Written by: Ian Wolf
Published: Sunday 1st August 2010

Ian Wolf (pictured on the right of Mitch Benn) reports on the other Fringe festival that takes place during the summer - the Stockton Riverside Fringe Festival (Friday 30th July - Sunday 1st August 2010)...

Everyone goes on about the Edinburgh Fringe as if there is seemingly only one festival in the world where you can see a load of comedians performing. Yes, Edinburgh is the biggest festival, but it's not the only Fringe festival in August where you can see comedians. There is one town which still welcomes any comic to come and perform during the last few days of July and the first few of August. It's Stockton-on-Tees, and I should know - I live there.

Stockton is primarily known for being home to the first passenger railway, the friction match and the widest High Street in Britain. It also has the more dubious reputation of being declared the child obesity capital of the UK. That's perhaps not that much of a surprise when apparently we people of Stockton consume more pork pies than anyone else in Europe, and when you consider that Teesside's 'national dish' the parmo consists of flattened pork or chicken, which is either battered or breadcrumbed, smothered in Bechamel Sauce, covered in cheddar cheese and then baked or grilled in an oven! So in terms of comparisons between Edinburgh and Stockton, there is a similarity in terms of bad diet.

It should be pointed out that Stockton is the home of some famous comedic names. Comedian Jimmy James and comic actor Will Hay were born in Stockton, as was Drop the Dead Donkey star Stephen Tompkinson. Meanwhile Richard Griffiths was born in nearby Thornaby and went to school in Stockton.

In recent years Stockton has begun to attract more comedians, mainly following the building of the Stockton ARC - an arts centre with a main room which is notable for housing four mirror balls (more than anyone could ever need in a single room) and for playing host to several comic names.

Amongst those who have played at the ARC include Dylan Moran, Rich Hall, Brendon Burns, John Bishop, Jason Manford, Mark Thomas, Jeremy Hardy, and a before-he-was-big Michael McIntyre. I remember attending the McIntyre gig, which was a most eventful night, mainly because when he played on 9th May 2008 (I've still got the ticket), someone had a fit causing McIntyre to call the interval early so the person could go for medical treatment.

Since 1988, my town has been home to the Stockton International Riverside Festival, which is a large outdoor arts festival. In 1991, a rival was set up by local musicians, which became the Stockton Riverside Festival Fringe. The Fringe not only attracts musicians, but also comics now too. It originally started at a small theatre (The Georgian Theatre) and now, in what is the Fringe's 20th year, it is attracting big names. Appropriately enough, the festival is now played on the fringe of the Tees, near the bank of the river.

While many people go to see the bands - this year's highlights including The Human League and The Lightning Seeds - there is a comedy tent where you can see some great comic talent. Phil Nichol, Sarah Millican, Paul Sinha, Andrew Laurence, Mitch Benn and Ivan Brackenbury are just some of those who are performing. (Reginald D. Hunter was going to be attending this year too, but has had to cancel due to illness. Canadian comic Tom Stade is now standing in for him.)

I talked to Peter Vincent (pictured), the man behind the comedy at the Stockton Fringe and a former stand-up himself. He told me that comedy was an important part of the Fringe: "The comedy stage is given just as much level of importance as what the main stage gets. So yes, we're a bit smaller, but that's the size of the site. But as for facilities and for the service we get, I get everything I ask for."

Vincent also does not think that music pushes the comedy out of the limelight. "I think sometimes it's difficult to compete with a band like Supergrass. You could have Michael McIntyre here and we would fill it, but obviously Michael McIntyre is a lot of money."

The Fringe is funded by several bodies including sponsorship deals, arts council grants and the local Stockton council, but Vincent has said that he is not worried about possible cutbacks due to the recession, and back-up plans have been drawn up in case such a thing were to happen.

The actual comedy tent is an interesting experience. For one thing it is at the back end of the Fringe complex, so you have to travel past the main music stage before you get to it. This is somewhat problematic because you can still hear the music very faintly in the comedy tent. So, as you are trying to listen to a comedian performing, you've got some tune from an unknown rock band playing in the background. Luckily three of the acts on yesterday (Mitch Benn, Steve Shanyaski and Ivan Brackenbury) were mainly musical or did musical numbers so they did help drown the noise out.

However, do not let this deter you from coming. Not only does the Stockton Fringe boast good acts, but it is a somewhat different experience from going to see the Edinburgh Fringe. The main difference, apart from having Don't You Want Me Baby playing quietly in the background, is that you don't see just one individual performing their full hour-long set like how things work in Edinburgh. Here, the acts are limited to 20-30 minutes each, with a compere also working during the show, rather like a comedy club.

Yesterday the compere was Sunderland-based comic Matt Reed (pictured), who along with fellow stand-up and former resident of Newcastle-upon-Tyne Chris Martin (who is performing at the festival for the first time on Saturday) told me that the Stockton Fringe is not used just as a simple warm-up. However, Reed comments that Stockton does often get a good line-up from passing comics: "Edinburgh is obviously very popular and that's a good thing. That's why we can get good bills for this place, cos there's a lot of people coming up from London and on the way to Edinburgh. Stockton is on the way and it's a paid gig. So the acts get a bit of pocket money for Edinburgh, because Edinburgh does bankrupt a lot of comedians!"

Martin, who is performing at the Edinburgh Fringe for a week this year, says that he is not using it just as a warm-up: "I'm just doing because I wanted to do a fun gig, hang out with mates and see some Calvin Harris."

More information can be found from:

The Stockton Fringe website & and from their Fringe Twitter account