Standups used to think they’d never make it if they didn’t play the festival. But it’s leaving many saddled with debt, stuck in squalid flats and even suicidal. Refuseniks tell us why they’re bowing out
. But many comedians say the fringe has become more like a corporate festival for established TV names, rather than the showcase of hot new talent it once was.
“Performers are doing it out of love,” echoes Evans, “and maybe a deluded notion that this will be their big break. It feels like a machine designed to suck money and spirit from creative people.” Claire Stone attended the fringe as a director in 2017. When the actor she was working with received rude responses after questioning venue fees, Stone started the Cost of Edinburgh project. “I set it up to ask, ‘What are people paying?’ No one could tell you whether there had been a year-on-year increase in venue fees. There is no oversight. That is problematic. Nobody really knows where the money is going.
Siân Docksey has played the fringe four times. In 2019, noticing a lack of transparency around costs, she shared her budget online. “It’s harmful if we’re not talking about the costs. There’s so much pressure to go. If we’re forcing people when they can’t afford to, we have to address that. If you’re doing it out of obligation, it’s a scam.”
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