At the Edinburgh Festival 3

Performers' attitudes to the festival are as varied as their acts.  For acts established on the circuit it's often the one month of the year they get to do a show about something that they find genuinely interesting instead of running out the same lowest-common-denominator gags that work for office parties and hens' nights.  For newer acts it's a chance to try out longer routines (working up that 20-minute set in a relatively safe environment).  And for pretty much everyone it's a chance to laugh with (and at) old mates, drink too much and stay up way too late. 

All the usual showbiz mythologies are writ large here; talent will out, there's a lucky break out there waiting to happen, you've got to sleep with the right people to get anywhere, its about the looks these days and so on.  Most performers will lose thousands of pounds at this year's Festival yet few are willing to see the money as an investment to be capitalised on rather than a good time that they've paid for.  

In reality the Edinburgh Fringe is just a very long, very crazy trade show and the more focused acts spend every waking moment with an eye on the next opportunity: getting an agent or a run of better quality bookings or a TV deal.  Acutely aware of what shows to 'drop in on' in the hope of grabbing stage time, even in their cups they'll never admit to a single bad gig and mere socialisng loses out to networking opportunities every time.

I look at this relentlessness, this hunger, and see the same thing in the origins of my own company all those years ago.  And just as with my business, it wasn't ever talent alone that made it to the top.  Talent is 'cost of entry' but no more than that.

On Saturday night we had over 30 people in the audience (standing room only!) and last night we had 13.