Keeping busy at the Edinburgh Fringe - we asked some of the festival's busiest comedians (Raul Kohli, Stephanie Laing, Sid Singh and Chris Turner) to tell us a bit about performing multiple shows every day.

Raul Kohli

Doing two shows is simultaneously worth it and not worth it. Last year I did 3 hours a day: a compilation show, a solo hour and a crowd-work hour. People have called me both the hardest working man at the Fringe and also a psychopath. My calendar was hectic. Last year I barely felt tired. I don't know where I found the energy, I think better lifestyle choices but also I had a lot less personally in my life going on in the run up and had a lot less riding on the solo show. This year, the solo show means a lot to me, but also I had so much personal stuff going on, that doing 2 shows has felt pretty exhausting. Still I am yet to have a bad show and ultimately doing multiple shows allows for two things: more revenue (which is always a bonus at the Fringe), but also when you go back to doing 20 minutes on the circuit or a ten spot compilation after doing an hour of crowd-work and an hour of material, you can do it in your sleep. Edinburgh has always been a boot camp of sorts, and when you do it as extreme as me, you come out an infinitely better comic than you were.

My day involves getting up at around 10 - 10:30am. I have a pre-workout shake; do a light workout, nothing too heavy, just enough to get my mind ticking; have a sausage roll from Greggs; I cycle over to my crowd-work show at around 12:45/1pm and help the flyerers, then do the show at 1:45pm. I leave at 2:45pm, usually have a compilation to do, either: CLEAN Pick of the Fringe, or normal Pick of the Fringe, usually a closing 10 minute spot; then I grab 2 slices of pizza, usually have a 10 - 20 minute nap in my venue, Cabaret Voltaire; then do the hour at 6:30pm; then run round the corner to open Jocks, Geordies & Asians (run by Dan Willis, who, when I first started coming to the Fringe, did 6 shows a day, which is where I got the idea from). I exit flyer, then I usually decompress with friends at the Counting House/Pear Tree, home for around 11pm/midnight and go over my show; read a book and go to bed to do it all again the next day.

Raul Kohli: Raul Britannia is at Cabaret Voltaire at 6:30pm, 1-11 & 13-25 August. EdFringe.com

Crowdwork Hour is at Bar 50 at 1:45pm, 1-11 & 13-25 August. EdFringe.com

Sid Singh

There are tons of reasons to do multiple shows every day at the Fringe! With a second show, you have more chances to grow as an artist, more freedom and time to test out new jokes, more chances to meet and perform for more audience members, and more...ok who are we kidding? The main reason to do multiple shows at the Fringe everyday is to make MORE MONEY, especially on the Free Fringe. With rising costs for housing, room fees, transportation, etc, every extra show is one step towards making money and paying your bills. For me, personally, I also give half of my money to the US Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, which means if I don't want to be broke at the end of this run, I'd better do 2 shows a day minimum! Yes, technically I harbour dreams of fancy industry types finally coming in to see my show from last year, which I am doing again and which won the BCG award for Best Performer at the Comedian's Choice Awards, but in reality I'll settle for paying my bills.

Sid Singh: American Coloniser is at Cabaret Voltaire at 5pm, 1-11 & 13-25 August. EdFringe.com

Sid Singh: Table for One is at The Counting House at 1:15pm, 1-25 August. EdFringe.com

Stephanie Laing

A busy day at the Fringe. Show one at 1pm is Boardgame Smackdown, where comedians play games in front of the audience (as James Cook says at the start, this is a lot more entertaining than it sounds). Then time to get ready for my show, Rudder, at 2:50pm where I'll be dancing around and doing stand-up and getting really quite sweaty. Then back to a friend's house for some food, then a play called Loose Lips that I'm in with Robyn Perkins at 5:30pm. Then 6:45pm, again for Robyn Perkins, a show called Comedy for the Curious, which is a comedy show about SCIENCE. Amazing fun. Today the topic was love and hate. Then a quick shower at a friend's house, and back to the van I'm sleeping in to watch one episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then SLEEP.

I love performing in this way - I get to do my favourite thing multiple times a day, plus you get the STEPS. My skin is GLOWING.

Stephanie Laing: Rudder is at Udderbelly, George Square at 2:50pm, 31 Jul; 1-11 & 13-26 August. EdFringe.com

Loose Lips by Lucy Frederick is at 32 Below at 1pm, 1-11 & 13-25 August. EdFringe.com

Comedy for the Curious is at The Pear Tree at 6:45pm, 1-11, 13-18 & 20-25 August. EdFringe.com

Chris Turner

I've been performing multiple shows each day at the Fringe since 2010 - I love the adrenaline stacking of daisy-chaining one good show to the next, or making up for a lacklustre gig by giving it more oomph at the next one - not to mention the sheer number of 'reps' you can get by doing 4 shows a day for almost a month.

My afternoon improv show Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised (performed with four mates I've known since 2009, and now in our 11th year at the Fringe) has always been a perfect tentpole to build a busy day around as a performer, as it guarantees one fun hour a day, just messing around with pals in front of a big crowd. Exit flyering that show helps introduce audience members to your other shows, and they're more likely to come and see you again, having spent 60 minutes already laughing at you.

Scheduling extra spots on showcases can prove a logistical challenge, but are always a great way to get more bums on seats, and doing 15 minutes to people who've no idea who you are is a different challenge to delivering an hour to a room full of people who've come for the sole purpose of seeing you.

I don't do as many 4-show days now as I used to (I have a daughter, and parenting is essentially producing and performing multiple shows in every genre every single day of every month of FOREVER), but it still gives me the same buzz that it used to almost 15 years ago, and is a great way to experience my favourite festival fringe.

Chris Turner: Childish is at Underbelly, Cowgate at 5:45pm, 1-11, 13-18 & 20-25 August. EdFringe.com

Aaaand Now For Something Completely Improvised is at Assembly George Square Studios at 2:55pm, 31 Jul; 1-11 August. EdFringe.com