get an idea of what Mae Martin's act is like, think of Deanne Smith's act. Or if you haven't seen Deanne Smith, think of a cute, androgynous Canadian person with short hair who plays guitar and sings cute, funny songs on stage and refers to themself as Justin Bieber. More to that, they are both really funny, have slick shows and are warm and curious and engaging. But thats where the similarities end. In some cases Mae's material may have gone over the heads of the older crowd who might not have seen Jumanji or read Harry Potter, know who Ke$ha is (I WISH I didn't, please PLEASE let me get some special kind of Acquired Brain Injury that only causes memory loss of garbage music) or have listened much to Alannis Morrisette (because most of Mae's songs are based on Morrisette songs) however they did seem to enjoy the show and so did I. The only thing I wish she did more was her whiny parody of Ke$ha which would be awesome if she fleshed it out. Funny and cute and worth a look.
Then! When I got home Channel 4 were showing the Season 3 of The In-Betweeners back to back. So I watched it all. Again.
Then! When I got home Channel 4 were showing the Season 3 of The In-Betweeners back to back. So I watched it all. Again.
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