Horizon Expansion
A lot of people think the perfect occasion on which to enjoy stand up comedy in the capital of Scotland is in the Fringe every year.
I am one of those who disagree with that theory. Make the most of the Festival if you get the chance, but expand your horizons. Once in a while the support performers somewhere else will be more entertaining.
A principal argument which folk provide for going to the Fringe is that you are able to see the big-name stand-ups, plus get to see the next big things in standup before anyone else. My personal experience differs. The big-name comics' shows frequently end up being sold out prior to the time when you have actually been told they're performing, therefore you're less able to see them perform as opposed to the rest of the year. Furthermore the argument that you can get to catch the up and coming acts as they're discovered: in all honesty, I guess it is possible, but you are more likely to witness somebody that offers ten mins of quite funny material, and forty mins of rubbish. None the less, they had a terrific write-up due to the fact that the reviewer merely had time to see the first ten minutes.
Which might be the reasons that folk offer to support their statement that the perfect time to experience stand-ups in Scotland's capital is during the Festival? 1 argument is the number of performances that are happening. Rather than the standard selection of stand-up performances, there are hundreds in the Fringe. However my point is that abundance does not necessarily imply quality. Over the years I've gone to tons of stand up comedy performances at the Fringe, and a large proportion of these were dire. I have left several shows after sitting for more than 30 mins without even having the urge to smile, never mind giggle. Simply due to the fact that a standup gig is part of the Fringe does not mean it is likely to be entertaining.
I go to a lot of comedy performances at all times of the year, and in my opinion there are far fewer truly awful gigs being staged outside of the Festival.
Once in a while you are able to get cut-price comedy tickets during the Edinburgh Festival due to the fact that there are a good deal of 2-for-1 promotions on.
What this really means is that if you take advantage of a two-for-the-price-of-one deal, it sets you back the same price to see a performance as it does at any other time of the year, as throughout the Fringe all of the ticket prices multiply by two. I'll take stand up night at my neighbourhood standup place over that.