Edinburgh Fringe help needed

April 14, 2009 9:19 AM

I will be performing a comedy act at theEdinburgh Fringe Festival in August. I need some LOCAL topics (such as Govt. footbal , local controversies. prominent celeb scandals. etc) to work into my act... my star player is a vile, psycho, homicidal puppet. Your contributions need not be funny." Leave that to me. Thanks
posted by Palmerpoodles to writing & language (12 answers total)

Warning: a lot (if not most) of your audience will not be local. Talk of Richard Jeffrey's about-face or Nigel Griffiths' dalliances or Hibs' battle to make the top six will go over their heads.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 9:52 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

We could refer to current topics like the current dirty email scandal, or the recent "resignation" of the Labour Party's Scottish leader - but it's only April. August is six months or so away. Any topic that is live now that will STILL be live in August will be one hell of a topic, although of course jokes about the tanking economy are always good. Play on the notion that you're a rich American who's had to downgrade by, oh I dunno, drinking a medium Starbucks instead of a large one. Or something.

Start monitoring the Scottish / national media/press to get a feel for what topics are "hot". Visit www.bbc.co.uk/news and look at the Scottish page as well.

BBC Radio Scotland has a mid-morning DJ - Fred MacAulay - who is also a very good comedian and often does gigs at the Fringe. So you could listen to him to see what he's joking about... but don't steal his jokes, obviously.

www.mediauk.com has a comprehensive list of British media, including radio and newspapers, which are accessible from the US.

But avoid talking about Rangers vs Celtic. Unless you've done a LOT of research.

I will also say that I saw Margaret Cho in Edinburgh one year. I love Margaret Cho. Her stand-up didn't change that much to reflect UK/Scottish reflections, and she mostly bombed. Although at least nobody booed.

Better yet, come over for a week or so beforehand, explore Scotland and London, and use that in your stand-up.
posted by almostwitty at 10:05 AM on April 14, 2009 [1 favorite]

2nding Busy Old Fool that there will be a lot of non-locals at the shows. Nevertheless, some local issues that may prove fertile ground for laughs are the football teams - Mad Vlad's ongoing soap opera as owner of Hearts and the succession of drunk and disorderly players at Hibs. The delays, inconvenience and expense of the ongoing installation of the Edinburgh tram system are also a common complaint. Also, Fred the Shred, erstwhile head of RBS, one of the bigger banking disasters, lives in Edinburgh and had his house attacked recently. These are all topics that have been ongoing for some time and are likely to remain relevant in August.
posted by Jakey at 10:13 AM on April 14, 2009

Trams. Unless by some miracle they're still not buggering up the centre of Edinburgh with tramworks by then.

I agree with almostwitty that just hanging round the place is probably the most useful thing you can do, and that things that are topical now won't be topical then.
posted by Coobeastie at 10:16 AM on April 14, 2009

Unless by some miracle they're still not buggering up the centre of Edinburgh with tramworks by then.

OK, it's been a couple of weeks, but I seriosuly doubt there's been any change in the almost complete lack of a Princes Street, and won't be before Summer...
I am almost surprised they're having the festival this year.
posted by opsin at 10:21 AM on April 14, 2009

Scottish Independence is frequently in the news over here (as in secession from the United Kingdom).

It waxes and wanes in topicality, but is devisive and controversial enough to get your homicidal sock puppet into enough trouble :)
posted by TheOtherGuy at 11:09 AM on April 14, 2009

Thirding the tram trauma, and everything Jakey says. Choice quote from one piece of promotional bumf that I saw: "As well as looking good, trams will also..."

Says it all really...
posted by Chairboy at 11:17 AM on April 14, 2009

I performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival a few years ago and the majority, if not all of our audience was not local.

That said, it couldn't hurt to have a few jokes for the few locals that wander in. The Fringe is so much fun! I hope you have a wonderful time.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 11:35 AM on April 14, 2009

i have no idea. i just came in to say it's mega-cool that you're doing the fringe. congrats & break a leg! if that's appropriate for comedians.
posted by msconduct at 11:45 AM on April 14, 2009

This is probably an Edinburgh Festival cliché but almost none of the people in the audience will be from Edinburgh. It would be funnier to start "so, what part of London are you from?" as a comedian I saw did once, than to assume they're locals.
posted by AmbroseChapel at 10:18 PM on April 14, 2009

Thank you all. Im now searcing for information from all your tips.
I worked for 20 years for the Virgin Island Daily News, writing a political ,daily comic strip...MAX the mongoose.
I must be some kind of idiot savant because Im pretty out of it concerning most things
BUT I CAN WRITE GAGS.
I just need the news
I love metifilter ..The fact that I got so much valuable info from strangers is as we say...awesome!
Thanks again
Linn da Palmer
posted by Palmerpoodles at 8:55 AM on April 15, 2009

If you want to stay on top of British politics gossip try this site: http://www.order-order.com/; everyone in the Westminster village reads it.
posted by cluck at 12:10 PM on May 3, 2009