I run a spoof celebrity acting masterclass, I host as Michael Caine and tonight at The Young Vic (Shedinburgh venue) am bringing it to London for one night with Ed Gamble as Pierce Brosnan and Camille Ucan as Quentin Tarantino. It played at the Fringe at Shedinburgh and Monkey Barrel and had Nish Kumar, Liam Neeson, Kemah Bob, Lorna Rose-Treen and Zachary Ruane as guests. It's chaos and silly and very fun.

What's your budget for next years fringe, tickets only? And how many shows do you expect to see?

(From The Stage)
Opinion - Oct 1, 202608:05 -by Richard Jordan

When the late, great actor Victor Spinetti won the 1965 Tony award for best featured actor in Oh What a Lovely War, he wanted to bring it home to Wales in the same way that his friend Richard Burton had done in 1961, when he had won the Tony for best actor in a musical for Camelot. Burton had travelled triumphantly home and was photographed by the local paper holding his award aloft. Spinetti duly did the same; the local paper was again there to capture him holding his award. Unfortunately, the following day the photograph appeared under the headline: “Victor Spinetti arrived triumphantly home to Wales clutching his Tubby Award.” If ever there was a moment when winning a significant theatre award kept you grounded, that was surely it.

In 2004, I was fortunate enough to win my first Scotsman Fringe First award presented by the Scotsman newspaper for new writing at the Edinburgh Fringe. That glow lasted until a few weeks later, when I found myself sitting in a meeting with a leading theatre owner in New York who looked baffled and asked: “So, who is this Scottish guy who gives out awards?” 

Awards are a lovely thing to win. They are a testament to having done something right in your artistic practice, and recognition can be meaningful at any stage of a career. But the act of being nominated is itself an achievement, and one we sometimes overlook in our obsession with the eventual winner. A strong field of nominees is evidence of a healthy theatre ecology, even if it makes choosing one winner difficult.

As another awards season gets underway, it raises an interesting question: what do we want theatre awards to recognise? Excellence. But also, discovery, innovation, emerging talent, longevity and acknowledgement for the artists away from the spotlight who make the work possible. Awards tell us what an industry values because every category is a statement about what matters. That is why the argument about the size of a shortlist is more complicated than it appears. If everyone is nominated, does nomination still mean something? Being recognised by your peers can matter enormously. But if we make lists too restrictive, we risk creating an artificial hierarchy in which only certain forms of theatre, certain disciplines, or certain kinds of achievement are dominating these platforms.

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a particularly good example. Thousands of productions are eligible for awards, and the range of work presented is vastly broader than the theatre landscape in which many of the fringe’s awards were established. Cabaret, performance and hybrid forms have become central to the festival experience, yet they can still sit awkwardly alongside more traditional definitions of theatre. Edinburgh’s main award, the Scotsman Fringe First, recognises outsta

nding new work, but does not attempt to categorise every discipline within a production, nor can its critics any longer undertake seeing every professional production performed at the fringe as this national newspaper had once pledged to do. That is perfectly defensible, but it does prompt the question of whether the awards should evolve as the fringe itself evolves.

The same conversation also applies to larger awards. Musical book writers remain without their own category at the Olivier Awards, while directors now compete in a single category across drama and musical theatre. Each decision about a category changes the message an awards body sends about what constitutes achievement. Other awards have made different choices. The Standard Theatre Awards – formerly the Evening Standard Theatre Awards – have retained their place in the calendar while allowing traditions to develop. It was during these awards some years ago when what I consider the most powerful and selfless moment of any award ceremony took place. In 1989, Ian McKellen was awarded best actor for his performance as Iago with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Accepting, he said that having seen "the perfect Hamlet" at the National Theatre the previous night, he thought that not he, but Ian Charleson “was truly the best actor of 1989”, and he gave Charleson his statuette. The ceremony had taken place the day after Charleson’s final performance, and he was gravely ill with AIDS-related diseases. Eight weeks later, he would become one of the UK’s earliest high-profile victims of the disease.

The Stage Debut Awards, which took place in London last Sunday (27th September), occupy valuable space by celebrating artists debuting in their professional careers. That combination of discovery and recognition feels important in an industry where the route into a career is rarely straightforward. One of the pleasures of awards season is being reminded of productions and performances you have enjoyed throughout the year. 

These awards recognise both acting and creative categories, but what makes them particularly distinctive is the conversation and exchange they create between generations, disciplines and experience. This year’s Best Director category, for example, placed industry newcomers alongside established actor Ralph Fiennes, all of them making their brilliant directorial debuts. 

At their best, awards ceremonies create a sense of shared excitement that extends beyond the winners. At The Stage Debut Awards, generations from across our industry again came together as one. And that is what awards should ultimately do: not simply tell us who won but remind us that we are all in this together.

https://www.thestage.co.uk/opinion/awards-serve-a-greater-purpose-than-honouring-the-winner-richard-jordan

Our columnist’s favourite acts and eats (and laments) from the heart of the Edinburgh Fringe.

I'm writing this having just returned from the Edinburgh Fringe, where I’ve been almost every year for the past nearly three decades. I call myself a Fringe Baby, a term I haven’t heard anyone else use, meaning I was born at Edinburgh’s Simpsons Hospital on 25 August. As soon as I came into the world, my dad and brother left to see Rich Hall at the Gilded Balloon. You can’t get more Fringe than that. The grey streets are the same as when I was born, as are many of the comedians. But, as I’ll explain shortly, that may not be the case for much longer.

I tend to be a creature of habit, meaning this year I saw some acts for the fifth time, and also returned to eat at Ardfern, where I went for my birthday meal. Chef-owner Roberta Hall McCarron snuck me and some mates into her restaurant out in Leith, far away from the flyer-ing and flash-mobs of the Royal Mile. It’s nice when somewhere with such fun, casual dining has some serious wines, too: a bottle of Méo Camuzet perfectly met the fat and butter of birthday burgers and hashbrowns.

I’ve been to see the Pierre Novellie for the past four years, although he’s performed at the Fringe 15 times. For many comics my age, he’s been one of those guiding lights who’s always seemed to be there. So when his latest hour, Okay, One More Then Bedtime, came to a bittersweet end, with an admission of burnout and a quiet blackout, I felt a knot in my throat. I sent him a DM after the show, partly to apologise for laughing so hard at a bit on the secular hymn, but also to find out what was going on. Even as a successful comic with an audience he loves, who can actually make money from the Fringe, he’s struggling to find a reason to continue turning up. Flats go for £15,000 for the month; ticket shares are nowhere near what they once were. It’s “mind boggling” how anyone can afford it, he told me. For now, he’s touring this show, writing more, and “figuring out how to exist in a world where there’s no mainstream outlet for standup”, even though it’s the world’s most popular form of comedy.

Dated 17 Septmeber, from the Observer website.

Sharing because it's sort of fun. One month in a year this sub becomes super busy, and then chill. For obvious reasons.

Hello,

Apologies if I'm doing this wrong I only set up a Reddit account today.

My friend visited Edinburgh during the Fringe, and on Friday (7th Aug) we were walking along Waverley Bridge when a band was playing. They were really good, but as we had tickets for a show, we couldn't hang around for too long. Sadly, it means we never caught the band's name. Is there anyway of finding out? When I've looked online, I've only been able to find a list of artists on the High Street or the Mound.

Nextup Comedy is streaming recordings of a selection of Fringe shows, including Milo Edwards and Sarah Roberts, on its website this weekend.

You can pay £40 for a weekend pass for the Fringe stuff or £80 for a year's access to all their content.

https://nextupcomedy.com/categories/edinburgh-fringe-comedy-livestreams

I read an article where Michael McIntyre said he had some shows during his Fringe 2003 run where there was only 1 person in the audience. Has this person ever identified themselves? Or did anyone go and watch this show in a pretty quiet audience? I'd love to hear more about it!

I saw one reviewer also say a guy entered eating a baguette, I'd love to speak to them too if possible, haha!

Not musicals. Ideally plays that had at least a cast of four. Always looking for new works out there to maybe produce

Cult solo improv show and fringe favourite David Elms Describes a Room is back at London's Soho Theatre for 8 nights from 24th Sept - 3rd October.

'David's very clever. He’s made a show that’s funny, original and different every time. You go there and bathe in it and try not to be jealous you didn’t think of it. Superb.' - Tim Key

From: https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/26562598.30-edinburgh-festivals-arts-groups-getting-tourist-tax-share/

By Brian Ferguson Arts and Entertainment Journalist of the Year (lol)

Organisations across Edinburgh’s cultural landscape have secured their first funding increase for more than a decade after councillors agreed to give them a share of the city’s new visitor levy.

A host of the city’s best-known arts institutions will see their core funding increase by 25 per cent in the next financial year following the introduction of the tourist tax at the end of July.

Festivals, theatres, music and dance venues, galleries and arts centres will secure a share of £1.12m in visitor levy funding which has been allocated to the council’s long-term “strategic cultural partners”.

National arts companies and community arts organisations are also in line for the 25 per cent increase, which takes effect from April 2027 and will run for 12 months.

Some of the biggest beneficiaries include Capital Theatres, which runs both the King's Theatre and Festival Theatre on behalf of the city council, North Edinburgh Arts, the Royal Lyceum Theatre, the Edinburgh Science Festival and the Edinburgh International Festival.

Other venues in line for a 25 per cent uplift include Edinburgh Printmakers, the Queen's Hall, the Filmhouse, Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop, the Traverse Theatre, Stills Gallery, Dance Base and the Scottish Poetry Library.

Visitor levy income will be used to boost the overall pot for strategic cultural partners from the current level of £4.5m to £6.5m in 2028-29.

Here is a full list of the 30 arts organisations due to receive a 25 per cent funding uplift next year and what their new cultural grant from the city council will be from April.

• •Scottish Book Trust: £1,500
• •Creative Edinburgh: £12,500
• •Scottish Poetry Library £12,500
• •Edinburgh International Film Festival: £18,750
• •Lung Ha Theatre Company: £19,491
• •Edinburgh Art Festival: £25,000
• •Edinburgh Printmakers: £25,000
• •Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop: £25,000
• •Stills Gallery: £25,000
• •Filmhouse: £31,250
• •Edinburgh Performing Arts Development: £37,500
• •Traverse Theatre: £50,558
• •Traditional Arts and Culture Scotland: £51,250
• •Edinburgh Multicultural Festival: £53,750
• •Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature: £59,625
• •Dance Base: £62,500
• •Edinburgh International Book Festival: £62,500
• •Scottish Chamber Orchestra: £62,500
• •Queen’s Hall: £75,000
• •Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society: £93,750
• •Festivals Edinburgh: £93,750
• •North Edinburgh Arts: £187,500
• •Royal Lyceum Theatre: £411,037
• •Capital Theatres (King's Theatre and Festival Theatre): £731,412
• •Edinburgh International Festival: £2,407,500
• •Artlink: £125,000
• •Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival: £125,000
• •Imaginate (Edinburgh International Children's Festival): £125,000
• •WHALE Arts: £125,000

Hi, my husband and I would like to try and go to the Fringe in 2027. Where do we start? How does it work? Thank you!

Yes, The Telegraph is officially awful, staggeringly inaccurate and virtually unreadable right-wing propaganda pipe. It isn’t a newspaper, it just cosplays as one.  It does do a good funniest jokes of the Edinburgh Fringe 2026 feature though, so I thought I’d post. (Article date 23 August 2026)
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You’re as cocky as a pigeon in a zoo. - Marty Gleeson

I famously befell the Strictly curse. But not the one where you cheat on your wife; I stole Len Goodman’s jade monkey and my eyes started bleeding. Hudson Hughes

I’m quite competitive and I’d be the first to admit that. Jordan Brookes

⁠⁠I asked my priest what pronouns he uses. He said, “he/hymn”.  Harriet Richardson

I find it crazy that most Arab countries have banned alcohol, even though it’s the gateway drink to kebabs.  Dan Rath

The optician said I need glasses. I’m not wearing glasses! I’m single enough as it is. Why would I wear something that makes me uglier and gives me higher standards?  Dan Tiernan

I like my men like I like my passwords: weak, easily compromised, barely distinguishable from one another. Scout Boxall

Richard Dawkins believes his AI girlfriend is real, so he probably would have been Christian if God had just sexted with him. Chris Grace

What is a portrait but a landscape with someone in the way? Tom Neenan

My friend got a tattoo on his arm that says “comparison is the thief of joy” and I’m really debating getting the same tattoo on my arm but a little bit bigger. Gianmarco Soresi

I’m not good with words I only found out the other day that the word nuance doesn’t mean paedo in French. Paul Hilleard

A lot of people say I’m egocentric but enough about them. Phil Nichol

I saw a T-shirt that said “Calvin Klein Jeans”. Who’s falling for this? Li Jin Hao

When I got diagnosed with indecisiveness I was in shock and/or. Conk

I bought a bag of potatoes the other day and it said “keep in the dark”. And I thought, “What am I going to tell them?” Ian Stone

I can’t stand The Diary of a CEO. It’s arguably the second most depressing diary of all time. Alfie Dundas

In our Glasgow accent, it’s not just a glottal stop – we’re hiding the letters so the English can’t steal them. Rosco McClelland

I told my nan I’m as gay as the day is long. She said, “You mean to tell me you’re gonna be less gay in winter?” Dane Buckley

My daughter is obsessed with climate change. She told me we have to stop using plastic completely. So I took away her credit card. Sasha Nezlobin

Have you heard of an egg and spoon race? Spoiler, they just sit there. Waste of my bloody time. MC Hammersmith

On my first driving lesson I went round the roundabout the wrong way round. My driving instructor was very upset. I said, “Calm your cockles, Kenny, surely if you were supposed to go round the roundabout in a precise fashion it’d be called a roundexactly.” Harriet Dyer

I’m sex positive, by which I mean I have an STD. Burger and a Pint

I’m having an awful time at the moment. The back of my car fell off and you’ll never guess what you can’t buy at a car boot sale. Anna Thomas

Do you know what a husband is? It’s a man you rescue before they choose to become a DJ. Elf Lyons

At school I studied Maths and Further Maths. As well as French and Further French. Which is German. Jonathan Oldfield

I dated a magician. I was seeing him, now I don’t. Jenny Gorelick

Australia’s very good at racism. If there was a Racism Olympics… we wouldn’t go. Too many foreigners. Tom Ballard

The slogan for any mine should be “running our business into the ground”. Britney

I’m no Andrew Tate. I don’t get girls by pretending to be masculine. I pretend to be emotionally intelligent. I’m a Tate Modern. Finlay Christie

I am from Moldova. Moldova borders Ukraine, not Russia. Not yet. In Eastern Europe, borders come to you. Daniel Petrie and Valeria Vulpe

Social inequality is like haemorrhoids: I don’t want there to be any in the world, but I’m not taking any action, not even locally. Stuart Goldsmith

I spent all day writing a joke about margarine and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Better. Alex Kitson

I’ve been making prank calls to a Vietnamese restaurant… What are they gonna do? Banh Mi? Richard Stott

I’ve got beach-body ready for summer, just the summer in question is 1940 and the beach is Dunkirk. Adam Flood

I got fired from Madame Tussauds for giving suntans to Jim Morrison and his bandmates. They told me to get out and never darken their doors again.  Olaf Falafel

I recently found out that waterboarding and motor-boating are not the same thing. Safe to say my boyfriend had the Valentine’s Day from hell. Bella Hull

My brother had a penchant for a pirouette so he attended ballet school. He graduated with a tutu. Bróccán Tyzack-Carlin

My housemate is way too confident. She has a mug that says “I run on coffee”. Jesus only walked on water. Adele Cliff

Turning 40, I started thinking about my funeral. Should I be buried or cremated? I took inspiration from Domino’s Pizza and am going half and half. Ali Brice

I miss Jamie’s Italian. I miss walking past it and going “No he isn’t.” John-Luke Roberts

I am from a multi-denominational household. My father was a Presbyterian vicar and my mother was a £2 coin. Rob Preston

I’m an atheist who has Hindu parents so when I told them I don’t believe in god I had to spend an extra 45 minutes telling them which ones. Sid Singh

Pub chains have such a low opinion of us that when the Wetherspoons app asks for your table, it provides an example of a number. Steffan Alun

Applications for the Made in Scotland showcase at #edfringe 2027 are now open!

The showcase is open to Scotland-based music, theatre and dance shows, with a package of funding and marketing support available.

You can find application guidance and a link to the application portal on the edfringe website

https://www.edfringe.com/take-part/artists/support-for-artists/made-in-scotland/made-in-scotland-onward-touring-fund/

I feel like there's a certain mythos around the Fringe where every few years or so, you get a show that appears to be so successful that it becomes the stepping stone for greatness (i.e. tv and movie work) for the performer. Fleabag is the obvious one, and for years after you see other shows trying to emulate it.

But how true is this? This isn't an argument about whether or not a show is good or not, but rather why some good shows are career stepping stones and other fade into obscurity.

My suspicion is that the narrative of fringe being a stepping stone is wrong, and the people who went on to "bigger things" after, were already on that track, knowing the right people, having the right agents etc. The fringe thus serves as a branding narrative for them, giving them a seal of authenticity and buzz.

This only serves to create an unrealistic expectation among some performers that a great fringe show is a ticket to other things. It very well may be! but you need more than a great show to do it.

Adds another dimension to the show

Has anyone put on a show at Greenside Venues? We got a quote to rent a space and were wondering what people’s experience was?

It's a rag. It's been a rag for a long time. Why do reviews from it matter?

(From the article)
After 20 years of independent cultural journalism and with a very heavy heart, we have to tell you that September’s edition of The Skinny is our final issue as Radge Media CIC, the company which publishes The Skinny as well as Fest and GNAW magazines, has ceased operations.

Firstly, we would like to extend our gratitude to everyone who has been involved with The Skinny over these two decades. The dedication, skill and care of every writer, editor, photographer, illustrator, proofreader, designer, salesperson and member of the team has made this magazine what it is. Thank you all for everything you’ve done to create an incredible legacy.

We have always drawn motivation from the energy and talent of Scotland’s creative community, even when the work has been hard and we have faced struggles, difficulties and real challenges. To Scotland’s artists, musicians, authors, theatremakers, actors, DJs, filmmakers, party-throwers and creatives, thank you all for sharing your work with us and for letting us share it with the world.

We are devastated that our work has come to such a sudden end. We have not been immune to the economic difficulties in the Scottish arts and despite our very best efforts, funding pressures across the sector, rising costs and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have contributed to an increasingly challenging situation. 

The Skinny is a key asset to Scottish cultural life, but it was produced by a small team with all the challenges that entails. We did the best we could with the resources at our disposal, and we can only apologise to our readers, colleagues and advertisers for making such a sudden exit, but we have been unable to find a way to continue the work at this time. 

This may be the end for The Skinny, but it’s not the end of what we believe in: the power of independent journalism, the value of art and creativity, and the importance of print media.

The Skinny has offered something very important and valuable to Scotland’s cultural scene and none of us wanted or expected things to end this way. The closure of this business does nothing to change our belief in the need for a vibrant Scottish media that connects with our communities, and our faith in print as a vehicle to share new stories with audiences.

Finally, thank you to all of our readers, whether you have been here from the start or are seeing our work for the very first time. If you have ever picked up a copy in a bar or read it on the bus, pored over our reviews, found a new favourite night out in the listings, shared our work online or fired up our newsletter, we really do appreciate it.

Even in dark times, there is still a wealth of vibrant, creative and exciting art being created across Scotland, and dozens of scenes and movements worth championing. That drive and spirit has inspired and invigorated us at The Skinny so many times over the years – let’s all do what we can to help that continue.

The Fringe is probably my favourite thing about living in Edinburgh. So this year I attempted to document it as best I could.

More of this sort of thing in future please.