Tommy Sheppard: No joke for comedians trying to make a living

Published on Tuesday 11 August 2009 09:52

SO the world's largest arts festival is up and running for another year. Early indications are that it will be a bumper one. "Crisis, what crisis?" as Jim Callaghan would have said. The Fringe is certainly in a lot better shape than last year, with new leadership, a working box office, and a programme that's bigger than ever. Only the tram works can put a damper this unique explosion of culture and celebration.

So with the core Fringe functions operating well, it's maybe time to examine some underlying problems taking the shine off things. Last week, a series of press articles and associated online commentary got debating on the biggest underlying problem of all – the cost of putting on a show, in particular, a comedy show.

This is indeed no laughing matter. It has become ridiculously expensive to do a comedy show on the Fringe. For a handful of comics, cost doesn't matter, they can afford it. Although by the time they get on the telly they are usually waving bye-bye to Edinburgh anyway. But for most, money is a big problem. Comedy, unlike theatre, dance and opera, gets not a bean of public subsidy. There are no arts council-funded comedy companies. The costs have to be covered by the performer, and if they go up to a level most can't afford, then the posh kids win again. That's not just a problem for excluded performers; it's ultimately a problem for us, the audience, as many of those who might be able to make us laugh or think are silenced.

To cover costs, those putting on the shows will put up ticket prices – and that's a problem for us all. It's one thing to pay six or seven quid for someone you've never heard of, but taking a risk for 10 or 12 is a different proposition. So let's get to the bottom of rising costs – broadly speaking, there are three types of outgoings.

The biggest will be the costs of getting the show on stage. Unique amongst all venues in Edinburgh, The Stand Comedy Club underwrites the production costs of every show it puts on. Registering in the Fringe programme, hiring the room, getting the licences, sound equipment, stage lighting, technicians, ushers, box office and some basic publicity are all included in the production budget. This takes first call on income from tickets sales. If we sell enough to cover the costs we split the surplus in the act's favour. Crucially, though, if we don't sell enough, the club picks up the bill. This is what "producing" a show means – you put your money where you mouth is and take the financial risk. We keep costs trimmed to the bone, meaning performers can make money with average sales as low as 15 tickets a day. As a result, no act has ever lost money staging a show at The Stand. I really don't see why other venues don't do the same – we've shown it can work.

I accept, though, that whilst this is good for local performers, if you come from out of town there's a range of inescapable personal expenses which can add up to a small fortune. We don't cover these, but we do what we can to minimise them – for instance, we offer all our performers meals at 2 and subsidised drinks.

But the biggest cost is accommodation. This is where action is most urgently needed – and not just for comedians, but on behalf of all festival artists. One of our performers is forking out 2,500 for a basic two-bedroom flat. Frankly, this is outrageous and the rent being demanded is far beyond that which is acceptable in any civilised reward system. Okay, maybe it would be reasonable under the laws of supply and demand to double the rent for August, but multiplying it four times is an act of shocking usury.

Let's not pretend that the landlords of these festival accommodations are faceless PLCs – we all know someone who's out to make a buck by ripping off the tourists. This has got to stop. We, that is, anyone concerned about the survival of this festival, need to do three things. One, we need to complain about and expose unscrupulous landlords – creating a climate of opinion which sets limits to this exploitation. The council could back this up by using its licensing and environmental staff to clamp down on the worst culprits.

Secondly, we need to create a register of approved landlords who offer flats to visiting performers. This would not only offer landlords decent rents, it would save them agents' and factors' fees, and provide a guarantee against damage. Thirdly, in the longer term, we need to look at managing performers' accommodation directly. Using our collective bargaining power, the Fringe could cut deals with hostels, student accommodation providers and major landlords to lease quality accommodation at a fair rate. Rather than leave things to the vagaries of the market, let's use collective bargaining power to bend the market to our own needs.

In just a couple of years, action like this could help bring some sanity and decency to a system that's getting out of control.

So, if producers covered costs like producers ought to do, and we worked together to control the price of flats in this city, would that solve the problem? Almost. The only outrageous cost then to tackle would be the scandalous and often pointless fees charged by the army of publicists who seduce performers and harry editors to justify their existence. But that, as they say, is another story.

Tommy Sheppard is director of The Stand Comedy Club in the city's York Place and Woodlands Road in Glasgow