Daniel Cartoon
Jul
18
New article in The Stage
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Dear John
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Advice for taking my act to Edinburgh
First published 10th August 2008
Question:
I’m taking my act to Edinburgh. What do I need to be aware of to make it work there as well as it does on the regular circuit?
Answer:
Just before Christmas, there will be an upsurge of enquiries to this column about breaking into panto, even though the majority of castings for this year will have been done months ago. Similarly, the festival season may inspire young performers to put a show together, but most of the big festivals and all the decent venues will have been booked up well in advance. But while I encourage disappointed acts to dry their tears and apply to be part of next year’s festival, due to no-shows, planning glitches and sometimes just blagging on the night, it is by no means impossible to find oneself in front of a festival audience this year, even if you haven’t organised your place. And even if you only find yourself as a member of the audience, you will find that not every act honed on the circuit translates well to this new setting, and that not every performer who secured their place has put in the planning to make the most of it.
Here are two comedians to watch with some reflections on what they have learnt so far and what they are taking to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Daniel Sloss
With a bit of prompting from Dear John, beginner comic Sloss was taken under the wing of headliner Frankie Boyle during his stint at the EFF, which led to him starting his own stand-up career. One year on, with some very good reviews and the inevitable bumps and bruises of the comedy foothills behind him, Sloss is returning to Edinburgh as a comic in his own right.
“I tried to do as many gigs as I could during my first ten months – more than 50. The more I did, the more confident I got. The more material I tried, the better I became. And the more audiences I gigged to, the more people noticed and remembered me.
“But the other thing I learned is that bad gigs will happen. No maybes, no buts… it will happen. They’re terrible, but you mustn’t let them get you down – just shrug them off and keep going.
“After doing a comedy workshop, I was chosen to showcase my stand-up abilities in front of more experienced comedians. I had one established comedian tear me to pieces and tell me why I was crap and why I should give up. And although it was painful to listen to, it helped.
I went home and changed my material and took his words of advice and the next day stormed a gig.
“I think the thing that has been most useful to learn for the festival setting is that audiences vary incredibly, even in the same club or pub, so having a flexible set helps you tune your act accordingly.
“At the same time, working hard on your own original material is important – both the audiences and other comics have seen and heard far more internet comedy, email humour and cable TV shows than you have, so if you try and slip secondhand material into your act, you will almost certainly be found out. And even if you are not, you are just selling yourself and the audience short anyhow.”
Rhona Croker
Croker is a versatile actress with both theatre and TV experience who is also part of rising comedy duo Croker and Jory. As with many Edinburgh performers, this year will see her wearing several comedy hats as a cast member of Pot Noodle – the Musical and as part of the Scratch Comedy Improvisation team.
“Like every performer, my ideal outcome from Edinburgh would be to be seen by more people and get more of the work I enjoy doing as a result. The two shows I’m involved in will, I hope, give me a chance to show different aspects of what I can do.
“Like Daniel, the two things I have learnt from working on the comedy circuit are the importance of being original and the awareness that every audience is different.
“That’s one element which makes having impro skills very useful, as you usually don’t know what an audience is going to be like until you are actually performing in front of it, so it is good to be able to have some flexibility on where you can take things.
“Obviously, performing as part of a comedy team as I do is great grounding for being on stage with other performers and developing material together – something which would be a lot harder to gain for someone working as a solo stand-up.
“Pot Noodle – The Musical has been developed by all of us working together as a cast, so there is a great sense of not just performing lines, but of really having thought through and developed the material.
“One other thing you learn on the comedy circuit is that writing and performing comedy usually involves a lot of hard work to make the final product fun, and with so many performers and groups in the one place, all with those same goals of standing out and making an impact, the more hard work you have put in beforehand, the better.”
John sums up
As Sloss and Croker point out, if you are planning your first (or your 40th) trip to Edinburgh, it’s always worth putting the preparation work in. On the other hand, since nothing in this or other festivals is ever exactly what you expect, it is not a bad idea to develop a flexible attitude rather than sticking rigidly to what you planned, regardless of the circumstances. And that’s not a bad attitude to have even on your usual circuit.
Speaking of Edinburgh gigs, just to let you know that I’ll be joining The Stage’s resident education expert Susan Elkin, among others, for two informative sessions entitled So You Think You Want to be an Actor?, which we are putting on in conjunction with the National Council for Drama Training and Spotlight.
We will be at the Cabaret Bar in the Pleasance at 11am on Tuesday, August 19 and Wednesday, August 20 and places are limited.
See www.ncdt.co.uk for details – tickets can also be booked via www.pleasance.co.uk. Outside those hours, I’ll be walking those ever hilly streets, so Dear John readers who are performing this year and need an extra bum on a seat now know where to find me.
* Sloss’ gig details on the circuit and at the festival are at www.myspace.com/danielslosscomedy
* Croker (and Croker and Jory) are managed by Mike Leigh Associates on 020 7935 5500 and www.mikeleighassoc.com. Pot Noodle – The Musical is on at the Assembly Rooms from 30th July until 25th August 2008. You can find out more about Scratch Comedy Improvisation on their website.
* Feedback/queries are welcome to dearjohn@thestage.co.uk
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