Fringe comedy spat turns deadly serious as big names face eviction

TWO of the biggest Edinburgh Fringe promoters face being kicked out of their flagship venues because of the con- troversial "breakaway" Comedy Festival.

The Scotsman has learned that city council leaders are considering cancelling agreements from next year with the Assembly Rooms and Underbelly for their main venues if the new venture proves damaging.

Councillors and officials are said to be increasingly concerned at the way the fledgling festival is being promoted at the expense of the Fringe.

Senior sources claim the move is being actively explored in a bid to protect the Fringe "brand" and venues which are not part of the Comedy Festival, but are staging comedy on the Fringe.

One insider said: "The people running these venues should remember they are only leasing these buildings during the Fringe. It is not a given they will be allowed to return next year.

"Although the council doesn't have a huge financial input into the Fringe, it does provide significant support in other ways – in accommodating major events, issuing late licences and allowing buildings to be leased as venues.

"The Comedy Festival could up sticks from Edinburgh completely from next year and decant to another city. The onus is on the council to protect the brand of the Fringe."

The run-up to this year's Fringe has been dogged by controversy amid in-fighting between promoters and embarrassment for the Fringe after its official launch was overshadowed by the unveiling of the new festival.

The four biggest venues on the Fringe – Underbelly, Pleasance, Gilded Balloon and Assembly Rooms – have joined forces for the first time to run the new festival, although tickets for all their comedy shows are still available through the Fringe box office.

Councillor Steve Cardownie, the city's festivals and events champion, has led criticism of the new comedy festival.

He is expected to meet the main protagonists in the row over the next few days.

Bill Burdett-Coutts, the director of the Assembly Rooms, has also been accused of trying to hold the council to ransom by threatening to quit the Fringe altogether if a revamp of his main venue goes ahead.

Mr Cardownie said: "It's been suggested to me that the council could seek to influence who is granted a licence for a building during the Fringe, although I'm not saying that's definitely going to happen next year.

"We will be watching very closely what happens in Edinburgh this August and what is said publicly by the various parties.

"The council is under no illusions how important the Fringe is and we are concerned about anything that dilutes or damages the brand of the Fringe. The Edinburgh Comedy Festival did not exist until this year and has only been created by these venues."

Mr Burdett-Coutts said: "It does seem as if everybody is doing their bit to stir things up at the moment.

"That is a real shame, as we are not doing this for malicious reasons, and to not support this new comedy festival is crazy. We are simply trying to make (the Fringe] a success and bring more people to the city."

Controversy has raged over the creation of the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, which boasts Clive James, Ruby Wax, Ed Byrne and Billy Bailey among the headline performers for its first year.

As well as performing in her semi-autobiographical play, Joan Rivers will feature in a series of late-night gigs.

Fringe favourites such as Omid Djalili, Otis Lee Crenshaw and Tim Minchin will also be part of the new festival.

Row is latest in long line to bedevil jamboree

THE recent annals of the Fringe are well-documented with spats between the city council and Bill Burdett-Coutts, the veteran impresario behind the Assembly Rooms empire.

The first rumblings of discontent came ten years ago when the council decided to raise the rent on the George Street venue and slash his grant. The next year he was facing eviction from the Assembly Rooms after racking up thousands of pounds in debts.

Then it emerged the council wanted to put the right to run shows in the venue out to contract, leading to Mr Burdett-Coutts complaining that he had been "kicked in the teeth".

But the council was forced to re-award the contract to the impresario after being threatened with legal action, and in recent years it has had a series of rolling agreements with Assembly Theatre.

However, relations between the two parties dissolved in December 2006 after the council published detailed plans to refurbish the building. The following summer Mr Burdett-Coutts pledged to fight the council's revamp, warning that it threatened to make his Fringe operation unviable.

Relations between the Underbelly's entrepreneurs, Ed Bartlam and Charlie Wood, have been much better since the council helped them get their fledgling operation off the ground by leasing out the space below the Central Library for their first venue.

But they upset councillors by demanding campsites in parks such as the Meadows.

The new comedy festival was drawn up without consultation with the council, which owns both the Assembly Rooms and the Underbelly.

Steve Cardownie warned: "Anything that detracts from that brand name is dangerous and worrying".