You can book in advance, but there's half price ticket booths and desperate reductions on the door.
So if you book to far in advance you'll feel a right cock.
Also it's good to check out Chortle, reviews etc for the good stuff that isn't famous yet.
Remember LOG was a chisselling little sketch group for some time.
n.b. travel and accomadation are the killer expenses and you should nobble them now
Been to it once, saw Harry Enfield perform his 'Loadsamoney' character and also seen Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson.
Just in case anyone else was interested I have found out the festival runs from 7-31 August this year
I'm going up to Edinburgh again for the third year in a row. Looking forward to it as always - apart from the utter chaos of booking the tickets.
Every year, the people behind the Fringe seem to be surprised when the ticket booking system seems to crash just about every year. No doubt it will again. Last year, we wanted the tickets to be sent in the post and they never came, so we had to get them on the day.
Quote: Tom G @ January 4 2009, 11:34 AM GMTJust in case anyone else was interested I have found out the festival runs from 7-31 August this year
There is stuff going on before and after as well.
Quote: Decisions, decisions, decisions.. @ December 30 2008, 10:06 PM GMTHere is the fringe website address, http://www.edfringe.com/ my recommendation is GO! GO! GO! You may well regret not doing it sooner, but then again you may not!
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I'm bookmarking this because I'm planning on going (probably not this year, maybe next) and this is really useful information. Thank you.
I don't suppose there's any DVDs of past show footage available, e.g. the Perrier Prize Winners?
Quote: catskillz @ January 4 2009, 7:14 PM GMTI don't suppose there's any DVDs of past show footage available, e.g. the Perrier Prize Winners?
The Edinburgh Festival is ace. I'd throughly reccomend it. I went up a good few years ago with couple of mates - saw Jason Byrne (excellent) and Phil Kay (disappointing) then got free tickets to Phil Nichol handed to us in the street (he was brilliant). I even walked past Dave Gorman in a pub. Then, not having accommodation, we drove back to Newcastle at 4 in the morning, prodding each-other to keep awake and avoid crashing and trying to find an all-night garage. But that's another story...
I love the Edinburgh Festival. I will say however...
Pros:
You see all the comics just wandering around talking to anyone who has the guts to go speak to them. I've seen Tim Vine, Michael McIntyre, Stephen K Amos and Rhod Gilbert and I've met Paul Merton, Sue Perkins, Robin Ince, Mike McShane and Danny Wallace and managed to get autographs. That was very nice and they are extremely polite. I was quite nervous at first because I was preparing myself to go and speak to them but once you do you relax into it.
Cons:
If you don't live in Edinburgh, let's just say it gets bloody ridiculously expensive for accommodation. What we tend to do is see as many shows in one day and stay over for one night. You have to book rooms early!
If you don't like cueing then for God's sake take a book or something. There isn't a sadder sight than seeing someone stand alone for half and hour with nothing to do, especially when it's raining. There are loads of people who are by themselves. If you're going by yourself, I suggest more than a book or two to pass the time. It's amazing the number of people who forget to take something along.
Quote: Ian Wolf @ January 4 2009, 11:41 AM GMTEvery year, the people behind the Fringe seem to be surprised when the ticket booking system seems to crash just about every year. No doubt it will again. Last year, we wanted the tickets to be sent in the post and they never came, so we had to get them on the day.
I concur that the Edinburgh box office hasn't got a clue what it's doing. The website to be frank on the day tends to be either crashed, offline or it has a "We have a few technical problems. Please try again in a few minutes" message for about four to five hours after the tickets are supposed to go on sale.
But if you can struggle through all this, the rewards are really worth it considering the number of shows you can fit into a day. The most I've been to in a day is 6. Would have been 7 but the venue was a bit tricky to find. Have a map at all times is my advice.
Edited by Aaron.