Guide to the Edinburgh Fringe

• A typical standard is a 50-55min hour solo show – often with a theme.
• Performers getting together to do a collaborative show.
• Improv shows with several performers.
• Sketch shows with several performers.
• Theatrical shows.
• 10-20 minute spots in others’ shows or compering.

Street performance is not fully covered in this guide. There are various options for street shows such as full circle shows to walk-past pitches. Pitches tend to be allocated at a meeting of performers each morning.

• At the higher end for experienced, well known performers that are likely to attract large audiences, the so called ‘Big Four’ have the largest most prestigious venues. These are the Gilded Balloon, The Pleasance, The Assembly Rooms and the Underbelly. These will be costly to hire (many thousands of pounds) and harder to get into but will have the advantage of being easier to get seen by reviewers and producers. Other venues may be curated so they might not be available for your particular type of show.

• Hiring a smaller space that you are likely to be able to fill will work for less well established artists. This will still involve hire costs that could potentially be quite a large financial commitment. Choosing a time slot that works for your show is also important. Later shows (past 10pm) may attract a drunken audience preferring a certain type of material and earlier shows (Before 5pm) would work for a family audience. The prime slots are considered to be between 6 – 10pm and will generally suit a more adult audience.

• Venues using a free ticket model are also available such as those through PBH and Laughing Horse. These venues are either completely free or very low relative cost and the audience have to be admitted free. Money is collected after the show using a bucket / card reader.

• Research the venue you’re intending to use to see if it will suit your needs. Some have complained about noise from adjacent venues  affecting their relatively ‘quiet’ show. 

• If you’re doing a bucket collection you need to have a good ‘bucket speech’ to persuade people to contribute. If you’re using a card reader ensure you will have a signal and that you can operate it quickly as people will not want to queue long to contribute and will drift off without paying.

• Some venues are accessible but many are not. Getting an accessible venue may be crucial for you or the audience you are trying to appeal to.

• How will you promote your show during the Fringe. Flyers are the most common way and it’s good if these are professionally designed to be eye-catching. 5000 is a typical quantity. These will also need to be given out either by yourself or someone you pay to do this.

• If your show is for paid-for tickets then how much should the ticket price be and should you have 2 for 1 offers available for example.

• Should you engage a publicist (PR) to promote your show? This can be expensive but can also be successful in getting audiences and reviews if you get the right one for you.

• It is a good idea to attend the Fringe before you take a show there to get an idea of what works.

• Many performers who have booked a show into Edinburgh want it to be the finished product when they get there so will perform it somewhere else first to get it to that state. An example of an event is Brighton Fringe in May or Leicester Comedy Festival in February. These and many others will likely be cheaper than Edinburgh as they will be a smaller commitment and travel and accommodation could be more reasonable. There are relatively few ‘work in progress’ shows at the Fringe.

Some venues are accessible but many are not. Getting an accessible venue may be crucial for you or the audience you are trying to appeal to.

The Fringe will typically last from the first Friday of August until the bank holiday Monday. In 2024 the dates are Friday 2 August to Monday 26 August. This is just over 3 weeks as is the norm. Although it is not essential to attend from start to finish when Equity did a survey over 80% of those who completed it had attended for the whole thing. Venue bookings are often for the duration also although there is a lot of flexibility and there are sharing possibilities. Newer performers might consider a shorter run.

Accommodation tends to be the largest item of expenditure for many participating in the Fringe unless you’re in the fortunate position of having cost free options such as staying with friends or family. The cost has increased exponentially over recent years for many reasons including changes in the law and changes to how people book such as using online platforms like Airbnb.

The Fringe Society has tried to address this by making more accommodation available through the universities. New laws giving tenants greater rights (such as to stay in their accommodation) have meant that the availability of student accommodation is not always known until nearer the start of the event.

There are many options for accommodation such as the university halls etc; hotels and hostels; self-contained houses and flats for solo or multiple occupancy. Some will be central where you can walk to your venue and others will involve using transport of some kind such as train, bus, tram or taxis. The costs of this daily travel can add up and Uber prices have been reported to be high during the peak times when people need to travel.

If in any doubt about the price or standard of accommodation you’re being offered we recommend seeking advice and help from other comedians with experience of working at Edinburgh Fringe or via the various online comedy forums.

Sharing self-contained flats or houses with other performers can be an economic option as can renting a room within someone’s home or using the student accommodation. However it’s always advisable to make sure you think about personal safety when looking at these options.

Unless you’re a well established artist performing in one of the large venues it is unlikely you’ll make a significant profit by participating in the Fringe. Many don’t participate for that reason and others accept they will make a loss – possibly for future gains to their performing careers. Keeping losses to a minimum is often the aim rather than profit.

In terms of revenue, the Fringe Society states that selling 33% of tickets for a show is considered a success. Using that as a guideline for paid ticket sales is a reasonable suggestion. It is obviously not as easy to estimate how much audiences will voluntarily contribute after a free show.

If it’s your first time taking a show to Edinburgh then it’s definitely advisable to go for a smaller venue. Far better to fill a thirty seat venue than to play to a half-empty 100 seat venue.

The largest items of expenditure for UK based performers will be:

• Venue hire.
• Accommodation.
• Production costs.
• Fringe Registration Fees.
• Show promotion.
• Travel.
• Living expenses such as food.
• Attending other shows and networking.

There is an extensive section on the Edinburgh Fringe website covering budgeting and finance including case studies and a budgeting tool which can be found here. 

Whatever else you do the main message from Equity is this: Don’t risk money you can’t afford to lose.

As far as planning is concerned: you can’t start too soon, but here’s a rough guide to the timeline:

Before end of March: Have your venue booked and accommodation  options researched.

February to April: Register your show with the Fringe Society. The deadlines for registration are as follows:

• If you want your show to be included in the first on-sale date (22 Feb), you need to complete registration and sign off by Monday 05 February 2024.

• You can save up to 25% on your registration fee if you register by the early-bird deadline on Wednesday 06 March 2024 at 5pm.

• The deadline for inclusion in the printed programme is Wednesday 10 April 2024 at 5pm.

March – May: Book accommodation if you require it. Also book travel if using public transport or flying.

April – August: Promote your show and start previewing to hone the finished production

As soon as the venue is confirmed you should start promoting your show via social media, including your own website, mailing list and other media.

It’s worth finding a designer to work on a leaflet and poster for you but be sensible on how much you spend on this. During the Fringe Edinburgh is overwhelmed with posters and flyers and there is no clear evidence that even the most eye-catching design will have a significant impact on your audience numbers.

5000 flyers is likely to be a good number for a first show. You could either print these up front or print half in in advance and then reprint when you’re in Edinburgh, which might allow you to add positive reviews to your flyer (if doing this discuss this at the design stage so you can easily add this later). 

There are a number of print shops in the city but these can be very busy during the Fringe so bear this in mind. Hands-on flyering is often felt to be most effective as you can talk to people about your own show, and an hour or so of time spent immediately before your slot is likely to give the best results. If thinking about employing someone else to flyer for you then bear in mind the additional cost and, unless you have personal experience of the person flyering or a recommendation there’s no guarantee what impact this will have.

Edinburgh is filled with posters, promoters and flyering during the Fringe itself and its unclear how much return paying for bigger posters, more flyering, etc will deliver. 

There is a tradition of publicity stunts by comedians during the Fringe, which can be free or cheap to do. These can be creative and are very much part of what makes the Fringe what it is. Once your show is up and running remember to ask your audience to tell others about the show at the end of every performance. And ask them to share positive comments on social media and review sites.

You might think about engaging a PR or Publicist. We suggest performers are very careful about doing this, seek advice and recommendations from other comedians and weigh very carefully how much this is likely to contribute to their success. It may be better to wait for your second or third time at the Fringe, once you have established yourself a bit more, to look at this option.

Get passes to the various artist bars in Edinburgh and view networking at the Fringe as an important part of your time there. This is where you will learn from the experiences (both good and bad) of other performers and meet producers, promoters and other industry people who may be helpful in the future.

Explore the possibility of being included in Showcase shows where you perform a part of your show at the Fringe and mixed stand-up shows where you might do your standard stand-up material and then flyer after those shows to promote your main show.

Equity will always have a presence throughout the Fringe so that members can get help and advice. There are usually drop-in sessions which have traditionally been held at Fringe Central. Emails with details are sent to Equity members before and throughout the event.

If you are having a problem it is much better to speak to us while the event is in progress as there may be possible ways to resolve issues.

Coming to us once the event has finished can often be too late. For info on drop-ins or to get support during or after the Fringe email scotland@equity.org.uk