{"id":11784,"date":"2012-08-07T06:16:14","date_gmt":"2012-08-07T05:16:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.badreputation.org.uk\/?p=11784"},"modified":"2012-08-07T07:04:32","modified_gmt":"2012-08-07T06:04:32","slug":"beginners-guide-to-the-edinburgh-fringe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/badreputation.org.uk\/2012\/08\/07\/beginners-guide-to-the-edinburgh-fringe\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginner’s Guide to the Edinburgh Fringe"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Edinburgh Fringe has begun! I\u2019m not there yet \u2013 I\u2019ll get there next Saturday \u2013 but the Twitter updates from friends there are already making me jealous and nostalgic in almost equal measure. This year will be my fourth Fringe \u2013 so here\u2019s a beginner\u2019s guide from – if not an old hand – someone who’s been ’round the Edinburgh block a few times.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Welcome to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival! Wave goodbye to your money, sobriety and any semblance of a normal sleep pattern. Say hello to the weird, the wonderful, and hysterical, dry-heaving laughter of a kind that won’t quite translate to the outside world.<\/p>\n

Get ready to start spotting your idols just walking down the street, get ready to say \u2018no thanks\u2019 to flyers roughly every 30 seconds, and wind up taking them anyway because the person handing you them was funny\/charming\/in a funny costume\/worryingly eager. Primarily: prepared to be completely overwhelmed for choice.<\/p>\n

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No poster stays up for long before someone posts another over it<\/p><\/div>\n

The very first time I went to the Fringe, I just dipped in for a day when I happened to be in Scotland. My travelling companion and I almost had panic attacks when we started leafing through the Fringe Brochure (about 1\/3 the size of a Yellow Pages directory and stuffed full of tempting offers). In the end, we managed three shows in one day, literally ran from one venue to another to make it in time and managed a pretty full Fringe experience: Debbie Does Dallas: the Musical<\/strong>, the wonderful Aussie musical comedy guys Tripod<\/a>, and a belly-flop of a gig when we paid \u00a310 to see Phill Jupitas Reads Dickens. It was literally just Phill Jupitas reading some of Dickens’ lesser-known short stories and \u2013 on that day \u2013 he was in a foul mood. Also: the day cost us \u00a345 each in tickets alone. This was before I knew about the Free Fringe (more on that in a moment).<\/p>\n

The great thing about the last couple of years when I’ve been up with a show (mostly just doing the flyering for them) is that way you have a big group of mates up there, and you can learn from each other’s viewing mistakes and benefit from each other’s recommendations. There are more shows at Edinburgh than you’ll ever be able to get through, even if you’re there for the full three weeks with both a millionaire’s budget and a jetpack to get from venue to venue \u2013 so choosing how to spend your time is important.<\/p>\n

Royal Mile<\/h3>\n
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Lying on the floor in an ‘installation’: my unfavourite flyering technique<\/p><\/div>\n

This is where is all happens. The Royal Mile is a cobbled, pedestrianised stretch of road which \u2013 for the time of the Fringe \u2013 will become a gauntlet of street performers, impromptu performances, and a small forest\u2019s worth of flyers. Shows with cool costumes will be flyering in character, improvisers will be improvising, musicians will be singing, and three small Fringe stages will be showing 10-20 minute showcases from a wide variety of shows.<\/p>\n

PBH Free Fringe<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a>The PBH Free Fringe<\/a> is a wonderful institution. It\u2019s been running since 1996, put together by a guy called Peter Buckley Hill (known to many as PBH.) As the Fringe became more and more expensive, the financial risks increased for performers. While headline names from the telly have guaranteed audiences, the vast majority of performers will be lucky if they break even after a run. As the main groups of venues increased their prices over the years, the financial risks of taking a show up to the Fringe also increased. A debt of a few grand isn’t unheard of, and is easily enough to wipe out a small arts troupe. To counteract this, PBH set up the Free Fringe, where performers don\u2019t pay for the venues and audiences don\u2019t pay to enter. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s lots of bucket-shaking at the end, but you can see a show and then<\/em> decide what it\u2019s worth. A good guide: give as many pounds as you would give it stars (out of five). If it sucked<\/a> \u2013 you can just walk out. No obligation. No misgynistic asshole will call. If it rocked your world, give them a fiver (or more!) and buy a book or a CD from the performers. It’s good manners to buy a drink at the venues to make sure they stay with the Free Fringe next year, and to make sure you have enough change at the end. (If you’re broke, you can always just shake the performer’s hand and say thank you.)<\/p>\n

Fringe Adventurer’s Cheat Sheet<\/h3>\n