10 Things I Learned From My First Fringe

1. You don’t have to get hammered every night

I can sense your shock. I KNOW. This was a complete revelation to me too. You don’t have to be a hermit but, honestly, you’re not missing out if you don’t go out and get shitfaced every single night. All you’re missing is people talking about ticket sales, let’s be honest.  

2. You can read reviews without reading reviews 

Everyone told me not to read reviews, but sometimes they are hard to avoid, so I devised a cunning plan. My boyfriend read each review and sent me his favourite quote. This worked twofold: I could share the review on social media with a lovely quote to help the shameless self-promotion that is much needed during the Fringe, but also I got a nice li'l confidence boost without having to read the whole thing and undoubtedly spot something that I’d turn into a nightmare in my own anxious tiny head. Solid technique, 10/10 recommend.

3. Live in the centre

Oh God, just pay the couple of hundred extra to live central. Don’t tire yourself out trekking to and from daily. Last year I was a five-minute walk from The Pleasance and it was HEAVENLY to spend the hour before my show just relaxing and snacking and watching dog videos.

4. Don’t just preview in London 

I think the biggest thing I learned from my first Fringe was not to just preview in London. Previewing around the country made my show bulletproof and proved the material worked anywhere.

5. Don’t overload yourself with gigs

There’s this belief in Edinburgh that you have to do a million and seven gigs every day from the minute you wake up 'til three minutes before you go to bed. Do the fun ones, do the ones that pay, do the ones that you think will be good for boosting ticket sales, but leave yourself plenty of time before and after your show to just bloody chill out mate.

6. Share the fuck out of praise and don’t let anyone make you feel bad for it

Share praise, share good reviews, own your show and be proud of what you’ve made. Undoubtedly other people will whinge and get snarky but it’s very easy to mute their tweets or drown them out with the barrage of compliments you’ve received.

7. Ignore the shade 

Speaking of people getting snarky – everyone has an opinion on everything. There’ll always be people who have this one, pure idea of what comedy is, and if your work doesn’t match that perfectly, they’ll lambast it and take pot shots. But you know what, fuck ‘em.

8. Have someone outside the madness 

I found it so useful to have someone not anything to do with comedy who I could ring and have a chat and talk to about anything other than Edinburgh bullshit. It keeps you grounded and reminds you that there’s normal life going on out there.

9. Don’t go it alone 

It’s a long ole slog to Edinburgh, and sometimes it can feel a bit lonely. So I heartily recommend reaching out to others in the same boat, sharing previews, writing together, watching each other’s shows and giving each other some feedback.

10. Eat

You’re rushing from gig to gig, watching shows in between and, before you know it, it’s been a week and all you’ve eaten is chips and a Mars Bar. I’m not saying you have to Gordon Ramsey the shit out of your tiny cramped kitchen every day. But don't forget to take care of yourself.