Getting a Good Deal?
Sometimes you're able to acquire cheap comedy tickets in the Festival because there are tons of 2-for-1 deals on. All that genuinely means is that if you utilise a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, it costs you the identical price to attend a performance as it would normally, since in the Festival all the entry fees double. I'll go for open-mic evening in my neighbourhood stand-up venue any day.
The majority of people believe that the best opportunity to catch stand up comedy in the capital of Scotland is during the Festival each summer.
I'm in the minority who disagree with that statement. Enjoy the Festival by all means, but see beyond it as well. Often the warm up comedians elsewhere will be more entertaining.
What are the reasons which people provide to support their argument that the best time to witness comedians in Scotland's capital is in the Fringe? 1 reason is the quantity of gigs that are on.
Instead of the usual few comedy gigs, there are a multitude during the Fringe. But my point is that quantity does not necessarily imply great material. Over time I have seen scores of stand up comedy events during the Festival, and a large proportion of those were awful. I've left several shows after sitting for approximately 25 minutes without ever feeling the temptation to smile, far less guffaw.
Simply because a standup show is part of the Fringe doesn't necessarily mean it is going to be entertaining. I see a lot of stand-up gigs at all times of the year, and from my standpoint there are far fewer truly awful shows on at other times of the year.
One prime argument which folk provide for going to the Fringe is that we can catch the most famed comedians, and have the opportunity to see the next big things in comedy while they're still relatively unknown. My personal experience begs to differ. The most famous stand ups' shows usually sell out prior to the time when you have actually heard they're performing, and consequently you're no more able to see them perform than at the rest of the year. And the point that you're able to see the next big things as they're released upon the world: in truth, I suppose it's conceivable, but you're more likely to see a comedian who has ten mins of pretty entertaining stuff, and 40 minutes of rubbish. None the less, they got a great review since the journalist just had time to watch the first ten minutes.