North-east actor and comic Martin Bearne gives some insider tips for anyone who fancies performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as he appears in his new show, Mixed Ability Actor.
The Fringe is upon us once again, but what if you’re the sort of person who would rather be on stage than in the audience?
For some, performing at the world’s largest arts festival is a cherished ambition, even if it’s just the once.
“Anyone can take part in the Fringe,” is the message splashed at the top of the ‘participant’ section on the official website, edfringe.com, which explains in detail everything you need to know about getting involved.
How do you plan a Fringe show?
Would-be acts soon discover it’s not just a matter of rolling up in late July with a suitcase and a notebook full of gags.
The planning is year-round and the online toolkit helps people navigate their way through the process as well as knowing what needs to be done and when.
November to April is when to put together a budget and April to May is the time to register a show, plan a marketing campaign and arrange accommodation.
At first glance it appears to be a complex and costly endeavour, with ticketing, finance, promotion, insurance, licensing and accessibility to think about.
To help make sense of it all, The P&J caught up with Fringe veteran and north-east actor and comedian Martin Bearne, who is returning this year with a new show titled Mixed Ability Actor.
When was Martin Bearne’s first Fringe show?
His first Fringe appearance was in 2009 but he did not jump straight in with a one-man show, instead he worked up to it by sharing the stage.
“I started doing solo shows in 2017 but before that I would do guest spots on other people’s shows,” says Martin.
“When you do a guest spot it’s like someone’s doing a sort of compilation of a mix of stand-ups.
“I did that at the start while I figured out what the Fringe was and what you needed to do.
“Then I did my first show in 2017, Jokes and Feelings, and that was just me finding my footing with it all and figuring out what it is to do a full run.
“I found out you need to pace yourself. I don’t drink any more but a lot of acts, by the third day they will be hungover and feel like they have been there for three weeks!”
What should you try and avoid?
Martin said: “In the first week I don’t see anything, I just focus on my show and try not to hang around too much. In the second and third week that’s when I think I’ll be more social and have a bit of fun.
“But I see a lot of acts, they tire themselves out in the first four days and it feels like a lifetime to them.
“It’s for your mental health as well. I’m an introvert and I like my days off. I like to think, ‘I’m just doing my show today and then I’m going back to my place’.
“A lot of people say, ‘oh it’s the Fringe, you should perform every day, it only happens once a year’.
But Martin believes one of the biggest mistakes performers can make is not building in enough downtime for themselves and that the audience can even “enable” that because they are out drinking and having a blast.
Originally from Ellon, Aberdeenshire, Martin now lives in Edinburgh. This is partly to be there at festival time because accommodation is in high demand during August, for visitors as well as performers.
What are some of the costs?
Then there are other costs, such as venue hire and marketing.
The two key steps are to arrange a venue and to officially register your show with the Fringe, in that order.
Registration ranges from £96 for one or two performances to £393 for a full run.
Martin says many acts also pay for ‘flyerers’ to hand out leaflets and publicise the show.
Flyerers can be persuasive and Martin has advice about what performers themselves should see.
“See shows that are the complete opposite of what you are doing,” he advises.
“Don’t go to see something that’s similar because you’ll sit there sort of tense, going ‘oh this is better than mine’ or ‘this is worse than mine’.
“I always want to see music during the Fringe, like jazz, so I can just watch the show.
“Last year I went to see a stand-up but I wasn’t relaxed because I was thinking, ‘oh that’s a bit similar to something I do’.
“Also, try to exercise, go swimming, get time away from it all.”
We talk about being ‘in the zone’ and how once a show is over, it can become a blur.
Martin has a theory: “I think it’s to do with the intensity of it. It feels like – obviously I wouldn’t know being a man – but how women forget how painful childbirth is so they do it again!
“By the fifth day I go, ‘oh I remember how tough this is now’. You forget how intense it can be, your brain just blocks it out.
Why do it?
So given the hard work, costs and pressures involved, why would anyone choose to put on a Fringe show?
Martin has no hesitation in recommending it: “Do it for fun with no expectations. Do it for the fun of the performance once you’re on stage and that’s the same if someone wants to try to stand up, just try it.”
Martin Bearne appears in Mixed Ability Actor at Leith Depot (Venue 214) and Hootenannies @ The Apex (Venue 108) in the Grassmarket on various dates until August 28. See tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/martin-bearne-mixed-ability-actor
See also Martin Bearne on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
