The Debuts

An hour-long documentary following 5 comedians - Amy Gledhill, Sikisa, Josh Jones, Lily Phillips and Anthony DeVito - all of whom debuted at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2022. The documentary is a funny, intimate showcase of what it's like for comedians to bring their debut show to the festival.

The doc is directed, and narrated by comedian Stuart Laws, who debuted in 2013.

A comic's debut show can be a launching point... or a low point. As the comedy industry has grown in size, popularity, and diversity, the stakes (and emotional turmoil) of debuting have grown higher: it's a chance for a new comedian to announce themselves to the world, turn their hobby into their career, and maybe get nominated for Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards. Comedy-going audiences often don't know that behind the scenes, comedians are on a rollercoaster of emotions that often brings newcomers to their breaking points.

Stuart Laws explained why he wanted to make the documentary: "I've worked with so many comedians over the years and the debut year always feels like make or break for so many acts. I've watched many docs about the fringe and I thought that I could get a level of intimate access to brilliant comedians that would showcase what the festival is really like. The five I filmed were superb and all had brilliant months on paper, but found different struggles along the way."

Sikisa explains what it was like to be filmed for a month: "It was a good wave of emotions to be filmed whilst in my debut year of the fringe mostly because Stuart seems to have a 6th sense of popping up out of nowhere when I was in the middle of a breakdown. Honestly the experience was actually helpful especially as all the comedians were on different paths."