From Richard Tyrone-Jones
1) WE'RE LOOKING FOR SHOWS: As well as being Director of 'Utter!,' I'm the Director of Spoken Word for Peter Buckley Hill's Free Fringe, part of the Edinburgh Fringe, and we're looking for quality spoken word / poetry shows.
Many of you will know how the Free Fringe works already, some won't - I attach the ethos for you to read (and it's below too) but basically it's a less cut-throat, more community-based way of doing the Fringe. You don't pay venue hire or charge on the door, thus ensuring bigger audiences and lower costs. If you're doing more than a few days of your show you'll still have to pay to go in the official Fringe programme (Friday 19 March deadline is £289.05, or Wednesday 21 April deadline, £385.40 inc VAT, see http://www.edfringe.com/takepart), and for flyers/posters and rent, but you gain income from shaking a bucket at the end of your show (last year 'Utter!' broke even, although we weren't paying rent). You also get 50 words and a photo for your show in the widely-distributed PBH Free Fringe brochure, which you don't pay money for.
At the moment we at the Free Fringe are either going to have a venue dedicated to spoken word & cabaret (Finger's Piano Bar, a nice venue in the new town with its own PA which we used last year and works well with either small or huge audiences) or one dedicated solely to spoken word - either a University building or Jennie Ha's at the bottom of the Royal Mile. I'll get confirmation next week. I think either way, one single spoken word venue with free-to-enter shows will gain publicity in itself and be a great place to flyer.
Ideally we're looking for shows who will want to do a whole run (Sat 7th- Sat 28th Aug) - you will get the most out of your official Fringe brochure fee if you do do a whole run! But shows will also take days off so if you want to come up and do one-off shows let me know your proposal and we should be able to fit you in around the full runs. If you want to do a half-run it would be a big help if you know anyone else who might be interested in filling the other half! Those who may well be doing shows with us include Mab Jones of Jam Bones in Cardiff and Nikesh Shukla.
2) WE'RE LOOKING FOR PERFORMERS FOR 'UTTER!' So one of these shows will be 'Utter!' spoken word (www.utterspokenword.com) which we're taking up again. Last year was pretty successful with over 800 visits to the shows, excellent performers including Tim Key, John Hegley, Luke Wright and excellent local writers, with a respectable amount of money in the bucket. This year, we're going to repeat the 'different show each day' formula which worked very well, with some brand new fun themed nights. So we'll need lots of acts, local and visiting. Are you interested in performing?
What I learnt from last year is that as well as performers, guest hosts and front of house I do need more help in terms of an 'Utter!' team - people wearing the t-shirts, flyering and performing on the Royal Mile to promote the show, who will want to share a flat too. If you're up for that it will be much-appreciated and remembered for the future of 'Utter!'. I'm looking for people who can preferably stay the whole run of Sat 7th- Sat 28th Aug. If you can't do the whole thing but are still interested let me know what you can do as soon as possible.
Ok, that's all for now, I look forward to getting a million billion expressions of interest back off you as you really do need to start planning in advance! All the best,
Richard Tyrone Jones, utterspokenword.com
Applying to the Free Fringe 2010
The Free Fringe is a way of doing the Edinburgh Fringe without having to pay thousands of pounds for venue hire. If accepted, you get a free venue and no charges from us, as long as your show is free to the public. Most people lose many thousands of pounds on an Edinburgh run; you need not. Our formula has been proved successful by established acts and newcomers alike.
We will be happy to hear from acts who
are of a standard worthy of the Edinburgh Fringe;
will conform to all Free Fringe conditions, not merely some;
are in full agreement with our ethos;
are not exploiting us to get venues.
By joining us you get the support of many other acts and the credibility of being part of a recognised, multiple award winning event.
But you must give back. You’ll be saving £4000 to £15000 compared to a paying venue, so it’s reasonable you should give something back. We don’t want your money. We do want your commitment, and we absolutely must have your full co-operation. Unless everybody works for each other and the team, the system doesn’t work. Unless venue teams take the initiative and solve any problems arising in that venue, the system doesn’t work. Unless you give of your expertise and commitment, the system doesn’t work. If you don’t want to do that, don’t apply.
You will get a basic space, usually in a pub or bar, separated from the general public by some means. There will be a basic PA, found from members’ resources, sometimes basic lights, and usually nothing else; everything else you need you must provide in collaboration with other shows at your venue. Anything you provide should be placed at the disposal of other shows in your venue.
The Free Fringe will make no charges, not even voluntary ones. There will be charges imposed directly by the Fringe organisation, for Fringe programme entry and for membership of the Festival Fringe Society Ltd; we do not control these.
If you choose to apply, you must:
not apply for the Laughing Horse’s pirate “free festival”: you must not be in any negotiations with them and you must declare you are not; nobody in your show should be a regular performer at any of their shows at the Fringe;
tell us if you are negotiating with any other provider of venues, and which one(s);
not demand a particular venue. An application to the Free Fringe is an application to all venues. You may express a preference, but you may not say “Canons’ Gait or nothing”;
indicate ways in which you might help the Free Fringe community.
If you choose to apply, we will look at your work, if possible in live performance, unless we already know you. We will also make a judgement on whether you will indeed do your part for the collective.
If accepted, you agree to do all of the following:
List your show in the main Fringe Programme unless agreed otherwise with PBH1;
Join the Festival Fringe Society Ltd;2
Vote for the candidates of your choice on the Board of the Festival Fringe Society Ltd;
Not make any substantial changes to your show without discussion with PBH or his appointed deputy;
Not subcontract your slot;
Finish your run;
Perform all shows as scheduled;
Find an emergency substitute if you are too ill to do your show at the Fringe itself;
Provide sufficient leaflets to an acceptable standard for all shows;
Not give out your own show’s leaflets without also giving out the full Free Fringe Programme;
Ensure the condition above is complied with by anybody who is giving out your leaflets, including paid leafleters;
Put any special non-performing talents you have at the disposal of the Free Fringe;
Offer to loan to the Free Fringe such PA and other equipment you may possess;
Fulfil the door control/greeting duty exactly as specified;
Support all other Free Fringe shows;
Hold the bucket for the show before you, unless that show tells you it does not want you to do this;
If you break anything, or if your show does, or if anything breaks while you’re in charge, own up to it and replace it (or as agreed with the owner).
All the above are conditions of the Free Fringe and your run may be terminated if you do not conform to them.
Types of shows
Our roots are in Comedy. We want to encompass all the arts, but only when they can be successfully done within our model.
We do not want to mix Comedy and other types of show within the same venue. Otherwise audiences may not behave in a way appropriate to the show. We will try to dedicate different venues to different art forms, although depending on the venues we use and the shows we get we may not completely succeed.
In 2010 we hope to have programme sections for:
comedy
drama
cabaret
science and related matters
the spoken word
We recognise that there may be overlap between many of these areas, and it will be a matter of judgement what goes in which section.
We may have a section for popular music, depending on venue talks which are currently happening.
We will discuss proposals for other genres, but whatever is proposed must be a show, not a recital. Edinburgh demands that.
Within comedy, there are many sub-genres, and some are more suitable for some venues. It would help if we could know for each show the type of material expected, for example intellectual vs laddish, experience-based vs surreal, belly-laugh vs slow burn.
How the shows work (agreeing to this section is a Free Fringe condition):
Your entry in the Fringe Programme must have the phrase “PBH’s Free Fringe” as part of the Performer Name field.
You must provide enough leaflets/flyers to publicise your show; for a full run, 5000 is normally considered the right number to print.
These leaflets/flyers must contain the Free Fringe logo in its original colours, or black and white if the leaflet is black and white.
The Free Fringe logo must also be on any posters.
The Free Fringe setup and knockdown:
If performing in the first week, you agree to be at your venue the day before the Free Fringe starts (usually at 1pm) and help with the setup. If performing in the last week, you agree to be at your venue the day after the venue finishes (usually at 1pm) and help with the knockdown and tidying of the venue and the recovery to its owner of property lent to the Free Fringe.
The procedure for door duty:
Be at your venue on duty from at least 15 minutes before the previous show ends
Remain at your venue on duty until at least 15 minutes after the next show starts
During these changeover times:
Greet incoming audience
Exercise traffic control: stop your audience going in to the previous show in the last few minutes. Make sure the space is clear before letting the new audience up/down/in.
Hold the bucket for the previous show if asked to
Offer the Free Fringe programme to the outgoing audience
At the end of your show:
Plug the next show and the Free Fringe generally.
Switch the ambient music back on.
Leave the stage in a reasonable condition for the next show.
Do not leave this job and talk to your audience; do it first.
As soon as you can, take over door duty from the show following yours, so they can set up.
* * *
The Free Fringe works on honour. And on trust. We trust you to do what you promise, and by accepting these conditions you give your promise. We trust you not to damage the programme.
We don’t expect you to:
Having accepted an offer, pull out without discussing the situation
Having accepted an offer, pull out shortly before the programme deadline
Change substantially the content, format or cast of the show without discussion
Use us as an ‘insurance offer’ while waiting for a decision from other venues
Promise what you can’t deliver
Lie
Damage equipment without telling anybody
Be rude to venue staff
Ignore any email sent to you by the Free Fringe, however long it is
Accept these conditions and not conform to them.
It would not be necessary to say these things but for a minority of people who have, in the past, shown themselves untrustworthy.
Performing at the Fringe for those who are new to it
The Fringe is hard. Harder than you can imagine. The average audience is six people. In your first year, you should not expect to do that well. If you come to the Fringe expecting the world to recognise your genius, forget it. The best in the world are there, and that’s who you will have to compete with.
You will have to work hard at street leafleting to get any audience at all. If you get even one, the show goes ahead. Shows are never pulled for low audience numbers. It’s a Fringe tradition and a point of honour.
You will feel like packing up and going home at least once a day. You must not. You tough it out.
Whatever goes wrong is nobody’s fault but yours. Do not blame your venue, your show time, me, the weather, the public, your lack of reviews or anything else. To make your show work, you yourself have to work, and if it’s going badly, work harder.
If you come to be discovered and get famous, you will have a miserable time and you will not succeed. If you concentrate on entertaining the people in front of you, whoever they are, you will have a much better time.
Do not overestimate yourself. Do not do a one-person show until you’re thoroughly ready. Not only are OPSs the least popular type of shows in the Comedy section; the history of the Fringe is littered with the corpses of those who tried to stretch 20 minutes material to cover 50 minutes.
The Fringe is not where you go to get good. The Fringe is where you come when you’re already good. If in doubt, don’t.
We are open to shows of all levels of experience, but the public must know what it’s getting. A show featuring predominantly inexperienced acts must have a blurb that says that.
The Free Fringe isn’t free because it’s rubbish. The Free Fringe isn’t rubbish. We aim to have a programme of shows whose normative standard is equal to the normative standard of shows at the money venues.
If you think you’re doing us a favour by applying to us (or condescending to join us), fuck off.
Venues:
We will be in a position to reveal our 2010 venues in late December after the conclusion of negotiations. Many 2009 venues will stay with us. This is all that can be said at this time. An application to the Free Fringe is an application to all venues. On receipt of a venue/slot offer, you may accept, decline or negotiate a change.
Applying:
Read this and email pbh@buckers.co.uk with details of yourself and your proposed show. If we don’t know you, say where we can see your work. Make sure you state whether your application is for a full run or a part-run; part-runs will not be allocated until full runs have been accommodated.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Agents, manager figures and similar: we must hear from the act personally, not you on their behalf.
--
Richard Tyrone Jones
Poet, host and Director of 'Utter!' spoken word
www.utterspokenword.com
http://twitter.com/rtyronejones
RTJ Facebook group:
http://bit.ly/richardtyronejones
UTTER! Facebook group:
http://bit.ly/utter
07912 539 098 |
