 Laughing
Horse Comedy, along with an organising group including several other Fringe Promoters and
Performers (see here) offer a completely different deal in a Fringe
venue for performers. Usually venues at the Fringe charge performers a large amount of
money for a room, and then further costs for appearing in venue brochures, a split of the door,
publicity costs, technicians and usually many other things. This is on top of the already
expensive accommodation, publicity and programme entry that need to be organised for a Fringe
show. WE DO NOT DO THAT. All
performers at our venues can book a space FOR FREE. There are no venue costs,
whatsoever. However, acts at our venues cannot charge audiences to see their shows, although the
performers can carry out a collection at the end of the performance. We provide a fully
set-up venue - lights, PA, stage, seating - you provide your show and your own publicity.
We also organise shared publicity, with a large
print-run (30,000) programme available and distributed for Free Festival shows, for this
the performers share the costs which is minimal.
In 2004 - 2007, a well-performed collection averaged £1.20
per audience member, with most show averaging 40-50 people in the audience at both venues.
Most shows in all venues can achieve or surpass these sort of audience figures with an entry in
the Fringe programme, and effective advertising during the Fringe..
Peak evening audiences of up to 80-100 are possible and were
achieved throughout the Fringe in 2005, 2006 and 2007 at many times of the day.
 The average audience at one of our
evening Free Festival shows in 2007 was 45 people, with lots of evening shows selling
out. With audiences of 20-50 expected at lunchtime and afternoon shows for well publicised shows. This
is a lot more than for a lot of shows in the bigger venues. On average, if your show is
good, somebody will donate £1.20 to a properly carried out collection at the end of a
performance. The Free Festival gives you the opportunity to 'do the Fringe' and either make a
small amount of money, break even or only loose a little - and you will loose a lot less
money by doing it this way that spending £1000's on a traditional venue.
By doing a show for Free you still have all the benefits of
performing a show the traditional way, without the financial burden and stress. There
will be a full programme launch to the press in 2008. Most shows at the Free Festival Venues in
2007 was reviewed (click here for a selection of 2007
Reviews), some several times, with eight 5-star reviews, 30 4-star reviews and numerous three-star
reviews from all of the main reviewers, including The Scotsman, The Times, Metro, The List, The
Stage, Chortle, Festival FM, Three Weeks, Freshair, Scotsgay, Edinburgh Guide and many other
publications. Shows have been picked up to tour other festivals, performers have received bookings
for further work through the year, and advanced their careers. During the Fringe acts have also
had the chance to perform their shows in front of large, appreciative audiences - instead of the
small audiences usually associated with the Fringe.
Over the last four years we have proved to audiences, the
press and performers that our Free venues relate to quality shows that just happen to be free;
quality and professionally organised, set-up and managed venues - that just happen to be free.
Free does not, and should not mean low-quality or unprofessional.
 The Free Festival lets performers enjoy
the Fringe - without the financial burden of running a show the traditional way,
performers can concentrate on their show. There isn't the competitiveness between performers
trying to grab audiences for their own shows, and in previous years all performers have shown a
genuine community spirit helping each other and developing larger audiences and a wonderful social
atmosphere.
Other Benefits - In January/February there will be
Free Festival roadshows in London and Edinburgh for you to talk to promoters and performers from
previous years, and there will be a pre-Fringe get-together in July. In June & July there will
be a London preview season of shows. We offer advice and emails helping you put your show and PR
together. Laughing Horse organises a series of social events throughout the Fringe for performers,
and all of our bars offer performer discounts on Food and drink, and with the aid of the
'Free Festival performers card' performers get other offers like Free nightclub entry. There is
also Free internet access available at several locations (available to all performers at all
venues) and in the run-up to the Fringe we will organise discount poster and flyer design and
printing - in 2007 our printer charged only £120 for 5,000 flyers and 50 posters, all delivered
on-time to each venue. There is also a nightly performers club, and for the first time in 2008
there will be a performers nightclub.
We only use venues where there is a specific performance
space or spaces, that is completely separate from the main bar areas of
a venue - there are no rooms that are general bar areas as professional shows do not work in
venues like this; all our venues are centrally managed and rigged to a high standard, including
PA, microphones, backdrops, seating; all venue equipment is provided - we don't ask you to bring
your own microphones as some other free venues ask performers to do! All of our venue plans and
details are described in our venue downloads below.
We Provide fully managed venues through a network of
volunteers and experienced club promoters, and do not expect professional performers to do all the
leg-work themselves - however, as a performer you are responsible for all aspects of your own slot
and show, and your own publicity. |
 Most venues will book shows in one hour slots, this usually includes the
get-in and get out, however we are flexible and can book any length time slot if needed (a lot of
new performers choose to do a 30 minute show at their first Fringe with us, or a comedy club show
could last an hour-and-a-half). At our venues we have a comfortable 10-15 minutes between
each show to allow the audience to come and leave in a civilised manner, and allow the
performers plenty of time to set-up and pack away, and also to do a full hour show if they wish.Laughing Horse Comedy have ten years of expertise in running comedy shows and
venues nationally, along with five years experience of running venues and free shows at the
Fringe. all members of our organising group have previously worked at the Free Festival,
and all have a large amount of experience as performers, promoters and venue managers.
We aim to make a Fringe performers experience an enjoyable one, and
less expensive one, and we will be on hand before and throughout the festival to offer any advice
you may want. Our venues are friendly, and have a great atmosphere to make your Fringe
experience an enjoyable one, as well as a productive one. (click here for a
full list of our aims) |
 All of our performance spaces
are set-up as you would expect a small comedy club room, with a small raised stage, spotlights to
flood the stage, a mixer and sound system, backdrops, seating and backdrops. Each room is supplied
with two microphones, mixer and mic stands and two CD players - Any further show-specific
equipment will need to be supplied by the performers using the room and we can advise the best way
to use these with our mixers and current equipment. As such all rooms are suited to Stand-up
comedy, Music, one person plays or very small scale theatre We carry out advertising for the Free Festival venues, and each venue will have
general advertising such as show lists, notices, schedules etc. We will also be producing press
releases, a brochure and poster advertising for all venues in general - however it is the
responsibility of the performing group for the main push of publicity the individual shows. We
will be able to give a special offer on Poster and Flyer Design and Printing again in 2008..
Please click on details links below for
a detailed description of each venue and room. For venue locations please see the venue map - click here
Please note that all these
venue details are correct for 2008, even though the venues from 2007 still have the same
downloadable info sheets as they did last year. The 2008 shows run from July 31st to August 25th.
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