Making the Fringe less fringe for North East comics
From award winners to Fringe first-timers, Felt Nowt is giving North East comedians a platform at the world's biggest arts festival
For decades, the Edinburgh Fringe has been one of comedy's most important shop windows. Careers have been launched there, agents and producers have discovered new talent, and performers have taken big steps towards making a living from stand-up
Bit it’s also become prohibitively expensive. For many comedians, the costs of accommodation, venue hire, marketing and simply surviving a month in the Scottish capital have turned the world’s biggest arts festival into an opportunity they can no longer afford.
Rather than accepting that reality, North East comedy collective Felt Nowt has decided to do something about it.
This August, the not-for-profit co-operative will take over an entire Fringe venue, filling it exclusively with comedians from the North East in a bid to make the festival more accessible, more affordable and more collaborative for performers who might otherwise never have made it there.
“The Fringe should be somewhere the best ideas succeed, not just the biggest budgets.”
Comedian and Felt Nowt director, Jake Donaldson
Running from August 7-31 at The Garrett at The Alchemist on George Street (venue 401), the programme will showcase everyone from award-winning comedians to performers making their Fringe debut.
The month-long residency is the collective's most ambitious project to date, but comedian Jake Donaldson says it's rooted in the same aim that has driven Felt Nowt since it was founded during lockdown.
“The big aim is pretty simple,” says Jake, who is a director of Felt Nowt alongside many other North East comics including Lee Kyle, Lauren Pattison, Gavin Webster, Elaine Robertson and John Gibson.
“We want it to be possible to have a career in comedy without feeling like you have to move to London. There’s so much brilliant talent in the North East, but people often end up leaving because that’s where the opportunities seem to be. We’d quite like to prove they don’t have to.”
Following its zoom gig beginnings, Felt Nowt quickly evolved into a co-operative producing gigs, festivals, podcasts and workshops. Jake, who will be performing his show The Fifth Weezer from Aug 7-13, acknowledges the inaugural Fringe venue project is a big leap.
“It’s huge. Slightly terrifying, but huge!” he says. “We’ve got a proper home where audiences can come and discover loads of brilliant acts from the region.”
The programme features established names including Seymour Mace, Raul Kohli, Elaine Robertson, Zoe, Kelly Rickard and Donaldson himself, alongside newcomers ranging from 20-year-old Nat Young to Susan Warlock and Michael Holford, who are both taking on the festival in their sixties.
“Platforming newcomers alongside established comedians is one of the main reasons we’re doing it really, to give everyone an equal playing field,” says Jake. “Every comedian can point to somebody who gave them an opportunity before anyone else would. We’d love Felt Nowt to be that for a few people.”
The biggest obstacle, he says, is financial.
“Edinburgh has always been expensive, but it’s getting to the point where it’s becoming inaccessible for loads of brilliant comedians,” he says. “We’re trying to change that.”
To help do exactly that, Felt Nowt has launched a GoFundMe campaign to support the venue and the artists appearing there.
The money will help cover shared costs including marketing, technical support, accessibility, photography and PR, with any funds raised beyond the target earmarked for bursaries to help performers with accommodation, travel and other Fringe expenses.
Ultimately, Jake says, the goal is simple.
“The Fringe should be somewhere the best ideas succeed, not just the biggest budgets.”
The full Felt Nowt at the Fringe programme, featuring dozens of North East comedians throughout August, can be found at feltnowt.co.uk, while donations to the collective’s GoFundMe campaign are still being accepted to help make this year’s venture - and future opportunities for the region’s comics - a reality.