Promoting Good Comedy
Sometimes you're able to grab cheap comedy tickets in the Edinburgh Fringe because there are tons of two-for-the-price-of-one deals on. What this genuinely involves is that when you use a 2-for-1 promotion, it means you pay the same price to see a performance as it would at any other time of the year, because at the Festival all of the ticket prices increase two times. I'll take open-mic night in my neighborhood standup club any day.
The majority of people think the best opportunity to go and see stand up comedy in Edinburgh is during the Fringe every year. I'm one of those who doesn't agree with that reasoning.
Make the most of the Festival if you get the chance, but see beyond it as well. Often the warm-up comedians elsewhere will be better.
Which might be the explanations which people provide to back up their statement that the ideal time to see stand-up in Edinburgh is during the Festival? 1 reason is the volume of performances which are happening. Rather than the normal selection of comedy performances, there are hundreds in the Fringe. But my argument is that quantity doesn't necessarily mean a high standard.
In my time I have been to dozens of stand up comedy events during the Festival, and well over half of them were awful. I have left a number of performances after listening for about thirty minutes without even feeling the need to crack a smile, far less giggle.
Merely because a stand-up show is in the Festival does not guarantee that it's likely to be hilarious. I see countless stand-up performances at all times of the year, and in my experience there are far fewer genuinely dreadful performances on at other times of the year.
One prime reason that people provide for attending the Fringe is that you are able to watch the big-name stand-ups, and have the opportunity to watch the up and coming acts in standup while they're still relatively unknown.
My own experience is somewhat different.
The most renowned comedians' shows always sell out prior to the time when you've actually heard they're happening, therefore you are no more likely to catch them perform than at the rest of the year. In addition the point that you can get to witness the up and coming acts being released upon the world: to be fair, I suppose it's conceivable, however you're probably going to see someone who has 5 minutes of pretty funny material, and thirty-five mins of rubbish. Nevertheless, they got a fantastic write-up due to the fact that the journalist only had time to see the first ten minutes.