As a millennial, I’m so frustrated when I see my peers complaining about their circumstances. The idea that my generation is entirely helpless victims to a failed economy is simply untrue. Look at my own story: Even though I’m only 25, I was recently able to purchase my first house through a combination of working […]
Continue ReadingPerforming improv or standup on a UCB stage might be fun, but that doesn’t mean it’s not labor worthy of payment — especially when you’re performing in front of an audience who paid money to be there, and the tech in charge of the lights shining down on you is getting paid money for his […]
Continue ReadingFrom the top: Hey, this is Dorian from the tax department — we met last Thursday at the BEPS conference downstairs (I was the one whose silk shirt Pierre commented was “thunderous”)? We spoke briefly about getting some help from you marketing guys on our new Tax Bullet product? I just wanted to skit scat […]
Continue ReadingRunning a festival venue is about more than booking acts and selling tickets. From converting lecture rooms to spending £25,000 on Astroturf, we reveal the costs of putting on a show
Ten years ago, at the Edinburgh festival, Anthony Alderson became the not very proud owner of 44 Vauxhall Astras. Alderson, the Pleasance’s director, had bought 22 of the cars from a scrapyard for a show called Auto Auto, staged in the Grand, the largest of the Pleasance venues. But it turned out they were the wrong kind of Vauxhall Astra. The show turned cars into comedy percussion instruments and these all had sun-roofs. So Alderson had to buy another 22. “I think the scrap dealer thought he’d hit the goldmine,” he recalls ruefully.
Related: Theatre producers’ unbreakable rules for the Edinburgh fringe
One year, a large dance company made back the costs of their entire Edinburgh run with a single gig in South America
It’s tough to run a venue, and it’s getting tougher. People do it because they are addicted to Edinburgh in August
Related: Edinburgh festival 2017: what to see and where to go
Continue ReadingModelling bras for Asda, giving tours of parliament, proving yourself on a building site … top comics relive their old day jobs
Continue ReadingAccording to Dan Aykroyd, a sequel to 2016’s Ghostbusters reboot is not in the cards, and Aykroyd isn’t shying away from putting all the blame on director Paul Feig. Speaking on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch yesterday, Aykroyd took issue not with the content of Feig’s take on Ghostbusters – which underperformed at the box office and was […]
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