QUB student to perform at Edinburgh festival

This Summer local comedian, Queen’s Radio station manager and QUB student will be performing his own show at Edinburgh’s fringe festival.

Every day from July 31st to August 24th you can catch Alan’s hour long show. Chatting to The Tab, Alan talks nerves, hecklers and getting discovered.

“They charge huge fees for rooms, which acts take because it’s the best way to get “discovered”, but pretty much every comedian outside of the really big ones loses a lot of money, usually well into the thousands” says Alan, “But it’s considered the cost of doing well in the future.”

“Below that though, there’s three organisations – PBH, Laughing Horse and Freestival – who offer acts venue slots for free, but they can’t charge admission (there’s a bucket for donations at the end).”

“So it’s a lot more lo-fi, and acts all pitch in with helping each other and loaning equipment to the organisations, as well as flyering for their own shows. It means you’re much less likely to get famous from it, but you get the experience and cash in your hand every day, so it means the festival is much more open. Bigger acts have started to do free shows too, as a sort of protest against the high fees the big venues charge, and to make a bit of money.”

Alan’s own venue for Fringe this summer has only 35 seats, and though he says he’s played to a lot bigger crowds in Belfast, this summer there’s the advantage of being right in the thick of one of the best comedy venues in the world, with around 1,000 comedy shows run across the summer, most of them on every day.

“It feels like the gig I’ve done with the most pressure” says Alan, who says that he’s a ‘good nervous’ in anticipation of the show “But it’s also the gig with the most opportunity – mainly in terms of fun.”

The face of comedy genius (probably)

And as for hecklers, he’s prepared (and oddly affectionate) “Heckling’s not as bad as people think – it’s mostly just someone who’s had a wee bit too much to drink and wants to join in. A bit of gentle piss-taking and they tend to settle down.”

The show is basically about how being boring has made Alan’s life more difficult and even cost him relationships, so now he’s trying to be fun. “Basically, it’s me whining a lot and being silly about both my love life and things like Hitler”, says Alan. Makes perfect sense.