The festival stands at a crossroads, with costs for performers soaring and many younger acts staying away. But it still offers comics a boot camp like no other
At the last Edinburgh fringe BC (before Covid), more than 3m tickets were sold for 3,841 shows at 323 venues, reported the New York Times. Those numbers, according to one comedian who attended (me), are “loads”. For what started as a side event to the international festival, it is staggering. To performers, the fringe has become a combination of arts festival, summer camp, trade show, shop window and breeding ground for alcoholism.
But with reports that artists are turning their backs on it in the face of escalating costs, does it have a future? If it does, will there be performers, or will it all be holograms, like Abba and Tupac? (The first of those questions is worth considering; the second was a waste of my time and yours. The answer is obviously yes.)
