Singularly the weirdest Fringe show ever?

THE lights will dim and the most controversial comedian of his generation will walk on to the stage to the applause of … one solitary member of the audience who has paid £7,349 (£7,348 concessions) for the only ticket for the "one night only" show at the Edinburgh Fringe. That is if anyone buys it when it goes on sale next week.

US comedian Doug Stanhope's show might be dismissed as just another publicity stunt but behind it lies a battle to keep alive the spirit of the world's biggest arts festival as the place where unknowns can achieve their dream of overnight success.

Stanhope, 40, has decided to take a stand in the battle raging between rival comedy promoters over how and where shows are advertised.

At the heart of the dispute is the decision this year by four major players – the Gilded Balloon, the Pleasance, the Underbelly and the Assembly – to set up the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and advertise its wares in a separate glossy brochure as well as the traditional Fringe programme.

Critics say this is a move by the promoters to generate more income by creating confusion among festival-goers.

They also say it creates a false impression that a separate comedy festival has been established.

"The big agents in the Edinburgh Comedy Festival are acting like douche-bags – they are trying to monopolise a festival which is for everyone and (they] could easily take a much smaller stake," said Stanhope.

He said the four-figure ticket price for his show on 23 August represented the average amount of money a comedian loses when playing the fringe at one of the four big venues.

"My advice to this year's kids would be to play the big finger in the face of these agents. Anyone can do their job – why not just put an advert in a newspaper yourself and turn up?"

The comedian, whose shows were a sell-out in his last appearance at the Fringe in 2006, is somewhat anxious that a fan might actually buy the sole ticket, allowing him or her to spend the entire day – 8am to midnight – with him as well as attending the show.

Brian Hennigan, Stanhope's producer, said: "The opportunity is clearly there for Stanhope to come over to the Fringe and make money but the reality is that most comedians lose money. The new Edinburgh Comedy Festival is not going to stop this but will add to it by distracting the audiences away from small venues."

Tommy Sheppard, director of The Stand comedy venue in Edinburgh, said: "These four venues are already making a profit – all this will do is confuse the public and make them think that the 'better' acts are on at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival. I can't help but think this new Edinburgh Comedy Festival is motivated by greed."

A spokesman for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe said: "We feel this move is a marketing initiative which some venues have chosen to test this year.

"But we have a responsibility to promote artists of all genres who are appearing in the Fringe, which is why we are listing them altogether in a programme which is distributed nationwide."

The 'free-thinking nihilist' and 'self-indulgent washout' comedy audiences love

DOUG Stanhope first performed stand-up comedy in Las Vegas in 1990.

He has been described as a "free-thinking nihilist", a "vulgar miserablist", a "self-indulgent, drunken washout" and a "deviant" but is renowned for his sharp social observations and political satire.

Stanhope lives a hippy-style life in Bisbee in Arizona near the Mexican border.

He has appeared at every major comedy festival including the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where his shows were a sell-out. He also won the Strathmore Press Award in 2002.

Stanhope has also appeared at Montreal's Just For Laughs, Aspen's US Comedy Arts Festival, and the Kilkenny Comedy Festival where in 2006 he attracted press criticism for making disparaging remarks about Irishwomen. His television career includes appearances on The Jerry Springer Show, The Howard Stern Show, Fox's Invasion of the Hidden Cameras, NBC's Spy TV and Comedy Central's Comedy Central Presents. In 2002, he was named as one of the Top Ten Comics To Watch by both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

Time Out New York voted him Best Performance of 2006.

Heard the one about...?

Stanhope on:


RELIGION

If you really believe that death leads to eternal bliss then why are you wearing a seat belt?

WAR

As long as people who want to kill other people are killing other people who want to kill other people, then war is good.

SCOTLAND

I come to this country and I see a whole lotta history – but I don't see much of a future.

CHILDREN

Babies are like poems. They're beautiful to their creator, but to other people they're silly and ****ing irritating.