By Martin Jordan

I have been an amateur stand up comedian on and off for just over a year. Or nine years if you count the time between my first and second gig because that’s how long it took to overcome my first gig at the London Comedy Store’s king kong.

Yes, I am now fully aware that is not a smart place to do your first ever gig. You may be thinking ‘why would I want to hear from someone so inexperienced’. Well cast your mind back to when you lost your virginity and told anyone who would listen about how much of an expert you were in the sack / back seat of your parent’s car. This is your karma. Also, the process is still fresh in my mind. When I hear Chris Rock explain his first gigs I feel that he is so far removed that he has romanticised it. And also, he’s Chris Rock. I can’t relate to someone that funny.

Audiences are different
If you are anything like me, you have listened to hundreds of interviews with comedians and you will have heard them tell stories of how they bombed in a room using the exact same routine that destroyed the night before. Well it really happens and it’s so confusing it will make you question if comedy is even a real concept.

But what I didn’t extrapolate from these stories is it may work in reverse; so the first time you try a joke out it might not work but it might be a hit in another room. I had this one joke, I was so sure it would work that I put it as my opener two sets in a row and it tanked both times. I hate giving away my jokes for free, but you guys seem ok. It was this:

‘Me and my wife were having sex the other day and she really got into it. She wanted to experiment. She said ‘what can I do that the girls in your porn videos do’. I said, um…. ‘have an orgasm?”

It was heart-breaking when it tanked because jokes become personal to you, even when they’re silly and impersonal. So having to kill one hurts. I decided to try one more time but moved it from the beginning to the middle of the set and to my relief it got a decent laugh.

Everyone is different but I can’t help but take it slightly personally when a set doesn’t go well, but it hurts less reminding myself that audiences are different. Knowing that the greats went through the same thing. Feeling that pain and turning it into determination makes you feel part of the gang. It makes you feel you’re made of the same thing as your heroes. It’s a good feeling so don’t be afraid of it happening, and when it does; don’t hide from it, feel it and learn from it.

Do not rely on support
This is not to say you won’t get support. I have had plenty. Some of my friends have even offered their services as groupies. But it is more to let you know that your dream is yours alone. Nobody is as invested as you. This is important to clarify because you need strength to do this. There’s no teacher to tell you off or manager to fire you if you decide to flake. You need to find and maintain the strength yourself. If you get support on top of that, fantastic, but you should not rely on it.

It’s like when you order a Chinese takeaway. You may get free prawn crackers, but if you set your heart on it and all they bring you is your rubbish order, you’ll end up ruining a perfectly good Chow Mein with the ghost of unfulfilled expectations.

Also, not everyone you expect to support you will. I have seemingly lost a couple of good friends purely because I am pursuing comedy. I am working on the assumption that this will pass with time, but I can’t guarantee that. They went from warm hearted close friends I could always rely on to bitter and distant overnight. Like the opposite of scrooge. Like if you watched ‘A Christmas Carol’ upside down or in a different time zone or something. I’m not 100% sure on the science of reversing a character arc but you get the point.

It is a real shame, but let’s be very clear; friends that don’t support your biggest dreams are not your real friends, and dreams come with sacrifice.

You will change
I fit a lot of comedian stereotypes. I am an introverted, socially awkward, over thinking, straight white male. After my first few gigs went well, something in me changed. While my sexuality, race and gender remained largely unchanged, other aspects of me did not. I felt a lot more calm and as a result I became more confident in social situations and I worried less about how I was being interpreted.

This may all sound positive, but I can’t help but feel it was these qualities that drove me to comedy and that losing them maybe made me lose some motivation.

Of course these qualities never actually left, they just appeared to improve for a while, kind of like racism when Obama was president. But some part of me had changed forever. There is a scene in ‘The Wire’, where young Michael kills his first person and Chris says to him ‘anybody, no matter who he is, you can look them in the eye now’. That’s how I felt after the first gig. Philosophically that’s how I felt, I’d never actually make eye contact with someone until I’ve seen them naked over for over an hour. That is in accumulated time not one hour continuously, I’m not crazy. Anyway, I have definitely emerged changed.

I feel better in many ways, but maybe my art will suffer. Maybe my relationships will. Who knows. But like I said, dreams require sacrifice and if you really want this to work you need to commit and not turn back.

It does get easier
The first couple of gigs I did drained the life out of me due to the mental energy it took to write and rehearse and the emotional energy it took to go through with it. When you have a regular job and a wife and young child at home it can be hard to justify using up all this energy on a hobby that only really benefits yourself. I suppose the hope is that the audience also benefits, but if I’m honest with myself, they could probably live without the knowledge that my wife doesn’t have orgasms. The good news is, it starts to take up less and less energy the more you do it.

There was a glorious moment that happened during one of my earlier shows where I suddenly felt that I didn’t care if it went well. I felt comfortable with the possibility that I might bomb. Which led me to say out loud ‘I don’t care if I bomb’, which was out of context, not funny, but true at least. Ever since then the whole process became easier. I do not stress about rehearsing so much or having fully formed ideas. I spend less energy convincing myself to do it and therefore can do more and more shows without worrying about burning out.

Everybody is different of course, to some it’s effortless and to some it will never be easy. But I would say if after a few shows you still feel that you can’t conjure up the energy needed, just push yourself a little further, and you’ll find it takes up less and less.

Trust your instincts
If you think you’re funny enough to be a stand up. You need to keep that confidence. There will be people that just don’t get you because they aren’t your audience or don’t understand what you’re getting at when you explain a stripped down version of your joke. That doesn’t mean it’s bad. Maybe you just didn’t explain it well enough or that particular individual didn’t get where it was going. Some people need a whole sandwich while some of us are happy just eating pure cheese.

I’ve been told a joke is bad and then performed it onstage and it’s worked. In fact, I recorded my first 5 minute set the day before my first real performance for a friend to give me advice. His response was ‘It’s funny but not laugh out loud funny’. That’s not even advice. That’s like asking for sex tips and someone saying you’ve got a small dick. Imagine if I was weak in that moment and took that to heart. I might never have stepped on stage. That exact unchanged set went really well. I trusted that it was funny and that my friend was being fooled by the out of context nature of the recording.

I’m not saying ignore all advice but you’re the one up there risking it all. Also, the uncomfortable truth is; the second you get down from your first gig, you know more than someone that has never done it. That’s not a reason to feel superior, but it’s a reason to trust yourself.

You set the terms
The first real gig I did I told nearly nobody about and went on my own. I kept this pattern up for a few gigs. Some of my friends were offended I didn’t invite them. But I would not have been able to go through with it had they been there. It was removing some accountability and it was key to me. This caused an internal fight as I didn’t want to upset my friends but also wanted to make sure I didn’t create a situation that would make me uncomfortable. It’s me that’s taking all the risks and it is far too easy to talk yourself out of it, so removing all possible excuses is important. I was trying to create the best possible scenario to help me succeed.

I would say don’t feel obliged to do it any which way. It’s your choice. Do not risk the success of your dream to appease somebody else. If they are good friends, they will understand. Don’t go in any direction your uncomfortable with. As stated before, the whole process is driven by your own strength, exposing yourself could hurt you and your dream, all to appease people that should support you regardless.

Follow Martin Jordan following his stand up comedy dreams @notreallyLTD on Twitter and Instagram

We’re Wound Up Theatre, and our critically acclaimed, award-winning play ‘Bismillah! An ISIS Tragicomedy’ is transferring for a three week run to the Pleasance Theatre, London, following a sell-out run at the 2018 VAULT Festival. None of this would have been possible without the Kickstarter campaign that provided the means to stage it at the festival – we did a Kickstarter campaign to kick-start the project because low and behold, making stuff is tough and expensive. Especially an ISIS tragicomedy.

You know where their money to be made? Live theatre and comedy. These are the words of Michael Mcintyre’s agents, Andrew Lloyd Webber and your thick uncle who knows nothing of the industry but thinks everyone who works in ‘showbiz’ lives in an episode of the gaudy mid-2000’s MTV show Cribs. We all know there’s no money in this game, especially when you’re starting out, in fact, to get anywhere you’ll probably find yourself spending money. And if you’ve got a project that you really believe in, then as unpalatable as it may feel (and when you’ve exhausted your bank account, maxed out the overdraft and been turned down for a loan yet again from the non-existent ‘bank of mum and dad’) crowdfunding it’s a great way of getting your stuff made and getting out there, and really, that’s what it’s all about. So here’s our advice:

Make sure it’s the right project

Crowdfunding was a new five years ago and people were willing to throw their money at any old product development or show, party due to the novelty of being a part of something in a way they hadn’t been before. This is no longer the case, and now in an age of ubiquitous campaigns for every creative endeavour under the sun, it’s important to not presume that you’re going to get the funding by simply making a page. Also, if you are trying to crowdfund every idea that pops in your head, even your most enthusiastic backer with the deepest pockets and loosest purse strings are going to get sick of being asked for money. Make sure it’s the right project, something that you’re passionate about, and something that you need to make, and that you have no other means of making. If it reaches that criteria then you should ask for money, why the hell not! Though I would say turning to this means of funding your work anymore often than every 18 months – 2 years, is going to lose your support so remember to use the platform sparingly and make sure you use it for the right project.

Be realistic

It seemed for a while like online fundraising was an endless goldmine that could make any project off the ground, well, that’s not the case, and the more realistic you are with your targets and intentions the more likely people are going to be to help you achieve your goals. You’re not going to crowdfund a sitcom before you’ve made a short film. Don’t get ahead of yourself!

Choose the right platform

The rise of Crowdfunding has meant a rise in similar online platforms doing much the same thing. On the surface, they may look the same, but many have different costs, different features and may work better for some projects than for others. Look at comparable projects to your own and see what has worked for other people, this should help you work out what will work best for you!

Develop your story

Narrativise your campaign, and make it a story people can get on board with, simply saying “I’ve got this idea, isn’t it great, give me some money for it” isn’t going to cut it. Be aware that the key to this process is engaging with people. They’re investing in you the creative as much as they are the idea, so link the two things together with them up. The best way to engage with human beings is with stories, so why would it be any different in this case. Work out your story and where you and it overlap, and use that as a starting point.

Presentation

It’s worth taking time over your campaign, getting it right before your launch. The more professional the campaign appears the more likely people are to take it seriously and the more likely they are to support your project so don’t rush, invest time and effort into making it look and read as well as you’re capable. If you’re not willing to invest time how can you expect people to invest money.

Video

Campaigns with video’s raise 114% more in funding than those without, so it’s worth putting in the effort and making one. Try and make it representative of what the project will be while also giving a flavour of what you’re about as well. And remember to make it look as professional as possible, even if the project is meant to look shambling and homemade, that’s the project, you’re professional.

Rewards

Make them as personal and sincere as possible, as I said before, connecting people to the project is one of the most powerful ways of ensuring their support – and this rewards element lets people take something away from the project they’ve helped make a reality. What your rewards are depended entirely on the project, be it a script, a prop, whatever is appropriate for your campaign, but what I found was that the personal touch to all of these rewards helped to get people on board. You might get a hand cramp from writing so many personalised thankyou notes on the front of the script but that’s a small price to pay!

Who’s your audience?

It’s important to know who you’re aiming this all at – going through this with only a vague audience in mind ain’t gonna get you far. Try and build up audiences from things you’ve done in the past. Social media makes the world go round in 2018, so engage with it, to build an audience so you have someone to turn too, and one to use when you’re trying to raise funds!

This is your marketing campaign

I get it, you’re probably like me, the idea of marketing yourself or your project makes you want to vomit yourself inside out, Perhaps you’re not, perhaps you’re a member of the Insta generation and nothing gives you more pleasure than tweaking your brand. Either way, love it or loathe it, you’re going to have to market your work to get it seen, which is kind of the point, and if you’re crowdfunding you then you’ve already started doing it – engage with your campaign, not only as a means of getting your show made, but promoting it. You want to get it out to as many people as you can ultimately, and the wider you get your fundraising know, not only the more money you are likely to make, the more people are going to be aware of the project!

Bismillah (an ISIS Tragicomedy) is on at The Pleasance Theatre until 13th May. Book your ticket here.

Are you interested in crowdfunding for your show? The Comedy Crowd may be able to help. Drop us an email at theccteam@thecomedycrowd.com

All Souls Productions are a comedy film group from Manchester comprising professional actors and a filmmaker. They focus on sketch comedy and are developing a sitcom.

Meet the team in this video as they give great tips for shooting low-fi films, working as a collaborative team, and being part of the fringe comedy scene. Well worth checking out for anyone making indie comedy. If that’s you by the way, you are part of our Crowd and we salute you!

You can see the All Souls sketches, comedy content and follow them on their Facebook page – www.facebook.com/allsoulsproduction

In August 2016 Adam Martin wrote this piece about his first foray into the world of stand-up. His latest post is an update on his journey…

Since I last typed at you I’ve done some stand up gigs. Chief among these are the two attempts to Beat the Frog – Manchester’s comedy answer to the X factor. Three audience members are given cards and if they are raised before the act completes five minutes, the act is gone. The acts that make it are then voted on by the audience. This is the tale of my first attempt to flog an amphibian.

“Okay the rule is, give everyone at least a minute, but if they’re dying after that then vote them off.” The sage words of the compere as she addresses and controls the crowd with ease. “They’re all new acts or trying new stuff so be kind!”. She’s saying everything I need to hear as I pace nervously beside the tall steps to the stage and to the spotlight. It’s my first ever spotlight. A giant electric finger pointing directly at me in front of more than 100 people that says ‘This guy reckons he’s funny. Tell him what you think’. All the other places I’ve played were tiny pub rooms or moderately sized pub rooms. No need for extra lighting when the back row are close enough to spot my pimples. If I’m going to flee, it should be now.

The other acts do well with more going through than out. The person before me is finishing. The crowd clap. I’m next.  “Folks, wasn’t that person great and keep it going for…”. I’m moving towards the stage but my legs feel like they’re not involved at all. The spotlight is ready to accuse my silly pink face.

My first joke lands about as well as a dart made of loose jelly and eels and nerves make me speed through my opening two minutes three times faster than human hearing can comprehend. I’m approaching the end of my minute of grace when I finally get a laugh. I take a breath and calm slightly. The next joke gets a titter, then a chortle and then actual honest to goodness laugher. I start to enjoy the sensation and reel off the material to workmanlike but unspectacular chuckles.

I’m  getting to the end of my time and becoming acutely aware that I have about 30 seconds of material left. How long have I been on? I think I’m going to pass the finishing line but possibly by having to break into a spontaneous round of eye spy with the audience. The nerves gather for another assault when the happy frog chorus plays and I’ve made it to the end of five minutes.

I leave the stage and remember how to breath properly. It’s done! Finished! And I made it through. I didn’t win, but I hadn’t expected to. I leave the stage and soak up a few handshakes and a frosty pint of cider. Honestly, what was I was so worried about? The answer to that question, next time.

By Esyllt Sears

She’s fascinated with Greenland. She enjoys teasing animals, banlon, and seeing people running for their lives. She loves throwing garbage out the window, yet she’s extremely dainty.

[Jerry Seinfeld on Elaine, The Pilot, 1993]

Elaine Marie Benes, performed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus has been in my top five comedy characters for the last 21 years but has had the number one spot for the last three. I admire her, I laugh with her and at her, and for a year in my late twenties when I had unjustified confidence, I swear I was her.

I’ve only very recently dipped my toe into comedy writing and performing and I find myself constantly fighting against female stereotypes – mothers, sisters, daughters, tolerators of periods, users of straighteners, lovers of candlelit baths. So, I increasingly look to Julia Louis-Dreyfus and specifically her portrayal of Elaine Benes in Seinfeld to guide me.

As a character, I believe that she paved the way for other great female comedy characters – from the main characters in Sex & the City and Will & Grace to Fleabag in the series of the same name and Sharon in Catastrophe. And I would go as far as to say that apart from Mary Tyler Moore and Lucille Ball, no-one else has done more for women in comedy. But that’s my opinion.

So where do I start? She’s more one of the guys than the guys are. She’s non-maternal – I can recall at least two instances in the series where she recoils at seeing someone else’s baby and when she’s seen socialising with her female friends and they’re talking about children and living out of the city, she seems painfully out of place. She dates someone different in nearly every other episode and is unapologetic about it. One of the most shocking storylines to feature her, a woman, at the time was in The Contest (1992) when, on George being found pleasuring himself by his mother, the three male friends decide to enter a contest to see who can last the longest without doing so, and Elaine joins in. The fact that she’s the second to cave is even more shocking as the men had supposed it would be easier for a woman to abstain.

She is the anti-woman in the face of female stereotypes. So many female characters in comedies up until Seinfeld were of a type – in traditional roles, or as unrealistic caricatures – and a lot of the time, they were merely there as a way of setting up jokes for the men. But Elaine is funny. Funny in her own right.

She’s attractive but not in a glamorous, done-up way. I have several male friends who would do anything just to be in the same building as her. She’s incredibly physical, has shoved most of the male characters in the sitcom at one point or another, her hair is often dishevelled or she’ll walk into a scene picking her teeth and will talk with her mouth full. But she also displays stereotypical female emotions, not least when John F. Kennedy Jnr turns up at her gym. And this only endears you to her more.

Even when the subject of a storyline touches on a female-specific topic, the way Elaine approaches it is so out of line with what would’ve been expected of a woman. In one episode, she says the word “diaphragm” (as in the contraceptive) four times in 40 seconds, in another she admits to faking orgasms. One episode, entitled “The Sponge”, is dedicated entirely to Elaine trying to decide whether a man she’s seeing is sponge worthy.

Out of the four main characters, she seems to be the most career driven. Many of her storylines centre around her work or her ambition to secure a new job or impress her boss at the time. You don’t always necessarily agree with her or like her. She is as complicit in ruining the lives of other people as the men are, she can be selfish and judgemental, but I identify with that as a human being. We all have these traits that others wouldn’t like.

I personally don’t think Julia Louis-Dreyfus set out to be revolutionary, she just enjoys comedy and interpreted this character in the best way possible. It just so happens that she changed the face of comedy, certainly for women, as a result. And I hope one day I get to say thank you to her face to face.

Jerry Seinfeld once said in an interview that Julia (and therefore Elaine) was the key to the success of the show. Elaine wasn’t in the pilot and when she was introduced (following the network’s request for a stronger female presence), the part wasn’t a very big one. In fact, Julia complained that she wasn’t receiving big meaty comedy content and as a result that gradually started to change. The mandate Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were given was to write her as a guy, but by following that rule, what they did is write a real woman.

If you have yet to discover Elaine and I could recommend just one episode that you must watch, then please go and find The Glasses (1993), today.

Esyllt Sears

@esylltmair

In the first in a series of articles looking at undiscovered or underrated comedy shows and characters, Tom Ratcliffe looks at how ‘Nathan for You’ has elevated the prank show genre beyond its crude beginnings…

When you hear the words comedy prank show you may well, like myself, vomit enthusiastically. This may be due to shuddering memories of shows like Balls of Steel or Trigger Happy TV. Perhaps these words don’t elicit such a strong reaction and you instead fondly remember shows like Da Ali G Show or Almost Royal or Impractical Jokers. Regardless, it seems fair to say that there has never been a definitive, hilarious, truly unique ‘prank’ show that has done for this genre of comedy what Monty Python did for the sketch show or the Office did for the mockumentary.

Nathan for You, as far as I’m concerned, is that show. Since 2013, Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder has fronted the one of a kind American docu-reality comedy television series and despite solid ratings and excellent reviews it’s flown somewhat under the radar, especially this side of the Atlantic. I’ve introduced several friends to it and in terms of description I’ve never got far beyond “you’ll just have to watch it.” Obviously that’s not much use for this post, so I will endeavour to do my best.

The basic premise is that the aforementioned Nathan Fielder uses his business school background to help struggling companies improve sales or brand awareness through alternative marketing strategies and sales methods. For example, the very first episode features Nathan trying to get a frozen yoghurt company noticed by creating a poo-flavoured yoghurt.

That may not sound like a million miles from Balls of Steel, yet the sentiment behind NFY make it so very different. The beauty of the methods they use is that they can only ever work or even exist if the business owners involved are willing to go along with them. It’s never exploitative in the way that public interaction on television often is. There aren’t unsuspecting people being wound up or bullied for a cheap laugh. Those taking part are free at any time to call out the ridiculousness and bring an end to it. Yet, in the case of the poo-flavoured yoghurt, the business owner’s response is initially “are you serious?” shortly followed by (after consumption) “we can give it a shot but it’s not something I would have out here for more than a day.” They settle on a 10-week trial period.

Another differentiator between NFY and your run-of-the-mill public interaction shows is the effort and intricacy behind each and every method. An episode involves a removal company whose owner complains of high staffing costs. Nathan’s original idea is to convince people that moving furniture is a better workout than a gym session, thus ensuring the owner can find staff that are not just free but actually pay him for the privilege of moving houses. That’s a reasonably funny conceit to begin with and, as always, the owner agrees to go along with it. For many shows there wouldn’t be much beyond this reasonably funny conceit. What happens over the next 20 minutes shows why Nathan for You is a million miles away from these other shows; Nathan finds a gym-obsessive to be the poster boy of the workout, has a workout book ghost written (which entered the Amazon best seller list) and convinces news networks across America to feature both book and poster boy on their channels (the poster boy hasn’t read it) before finally arranging a removal workout session with 20 willing participants.

All this madness is devised and hosted by the titular Canadian comedian Nathan Fielder. So little is known about him it’s genuinely refreshing. Throughout countless podcasts, print interviews and chat show appearances he never once drops the awkward, uncomfortable character he plays on the show – to the extent I genuinely don’t know where this character ends and the real Nathan begins. His demeanour is yet another area that pushes NFY away from traditional prank show fodder. Whereas it would be easy to have the joke on the participants (it only ever is when it’s deserved) the punch line is usually on Nathan’s social inadequacies and his uneasy, sometimes tetchy interactions. It’s this combination of bewilderment and pity that causes people to go along with his schemes. Only once in four seasons has he broken character and that was only briefly when a man started (apropos of nothing) to discuss the health benefits of drinking urine. There’s a weird, human touch that runs throughout and it’s an indefinable quality that’s at times much more suited to a light-hearted Louis Theroux documentary than a Comedy Central show.

Occasionally ideas are far too great to be contained in a mere 20-minute episode. The most famous example of this is known as Dumb Starbucks (Google it, you won’t be disappointed); involving an independent coffee shop and ‘parody law’ draws global media attention. A more recent example featured a chat show appearance that aired before the latest season was even on television. Nathan appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to promote said series and told an illogical story that involved a fat man’s suit, a wedding, a policeman and a woman’s ashes. Weeks later when episode 4 aired it was revealed that said story had been carefully crafted to be the perfect ‘talk show anecdote’ to help plug the show. Not only that but Nathan had spent $350,000 on plane tickets, cremations and police bribes to make sure his perfect anecdote had actually happened to him (this also warrants a Google).

I waited nearly 18 months for the recent fourth season and it was everything I’d hoped it would be and more. Whilst watching it I realised that beyond the laughs and the insanity, what I love most about Nathan for You is that it’s truly redefined a genre of comedy in a way not seen since The Office. Public interaction shows can no longer get away with just annoying members of the public now that Nathan for You has proved it is possible to make this form of comedy just as creative, hilarious and heart-warming as any other.

Part of this post was originally dedicated to how hard it is to watch Nathan for You in the UK legitimately but since I started writing Comedy Central UK’s Youtube channel have uploaded the first episode and are (I assume) planning on uploading more. Now you have no excuse.

Tom Ratcliffe has a podcast – The Tom and Jack Podcast, and also creates short films and the sketch show – Vloggers.

By Marysia Trembecka

We have just passed the midway point of Edinburgh Fringe (it runs for three and a half weeks in August) and all us Fringe performers are feeling the constant pressure of the shows, late nights, the stresses of ensuring we have audiences that day. Plus there is the need to smooth over the rollercoaster of the Fringe audience and reviews: perhaps a great but tiny audience, a pointedly nasty review, venue and cast dramas, drunken audience members who will not shut up and keep speaking at the punchlines. Also many performers now are feeling the pressure on their voices and health, with the shows, the flyering and celebrating after.

I am doing two solo shows every day at Edinburgh Fringe 2017, one comedy/cabaret “The Singing Psychic Game Show”, the other a political theatre cabaret piece “Queen Of The F*cking World”, so Comedy Crowd asked me to write a survival guide to get through the last 10 days of Edinburgh Fringe.

Your Voice
Many comics are not trained performers but even some of my trained actor friends find by mid-point of the Fringe that they are losing their voices. So here are some tips to get you through the Fringe. I have been training daily vocally for a few months as I sing as well but still I am using all these tricks to keep the voice going.

Sleep! You need for your voice and general health to get as much rest in where you can. I always go for a cheeky disco nap in the afternoon where possible. Even 20 minutes will help your head space and get your voice rested.

Alcohol… It is not that bad for you actually in moderation, yes it does dry your throat out but you can counteract it by drinking more water etc. What is bad for you though is yelling in the bar after your show at your friends. Trying to get heard over a crowd of people means you push your vocal chords, and that is far worse than drinking a bit. Of course the more you drink the more you forget to look after your voice as you talk loudly to your friends. Find quieter bars where possible. I only drink once a week at the Fringe as I am doing two shows a day and they are both solo shows and I sing. It is hard especially when friends and family come and see the show and want to celebrate but you will lose or at least tire out your voice if you drink too often. The last week of the Fringe I do let that once a week rule slip …

Steaming: this is old skool but still works. Boil a kettle and pour the boiling hot water into a bowl, breakfast bowl size upwards. Put a towel over your head and breathe in the steam for a few minutes. Be careful not to knock boiling hot water over yourself… Steaming immediately rehydrates the vocal chords so I do it last thing at night when I get home from my gigs and also first thing in the morning. I also inhale the steam and sip mugs of hot water in between my two shows, they are two hours apart. I am a complete coffee addict but Edinburgh Fringe is an emergency so the hot water has to take precedence. You will often see me with a mug of coffee and a mug of hot water.

If all else fails and you are losing your voice, shut up. A entire day of vocal rest will really help. Do not whisper, it is terrible for the voice.

Mental Health
The pressure to sell your show to audiences, indifferent responses to flyering and getting press in is immense. We all have to remind ourselves daily that we are one of over 3,800 shows at this 70th Edinburgh Fringe Festival, being here with a show is a massive success in itself. There is always the brilliant show you performed last night but tonight you have a third of the numbers and a reviewer in, the million things you need to do. Having two very different shows for me makes my morning to do list insane. Separate the flyering from your shows, what happens on the Royal Mile has nothing to do with how good your show is. Do not let anyone’s response to your flyering or indeed your show affect how you get out on stage each day.

If you get the crazy negative voices in your head, stop them and think of something positive. Learn to switch the negative thoughts off and focus on gratitude every time, from being thankful you are getting to partake in the world’s largest arts festival to taking time out for a walk (or in my case a sneaky cup of coffee). If you meditate or find time to exercise, do as much of it as possible.

Audience Numbers
I know of a great show here this year that has been nominated for awards and yet has had to cancel three performances this year due to no shows. I have never had that happen (currently praying it never will) but it must be so difficult to not be effected by it. I have focused on really great marketing images in the run up to try and lift my shows to be noticed.

I am doing PBH Free Fringe again (they are amazing!) and so I never have an idea how many people are going to turn up til I get out on the stage as it is unticketed. We do a bucket collection at the end. It can be so easy to walk on stage, see your audience and think oh there are less people in tonight and let that affect your performance from the off. Remember even an audience of one is someone who is giving you an hour of their precious time, they chose your show not the other few hundred that they could be in instead 😉 . Word of mouth is the magic that happens at Edinburgh, if you bring the best work you can, you will see the numbers growing. I saw it last year and this and it is magic. Plus there is bound to be one night where for some mystic reason the audience drops. Relax about it.

The other issue is expectations, both my shows are doing very well, standing room only some nights. However I want to be full every show twice a day, and I am at the Voodoo Rooms for my Singing Psychic show, so a bigger room than last year. However big your room gets you will always be wanting to get bigger, it is human. Just do not let it get in the way of enjoying the shows you have got and the audience you have in front of you.

Reviews
Some years no matter what you do, you do not seem to get the reviewers in, other years they turn up anyway. My only rule here which I am very strict about is not to read any reviews whilst I am doing the shows. I have got my mum or friends to read them and tell me if there is a quote or stars I can use on the flyers. Good reviews (of which I have had many four or five stars for my Singing Psychic) do not help me get out the next day and perform to the audience you have that night who want to determine their own opinion. Bad reviews will stick in your head forever and can affect the performance.

I currently have had only two reviewers in for my Queen show, neither have yet written anything, though my audiences are growing and telling me how they love it. I want reviews so I can tour it but beyond asking politely again, I am just focusing on the fact I have a niche show on sexual politics and those who turn up are turning into mad advocates for the show.

Marysia Trembecka
www.marysiatrembecka.com
Twitter @marysiat

The Singing Psychic Game Show – Trailer: https://youtu.be/247goJVrhp4

Ed Fringe Info link Singing Psychic https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/singing-psychic-game-show

Venue 68 – The Voodoo Rooms 21.30-22.30 Sat 5th to Sun 27th Aug (not 16th)

…………………………………………………………………………………………..

Queen Of The F*cking World – Trailer: https://youtu.be/d2Y6ZBUKq94

Ed Fringe Info link  https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/queen-of-the-f-cking-world

Venue 239 –  The Street, 18.30-19.30 6-26^th Aug (not 16th)

P.S. You can also read Marysia’s 8 tips for performing at the Fringe here

Michael James Dean is the founder of comedy production company Posh Dinosaur Productions. He has recently finished taking their latest film “Already Dead” on a successful year long film festival run. Now he’s taken the time to answer questions on setting up a production company, making a short comedy film and entering festivals.

There is huge value in here for anyone who wants to do this themselves. We think this is a fantastic resource, so lets get straight into the Q&A:

POSH DINOSAUR PRODUCTIONS

Why did you set up your own production company and what are the benefits of doing it?

In 2011 I sadly lost my father to cancer and I was filled with an enormous sense that I was under achieving. I had always wanted to make a career in film & tv and for many years I had worked as an actor in self funded projects and with minimal success in auditions. I fell into a severe low and I found the only way to push out of that was to fill my days with writing. I had always created and had written several scripts for stage and screen and found it was the perfect way to pull me through the grief.

I sat down and had an idea to create a show based around the idea of a young man who was diagnosed with Cancer on his 30th birthday and is giving twelve months to live. He decides rather than give in to the inevitable he is going to write a bucket list and complete all the things he can on the list, the idea was that each episode the audience would decide what from the list he would choose. I met with someone who was interested in helping me with the project and in our first meeting she told me that nobody would listen to me as I was essentially a nobody, sounds harsh but it was true. How could I justify a large budget idea when I have no track record. She suggested I create my own production company as it would mean I would be taken seriously, harder to ignore the president of a company right?

Sadly the project never came to fruition, however it got me through a tough part of my life and in turn the decision to create Posh Dinosaur Productions was born. I started the company with one goal to help create opportunities for those who found it hard to break into the industry.  Nearly four years on I am proud to say we have people that have worked alongside us that have gone on to bigger things including working in Hollywood.

We have grown slightly and it is an on going battle with funds and exposure but some of the happiest memories I have are from working with the amazingly talented cast and crew on our sets. The aim hasn’t changed but it has evolved as we move towards creating unique, exciting content that can reach larger audiences with the hope of larger budgets and better opportunities for creatives across the world.

Who else is involved in Posh Dinosaur and what skills do you need in a production company?

Fundamentally I run all the day to day workings myself, I talk to new clients, writers, directors, financiers, reviewers etc. The company is my vision and in we aren’t a funded company so the buck starts and ends with me. It’s both a stressful and a rewarding role but I love every new challenge I have faced.

Of course I couldn’t do any of it without the talented creatives I have worked with on all my films. I use freelancers for all my projects, I have a core of trusted creatives who I know I can always turn to including founder of production company Invisible Darkness Ricky J. Payne who has helped me create everything Posh Dinosaur has made. Darren Ruston is an extremely talented actor who I have worked with on all our projects. Also he has an extremely deep knowledge of acting and it amazes me that he is not a household name as a super talented, passionate individual. To list all those who have helped during the founding of the company I would be here forever.

In terms of key skills needed for a company my advice is to find a great producer, someone who knows how to find the right money for the right project and who can really pull a project through. If you know someone who is a social media guru this is essential in the modern age, you will not get any traction no matter how amazing your work is without someone who knows the best way to promote your work. I spend hours posting, emailing, requesting reviews and features and many times you can come up short, to have someone who can cut through all that is a god send.

Have people around you that you can trust for their honest opinion, they don’t have to be in the industry just make sure they are not your family or close friends but someone you know who can tell you honestly if they don’t like something. We can all have blurred vision sometimes and we steam ahead thinking our ideas is the greatest thing in the world but if someone had just told us to dial it in or take another route we would probably end up with a better outcome. Think of all those X-Factor hopefuls who could have saved themselves some embarrassment if someone they knew told them they sound like a cat in bag. I have several people I can turn to with my scripts and who I know will give me honest feedback on all of my work, it makes me a better creative and it pushes me to work hard.

Find yourself a group of people you love to work with whether they are runners, writers, sound designers it doesn’t matter they will fill your creative cup up and pull you through the times when you feel uninspired.

Even if like me you start on your own you will find people who value the same things as you. Learn what it is you want from your company and be honest with what you believe in, once you find that people will find you.

ALREADY DEAD – PRODUCING A SHORT FILM

How long did each stage of the process take (writing, filming and editing / post production)?

I wrote the short over two months in 2015 however with every script it changes and develops as you move into production. You will find yourself making changes right up to day one of shooting, things change; locations fall through, actors drop out, time runs out and you have to adapt.

Pre-production I always set myself around 3 months to complete. There is no doubt this could be done far quicker but because we were on a low budget I always feel if you give yourself extra time you can usually find low budget alternatives to what you need. There is a lot of waiting around when money isn’t on the table. This phase included casting, crewing, props, location and shoot prep.

The shoot took 5 days in total spread over various weeks in June 2016 they were fairly swift as we used one location for each day of shooting and due to the documentary nature of the film we wanted it to look rough and ready.

Post production took around 6 months again because of working arrangements, this period included several cuts of the film, a sound designer from the super talented Filipe Periera, music by Ed Harris and a colour grade which was the hardest part as I was particular on how I wanted the film to look and feel.

We screened a cut of the film to a selected audience in March 2016 with anonymous feedback, which I advise anyone to do. It is the most valuable experience you can have as a creative ultimately you will be showing this to an audience and if you get 70 people in a room and 60 of them tell you your ending sucks you have a problem on your hands. Luckily we had some great feedback and nothing we couldn’t change in post-production.

Finally we had our first festival on June 12th 2016. Of course your work doesn’t stop there as we placed our film in festivals for a year before we made it available online and that includes marketing material, press kits, reviewers, bloggers, screenings and networking. We started in June 2015 and I am still promoting the film now in June 2017 so it has been a long process.

We have a feature film version of the film that we are working on at the moment so the journey for Already Dead continues onwards!

Where did you find the actors for your script?

I use a variety of methods I have a pool of actors I know from working as an actor myself and from previous projects so if I feel they are right for the part I get them in for an audition or a read. I work in various roles behind camera on other projects and this means I am able to meet actors on set, this mean I can invite them to audition or read. I also use Shooting People, Casting Call Pro, Social Media any outlet I can. You will also find that when you start creating actors come to you as they are always looking for a new challenge.

If you are talking about named actors this can be far more difficult, obviously you need to have a great script to hook them and then you have to get past the agents, if you haven’t got a budget this becomes an extremely up hill battle unless you know the actor or know someone who knows them. Having said this that shouldn’t stop you contacting actors agents after all they want their clients to work and if they see a great script they are not idiots. I know several people who have secured name actors just by contacting their agents and the stars align for them. My advice is if you get a star use them to get your budget up but don’t assume they are the key to success it’s the script and all the other elements that make a great movie not just De Niro.

FILM FESTIVALS

How did you choose which film festivals to enter?

Choosing which festival to apply for is a long process. With my first film I did what most people do and that is apply for every festival I can afford. Well the money soon dries up and you’ll get rejection after rejection. Why? Well because you’ve enter festival that screen 5 short films but accept 3000 entries and you’ve entered a comedy into a drama heavy festival. You have to research your festivals, look at what they have programmed in past years, how many shorts do they accept? How many are UK short? Do they favour premieres? What’s their audience? Also know your audience, be honest with yourself is it a Horror or a Thriller, is it a gross out comedy or a romantic comedy. Once you know what your ideal audience is you’ll know what festivals are the right fit for your movie.

A great tip I got taught was never enter a late deadline. I’ve done it. You panic, it’s a great festival and you want a shot, but the truth is they have probably already chosen the line up and your money is just going to waste. Save the fee and use it on another festival there is always next year if you missed the regular deadline.

The large festivals like Sundance, Cannes, Slamdance etc are extremely hard to be a part of because everyone wants to get involved so when I apply for these I see them as betting. I accept that my $50+ is probably just going into thin air but if I get accept it will be a huge stepping stone so it’s a gamble I choose just in case. There is nothing wrong with giving it a good, just don’t do it for all the large fee festivals if you don’t have the budget.

So research is the key here get an excel table ready and find out about all the festivals you want to apply to find out if they fit your film and if they are a perfect match send them off. Ultimately there is no golden rule to getting into a festival. Just like you have different opinions to your friends and family, judges and festival programmes have their own tastes. If the right person sees your work and it hits them that’s all it takes they will fight for the films they love. Creating the best product you can is all you can really do.

Also a side note with the rise of online streaming and self distribution many filmmakers are choosing not to enter festivals but inside use their budget to market and online release or use a regulator to try and get their film on Netflix, the film industry is changing rapidly.

If you do get accepted into festivals and you can attend I urge you to do so. I have been accepted to so many film festivals that I just couldn’t attend due to funds and have missed out on some amazing opportunities to network. You don’t want Harvey Weinstein to see your film, ask where you are, only to find out you aren’t there. He will just move onto the next filmmaker he loved. Festivals are built to help you network, you and your team put in so much hard work you should get out there and tell everyone about it and you never know you might meet the person who will push your career to the next level, or your future spouse, or best friend. Who knows?

What are your top 3 tips for success at film festivals?

My three top tips for success at a festival

1. Attend (If you can) Show your support whether you made or are a part of the project, network the hell out of everyone that is there and enjoy seeing your work on screen. You honestly never know who you will meet or what you will learn from seeing other filmmakers work.

2. Don’t try and make a film that will win at festivals just make the best film you can. So many people try to second guess what festivals will want and they end up making a paint by number bore fest that nobody is interested in. Stay true to your own voice and work your butt off to make the best possible film and if it isn’t the best don’t enter it until it is.

3. Target your money. As self funded filmmakers you are likely to have little funds and most will have been spent on the production. Use that money wisely by researching every festival meticulously to ensure that money is well spent.

Can I add a 4th?

4. Don’t worry about it. Honestly your film might get accepted to 50 festivals or it might get rejected every step of the way, honestly don’t let it get to you. It’s like everything in this business you have ups and you have downs. Knowing that you love what you do will push you through and if Jeff the festival programmer doesn’t like your film screw him because not every great film won an award or played at a festival. Have confidence that your work is great, make it great and tell the world about it. We sacrifice a lot to work in this industry and if you work hard you’ll get there in the end.

Thanks for letting me answer these questions hopefully they will help some of you and if you have any other questions feel free to contact me at info@poshdinosaur.com

By The Duntmeister

After 30 years down the Information Technology pit at the data face, I decided to throw the towel in. After throwing the towel, I then left the job, turning my back on the grey world of IT forever and breathed in the fresh clean air of . . . . well . . . . what exactly?

In a fit of peak, I had left my safe and secure job behind and was now left looking for other ways to make a living. I’ve always enjoyed writing, I’ve always enjoyed comedy and I’ve always enjoyed satire. Is it possible I could make money through writing?!

So I Googled it.

“Easy peasy”, said Google (it’s amazing how they’re getting all the colloquialisms right these days isn’t it), “loads of people do it.”

“Great. Where do I sign up?”, I typed.

“Ah”, replied Google, “you don’t sign up, first you need a blog. Anyone who wants to write for a living needs a blog! To showcase your work”.

Oh right! A blog. OK.

“Great. Where do I sign up?”, I typed.

“Ah” said Google, “we’ve done our bit, we’re just a search engine, the rest is up to you”.

Oh right. Er, thanks a lot.

I think.

Right then, I need to find out how to set up a blog. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of companies out there only too willing to help you but which one to choose? I mean there’s so many, like WordPress or Blogger or Tumblr or Weebly or Medium or Wix or Squarespace or Penzu or Svbtle and that’s just for starters!

Ignoring the fact that I felt like I was just reading a list of nonsense words, I used my strategy coin and picked Wix. No other reason. And it’s free, unless you want to host the site with your own domain name, which I did, eventually, but it meant that I could play about and see what was what before spending any money. And anyway, wasn’t the money supposed to be coming in rather than out?

The Wix site seemed easy to use and they had lots of templates to choose from and after about an hour I had a site up and running. I was well on my way to earning a fortune.

Next thing, what to blog about?! Mmm. I know. Blogging. I can blog about blogging. Hang on wait a minute, do your research, there’s loads of people out there doing that already! Alright, what about blogging about blogging about blogging?! Oops, found a couple of them already too. What about . . . no forget blogging. Try something else. What about the news? Yeah. Plenty of new material every day. I could write acerbic, witty comment on the latest stories providing an antidote to the constant barrage of negativity we get every day. News it is then.

OK. What about branding? Do I do this as me? Or do I use a persona? Does it matter?

Well, it matters to me. I plumped for using a persona – The Duntmeister. Why the name? What does it mean? Well, to be honest, it’s what my kids call me. That’s it. I could make something up, but hey, people want straight these days, so I’m giving it straight. It also gives me my domain name – www.duntmeister.com – not a lot of confusion there. Search for Duntmeister on Google and you’ll see loads of stuff. All mine I tells ya. Mwah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

The other thing that I like about using a persona is that it allows me to stand back a bit and be his friend on Facebook. I might write to him and he might reply (he doesn’t always though). He’s quite lefty in his views (a bit like me) but he’s more outspoken than I am. It allows me to disagree with him as well if I want to (I haven’t yet, but I’m tempted 😊 ).

Alright, so that’s the easy bit done, next thing is how to attract an audience. Mmm. More Googling please.

Well there’s no shortage of advice out there that’s for sure. In fact, there’s whole industries built up around how to market your blog! In addition to the plethora of apps to support you, the companies who will happily promote you who (for a fee of course), the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rules to learn, networking to be done, connections to be made. Nobody told me about all this?!

With the benefit of hindsight, the marketing is the hard bit. Getting followers. You have to stick at it and find like-minded people out there who will appreciate what you are saying. Just clicking on Facebook friend suggestions doesn’t cut it (and can even breed resentment if you’re not careful). The best thing I have found to date is to pick a meme, write the blog, then root out those people/sites who you think will be receptive to it and share it with them. It would be easy to do it the other way round i.e. pick a popular meme, write about it, then share but that would be compromising my principles. I pick the story based on my own set of values.

But it’s working. Slowly. I am starting to get messages and comments from people who have seen my site but are not friends or followers and a steady trickle of people are now coming to me rather than me going to them.

Another thing to do is guest-blogging (hey look, I’m doing it now). Sharing your views across different platforms. If people like the cut of your jib, they’ll be tempted to have a poke around. If not, they won’t.

So what have I learned.

Well, I think the main thing that I have learned is that it doesn’t matter how good your blog is if no-one is reading it. This is a pitfall that I and others have fallen into. I started off spending more time on the writing than I did on the marketing and while I got a lot of personal satisfaction out of it, I might as well have been writing letters to Father Christmas and leaving them by the chimney. So it’s the other way round now. And it’s better.

So what about the money bit?

Mmm alright, well I can’t say that I have earned enough to make a living from it.

Yet.

But now that I’m doing the right things, it’s growing in the right direction!

Watch this space.

By Dave McKenna

The tale of how I became the man making the ‘most expensive & offensive thing ever made for the internet.’ Like many of the episodes of The Hateful Tate it started with too much alcohol and spending unnecessary amounts of money. It was a standard night in Margate, there was a rave to attend which began with a buzz and ended in the not so early hours of the next day, with the similar feeling of doom, regret and the question that always lingered. ‘What in the name of Susan Boyle am I doing with my life?’ Arriving back at my basement flat (which isn’t relevant to this article at all really apart from the fact you might think ‘oh Margate that’s nice, sea views, fresh air’… No, There were no sea views, actually no view at all but still the squawk of the Seagulls penetrates. Anyhow, it was in this fragile state of mind that I began talking to my significant other (H) about my next film job and how its going to come about. It was a speech executed not in the style of a leader, giving a detailed plan of the route to victory but more in style of a stuttering modern-day politician when faced with the fact they’ve backtracked on a lie they told months before.

H asked if there was a site specifically for film-based jobs. She saw that as a more realistic & rational approach, compared to my priors pretending to be a qualified electrician just to get on a Bollywood film set (true story, I was sacked after a few hours. Turns out it’s quite difficult to pretend to be an electrician). I knew of one site, FilmandTvpro.com. I’d recruited on it while producing a French Short Film, discovering the finest (well cheapest) filmic folk from the corners of the web. Three out of Five of my recruits turned out not to be completely useless, one of them turned out to be mental and lived with me for a while. So I’d paid the price for my cheap labour, what I hadn’t paid for, as I explained to H that night was a membership for the site.

FilmandTvpro.com allows you to advertise jobs for free but if you want to apply they ask for a £170 annual membership fee, which I deemed absolutely unacceptable & beyond all sensical spending. Telling this to H expecting a similar squashed facial expression and tut from her, I was baffled to find her smiling, telling me to invest. I stood like Teresa May, not in shiny gold trousers but ‘Strong & Stable’, refusing any such expenditure.

I’m not sure if it was the weary hour, the effects of the night before or just plain madness but the next thing I knew H was taping in her credit card details. Now scrolling through the listed jobs with the ability to apply felt incredible, I was empowered. I was freed from window shopping, finally I was a millionaire, and I could make a purchase (application) whenever I felt like it. Despite this initial delight, four or five days passed without an application being completed.

Jobs that I did eventually apply for were standard editing, presenting roles that were naturally ignored as I do have the habit of coming across quite sarcastic in both my CV & cover letter. In fact I’ve never got a job on the merit of my CV, which might make it the worlds worst CV. Fortunately, a job posted as ‘Videographer – to follow a kick boxing world champion around the world with his entrepreneur brother’ required no CV but a short video demonstrating why I was the man for the job.

I remember I made the following video briefly before my friend came over to go to the pub I told him of the opportunity and how I’d applied, questioning whether I should pester the Kickboxer on his personal twitter? I did and showed the video to the pub-wantaway. He hurriedly said ‘its really good mate, yeah its really good … so we going out or what?’. We did and we were ending the night with a curry when a Mr Andrew Tate called to arrange a Skype interview. I naturally stayed out for a few more pints before staggering home for the interview that could lead to the escape from the basement flat.

I spoke to the Tate brothers for about half an hour, we had a mutual understanding of what the series should be within this short space of time. We arranged dates, rates and that was that. I learnt soon after that the Brothers had already employed a filmmaker and were no longer paying attention to the Filmandtvpro applications, it was the personal twitter pestering that had bought me to their attention.

So, the advice I would give to people searching for that elusive comedy job would be the same Ray Kroc the founder/ stealer of MacDonald’s said to himself many a time, ‘Persistence is everything’. However over that it would be that ‘luck is purely a mix of preparation & opportunity’. I’d prepared my whole life by making funny films, and strange documentaries without a patron, no purpose, no need & certainly no viewers. Luckily for me post rave blues credit card generosity/foolishness and two millionaires presented an opportunity for me to utilise such preparation.

By Marysia Trembecka – The Singing Psychic

Edinburgh Fringe is still, despite the cost and the competition, the mecca of the comedy world. It’s the largest arts festival in the world where you can test your sketches, comedy character or indeed entire shows on audiences who are wild, free and looking to be entertained. Plus of course there are scouts, bookers, great acts to watch plus it is networking heaven for finding other collaborators for your online work.

So here are some top tips especially written for the Comedy Crowd. I have both failed and ‘won’ in some measure at Edinburgh so this is a voice of experience, my bio is at the bottom of the article.

1. Apply for the free fringe!

PBH’s Free Fringe was the very first to break the mould of having to pay 1000’s of pounds to have a run at Edinburgh Fringe. (I went with PBH last year and am with them again this year so a disclaimer on loyalty from me is necessary here.)

Costs of doing Edinburgh Fringe include:

• Securing a venue (this runs into £1000’s for a guarantee even on a one hour slot in a room above a noisy pub).
• PR costs (£1800 is about the price you expect to pay for decent PR).
• Accommodation costs in Edinburgh in the month of August, rivals London prices.
• The Ed Fringe brochure cost: £300 (early deadline March 15^th 2017 ) or £400 normal deadline. Even 1-2 performances cost £96 to be in the brochure. If you do pay to get in the brochure, I suggest going to some of the talks that Ed Fringe provide as part of that fee as they have talks on everything from other fringes, to marketing and networking events. They also give great advice in the run up to the brochure on wordings and press lists. I always pay to be in the brochure but many don’t.

Full info here https://www.edfringe.com/participants/registering-your-show

There are other free fringes but start by applying here. http://freefringe.org.uk/

Free Fringe involves being part of a community: you will be asked to help out in a variety of ways including being required to hand out their brochure with all the shows in as well as your own flyer when you flyer and mentioning other free fringe shows when you close. You do get to wave a bucket at the end so practise a money getting speech! I got some pretty decent bucket collections and you feel like a proper troubadour waving cash and coins at the end of each night. PBH Free Fringe also have an amazing brochure and an app so even if you do not want to or can’t afford to pay for the Ed Fringe brochure you will at least be marketed and seen in the PBH brochure and on the app.

2. Don’t do a full run

Everyone says you cannot get press in without doing a full run, and it is definitely much harder. However the sad truth is that even full run shows will not get the press in, with over 3,200 shows last year at Ed Fringe there are not even enough bloggers to go around. However going up for a week’s run or more in a paid or non paid venue is valuable for trying out the show, getting live audience reactions and seeing what the competition is like (it’s fierce) plus you may meet your next collaborators.

3. Make videos to promote your shows

I know I am preaching to the converted here on The Comedy Crowd but the effort of making a trailer is well worth it. With so much competition you have to find a way to find your crowd and stand out, a trailer – less than 90 secs- will make a difference. Even 15 secs of you smiling and talking to the camera with one joke will help. In 2016 there were 2,475,143 tickets sold through the box office, that does not include the free fringe and non-ticketed shows. The audience want to find a reason to come see your show.

I had over 100 videos for my The Singing Psychic character online before I went to Ed Fringe last year and I think the most flyering I did was 20 mins a day and I had not paid for PR. I had largely sell–out audiences and booked two extra matinee shows at the end by popular demand as some nights there was no room to squeeze anyone else in. I had taken a show with reviews already there but the fact my bonkers character was backed up by so many videos meant it at least looked like I had not thrown it together on the motorway on the way up (I have actually done that … see next point).

4. Be good.

Ed Fringe is a boiling pot of brilliant acts that have honed this show and their stage persona for months if not years. In 2016 there were 50,266 performances of 3,269 shows in 294 venues across Edinburgh (official figures.)

My Ed Fringe shows in both 2006 and 2007 were OK but definitely not ready for the Ed Fringe battlefield. In 2016 my Singing Psychic show already had done a previous run at Camden Fringe 2015, Prague Fringe 2016, the Brit awards party and a host of other gigs and the images and marketing were all on brand. People just kept on turning up in droves. Word of mouth really works in Edinburgh. If you are funny or provocative or just good, people will talk about you in bars, on trains and to random strangers they are in the queue with for another show.

If your show is not ready go try it elsewhere first till it is: London previews, Brighton Fringe in May, Camden Fringe in August plus there are amazing local fringes across the country from Leicester to Manchester as well. Or take up a 30 minute version of your best material and share your hour with another act.

5. Be nice.

The stresses of doing daily shows, trying to get an audience in (the average Ed Fringe audience is said to be about 20 but there are some huge venues and I have watched lots of shows with a small handful of people in), the flyering, rushing from other gigs etc means you can get tired and emotional.

Be extra nice to everyone; other acts, people in front of you in the queue at Boots and especially nice to your venue and their staff. I used to host cabaret nights and whilst doing two full shows a day at Ed Fringe in 2007 certain acts drama-queen behaviour has stayed with me. To the point where I hear their names and I shudder still years on. This business is small, your tantrum will not be forgotten. Next year someone who watched your meltdown may be hosting a show you are desperate to get on (see next point) or indeed producing major comedy TV work.

6. Do spots on other people’s stages.

There are lots of variety shows from pure stand up shows to cabaret and even magic. You can even go up for a week without a venue, just pre-book some ten minute spots in. Warning though: don’t have all your mini bookings at one venue as if things go wrong for them (shows do get cancelled or moved) you will have paid for accommodation and travel and have no gigs. This happened to a friend of mine last year and we were all trying to find her gigs.

Even if you have a full show, see where you can do a spot on someone else’s show, it is a great way of getting audiences in and getting word of mouth. Practise a very funny five and ten minute set before you go up. With my Singing Psychic show I was doing probably ten spots a week of 5-10 minutes on other people’s stages. Try and book early, there are Ed Fringe Facebook groups that will advertise from April they are looking for acts.

Plus you never know who you meet. I was too late in getting my Singing Psychic gig for a ten minute slot on a certain Ed Fringe variety show last year, but I have had weekly comedy/compering work with a company since directly due to that contact.

7. Pace yourself.

It is very easy to go drinking every night, especially if you have friends who have come up to see you but your voice will get dry, you will get more irritable and you simply will not be as funny. I have to sing on stage as well so I chose to drink once a week (in the last week that slid somewhat as did my notes…)

Eat well – fried Mars Bars are fun but nutrition makes a huge difference on a long run. Sleep when you can. My last weekend in Edinburgh I had booked extra matinee shows as well as my evening ones and I discovered I can sleep backstage in a wig and false eyelashes just yards away from someone else’s show blaring loudly.

8. Make the flyer brilliant.

This is where spending a bit of cash on a real graphic artist or indeed spend time doing a photoshoot is the best use of any spare cash. Become a barista in Starbucks for a month if you have to, to afford this. Make sure your flyer looks like your show (I have made that mistake and had people in the flyer who were not on the stage and people get disappointed). If you have any reviews, stars, claims to fame use them all shamelessly, I had reviews as the show had already done a fair few gigs and it had a lot of stars on it plus a brilliant image (not done by me I hasten to add).

[pdf-embedder url=”https://thecomedycrowd.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/20160802-EDDY-A3.pdf” title=”20160802 EDDY-A3″]

In 2017 not only am I taking a new version of last year’s show up – The Singing Psychic Game Show but I am also planning a brand new character and you can guarantee that ‘AWARD NOMINATED CREATOR & STAR OF THE SINGING PSYCHIC…’ will be proclaimed loud on the front. (My show was a finalist and nominee for Best Show, Funny Women)

Why listen to me?

I am an actress and cabaret artiste who has done shows from Edinburgh, Montreal, Prague and Brighton fringes and London’s West End. As a straight actress I have been in many films, some such as the multi award-winning Sunday Dinner With The Morgans, were screened in over 30 festivals worldwide and reached the semi-final nominations round for an Academy Award in 2015. I am the yummy mummy in The Vamps ‘Shall We Dance” hit video.

Last year as my SINGING PSYCHIC character I performed to full houses at Edinburgh Fringe 2016, the Brit Awards 2016 Official After-Party at the 02, Cannes Film Festival, Prague Fringe Festival and other sell-out shows in London both before and after Edinburgh.

I have done a few full runs of other shows at Ed Fringe, including in 2007 doing my own solo show plus running C Venues Midnight cabaret – 68 shows in 28 days. In 2016 I took my Singing Psychic show to Edinburgh Fringe and had to book extra shows by popular demand. Many shows were so packed that people were squeezing under the DJ booth and right to the back bar. My show was a nominee for Best Show, Funny Women 2016 and although I only got maybe four press people in I did break even, every review was at least 4 stars and I got radio coverage and more TV coverage plus more gigs when I got back to London.

Online my SONGS OF BREXIT web series ended up with me being in BBC2 and London Live TV and I continue to be interviewed as myself or my character monthly on TV and radio. I have made 4 web series for the character and every one of them has opened some very interesting doors.

My new version THE SINGING PSYCHIC GAME SHOW is monthly at The Phoenix Artist Club in Soho, London. Plus I performed at Vault Festival in Feb 2017.

In 2017 my new show ‘Queen Of The F*cking World’ is being showcased at the Tristan Bates Theatre, Covent Garden April 24^th, then previews at the Phoenix in July before premiering in Ed Fringe 2017. I am also taking THE SINGING PSYCHIC GAME SHOW for a run at the Voodoo Rooms, Aug 5-27^th 21.30.

Reviews of my solo work:

• “Completely bonkers in a good way” (London Theatre 1)
• “A stunning 4 star performance” (Comedy Coroner)
• “Good vibes that will leave you laughing long after” (Younger Theatre)
• “Can work a crowd like no other” (Grumpy Gay Critic)
• “A gloriously entertaining night out” (Female Arts) “Certainly knows how to entertain” (Three Weeks).
• “No one sings those songs like you do” (Jeff Beck)

Watch her 90 second Singing Psychic trailer video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_l0wKXyQiOg

www.marysiatrembecka.com

www.singingpsychic.tv

Twitter @marysiat @singpsychic

Facebook:/YouTube/Insta The Singing Psychic

By Jason Flamm

At The Comedy Crowd we talk a lot about why comedy creators should get involved in sketch groups, but how should you actually go about it? In this post Jason Flamm, Comedy Crowder and founder of Sketchpad Comedy, responds to that question when asked by a reader.

“Hey I read your article and loved it. Not sure where you are based out of but I am a Chicago comedian and I am trying to get into live sketch comedy. I’m curious if you have any advice. I have done sketch films, stand up, improv but live sketch on stage is new to me and not sure how to get it off the ground.Do you recommend getting a group? A partner? Writing then rehearsing? I’m curious of your process. I have taken a few sketch classes at second city .Stand up is just immediate- you show up at a bar and sign up and then you are ready to go. I’m not sure how to do that with Sketch.

Thanks for reading!

-Chicago Comedian”

Hi Chicago Comedian —

Thanks for reaching out and I’m glad you loved my article (to read click here). I’m based out of St. Louis, MO— so, close but oh so far away from Chicago.

I’m not entirely sure how to do it in Chicago, but I can tell you how I did it in St. Louis — it’s probably similar, but I would imagine getting stage time there is a bit harder than it is in STL. But, then again, you probably have more people around you who have similar thinking than I do here.

I started in improv before getting into sketch. Because of that I met some really funny people that I thought would be great to work with. So, what I did was simply reach out to them. I sent out a Facebook message to about 19 people and said “Hey, I’m not exactly sure how I’m going to do this, but I want to put on and perform a live sketch comedy show. If you’re interested I’d love to have you be a part of it with me.” I set up a time and date and about 13 of them showed up. Some even brought other friends of theirs that I didn’t know.

Then, we trained ourselves. Sounds like you already have training so you have a head start of where I was! We got a person (with sketch experience) to give us a 3 hour workshop on the basics of sketch comedy and then we found a space to perform and rehearse. Then, about 2 months later we put up the show to our friends who we all invited.

It was that simple.

I would suggest to you to decide a) do you want to work with other people and if so, about how many? b) Reach out to those specific people. Don’t just do a general post on Social media like “hey I’m starting a sketch team, who’s in?” — It’s very likely that will not get a response. Instead, identify people you think are funny and who you think you’d like to spend time with.

Get those people together in a room and let everyone talk about how great being on a sketch team would be and start to think of concepts for shows.

Once you have those things rolling along, you’ll start to figure out what kind of material to develop.

For example, my first sketch team was in the year 2012. We decided to call our show The Last Sketch Comedy Show on Earth. We were trying to play off the Mayan calendar that said the world would be coming to an end on December 21st, 2012.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t.

Having that focus helped us develop our show. “Okay, so we want to talk about the end of the world. We want to frame things around this big event that’s going to happen.” We made ourselves a Mayan Sun Logo:

Now all of a sudden we had an image (in both the logo and our team), we had an identity to play off of and we had something to build material around.

This doesn’t mean we didn’t have our share of non-world ending related sketches, but it was always a compass to go back to.

Limitations are actually a fantastic thing to give yourself as a creator.

From then, we met every week. We wrote together, pitched sketches to one another, decided on what we wanted to present in that month’s show and then rehearsed. Once show date came we put on a show and had a blast.

So, you’ll also need to reach out to a venue or some kind of space. Maybe you know someone that works at a bar that has a stage and is looking for extra revenue on a Monday or Tuesday night? Maybe you can talk to a space that usually has drag shows and see if they have openings on Wednesday or Thursday night that you could put on a show at their space.

The best places to look are going to be bars that aren’t the busiest. The ones that host trivia or karaoke. Because then you know they are open to outside performers or finding ways to draw in extra revenue.

Or find a friend with a big open basement or some abandoned warehouse (our show was performed in a dead part of town at a coffeehouse that barely did any business. It shut down on us, so we had to move. But, then we talked the owner of the building into letting us do our final show there on December 21st. Basically we squatted. haha. It was awesome and we packed the place each show — we were the only sketch show in town, afterall.)

If you have trouble finding a space, get creative. Perform in someone’s big living room. Get a 2 AM show together somewhere. Whatever, it doesn’t matter. The point is getting on stage and gaining that experience… and having fun doing so.

While you find a space, write together. Go to sketch shows together and talk with your group about what you guys liked, didn’t like and what you want to steal (and by steal I mean concepts or ideas, not material. Read Austin Kleon if you have an objection to “stealing.”). Learn what makes each other laugh. Write to your strengths and just do the work.

Also — I know there are tons of people in Chicago doing sketch (they have the largest Sketch Festival in the country going on right now). You probably have someone that you’ve taken a class with or go/went to school with that’s done it before or is super into it. Reach out. Ask for advice from them or even if they’d want to join/teach you guys some stuff.

I’m also down for traveling and workshops — if that’s something you’re interested in. I go to Chicago about 6 times a year for shows and because my girlfriends’ parents live an hour away in Indiana.

The possibilities are definitely there for you!

Thanks again for reaching out — I hope this info was useful!

Best,

Jason

Sketchpad Comedy

PS — oh, also, don’t stop doing all those other things — they will help your live shows and vice versa. Keep up the work man!