COMEDY, it seems, is no laughing matter. In a punchline-free press release, four of Edinburgh's biggest Fringe venues announced last week they were teaming up to promote a Comedy Festival this summer.
The news has sparked much wailing and gnashi
ng of teeth amongst Fringe rivals, comedians and critics.
On the face of it, the plans by the Pleasance, Assembly, Underbelly and Gilded Balloon to run "the biggest comedy festival in the world" are fairly straightforward.
But the move – branded the biggest "breakaway" in the 61-year history of the Fringe – has prompted fears of financial meltdown at the Fringe, new talent being denied the chance to shine and big-name comedians being enticed to new events in rival cities.
So, what will the latest addition to the ever-evolving Fringe programme mean for audiences at the world's biggest arts festival? And why are so many people so concerned?
Having been the driving force behind a massive growth in Fringe comedy audiences in recent years, this summer the "big four" will host around 250 comedy acts.
All of these acts will remain part of the Fringe this summer, appearing in the official brochure.
The biggest difference audiences will notice will be thousands of new Comedy Festival brochures as well.
This may not seem like a big deal, but another, less noticeable change, may have bigger ramifications.
The promoters of the Comedy Festival – who hope to sell 550,000 comedy tickets, 30,000 more than all comedy events at last year's Fringe – are reportedly seeking £650,000 from a new title sponsor.
The potential to draw valuable resources from the rest of the Fringe is clear.
William Burdett-Coutts, director of Assembly, says the move is driven solely by a need to better market the venues' shows in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
"This is my 30th year on the Fringe and in that time I have seen comedy grow from a few shows to become a major part of what takes place in Edinburgh," he says.
"I think this is a welcome development that will give comedy the platform it deserves whilst also being a magnificent way of improving marketing for our collective programmes and the Festival as a whole."
If the new festival hits its sales target, comedy will be the biggest part of the Fringe, overtaking theatre for the first time. The plan is eventually to include all venues showing comedy in future Festivals.
Why, then, have Fringe insiders called the move the most significant "breakaway" in the history of the Festival?
The big underlying fear is that this could be the first step towards a full-scale split from the Fringe.
If the Comedy Festival takes off, will the promoters and acts involved continue to pay hundreds of pounds a time to be included in the official Fringe brochure?
Also, would a successful standalone comedy festival feel tied exclusively to Edinburgh, when other emerging festival cities like Brighton and Liverpool are bound to come courting?
Concerns have also been raised about the chances for new comedians to make their big breakthrough in Edinburgh becoming more limited.
Marlene Zwickler, an Edinburgh-based comedy producer, says: "I don't think this will do anything to promote new comedy talent.
"The reasoning behind what these venues are doing, which is finding a new way to market their product, is sound, but I think it will be very divisive and I don't know if there is really a need for it.
"The worry is that this will make it even harder for people to break into comedy, as the smaller venues will be even more overlooked."
Officially, the Fringe has welcomed the move, with director Jon Morgan saying it would be "part of the broad mix of comedy, theatre, dance, musical theatre and music at the Fringe".
Despite this, there are strong suggestions they are less than pleased at the idea, and with good reason.
The Fringe receives the majority of its funding from three sources – sponsorship, money from shows that want to be included in the official Fringe guide, and a small cut of money from ticket sales.
The Comedy Festival is an immediate threat to their sponsorship revenue and a potential risk to their other two income sources.
Losing the big four venues could see their revenue drop by around 30 per cent.
The impact on the ever-popular Fringe Sunday and the Fringe's international marketing efforts could be catastrophic.
While it's hard to see long-standing Edinburgh institutions like the Assembly Rooms or the Gilded Balloon abandoning the Fringe, there will be temptations there for their London- controlled partners.
"Of these big four venues, two – the Pleasance and the Underbelly – are not run from Edinburgh, but from London," one festivals source said.
"Creating a comedy festival like this would mean they had a standalone product that, if they wanted to, they could conceivably take to other, growing festivals like Brighton or Manchester, if they felt the money was right.
"That has to be of concern to Edinburgh."
Ultimately, as in all walks of life, market forces will decide the future. And, with comedy growing in popularity, its profile is bound to rise.
But as the "big four" venues develop their own plans, they should perhaps be wary of starving the golden goose which first laid the Edinburgh comedy egg.
The full article contains 936 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
