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Selling a Fringe show is the publicist‘s nightmare. Take heart; very few people will play to full houses this summer. Here are a few points from one who has tried before.
0 Printand getting rid of it Use plenty ofit and keep it cheap and brash. If you haven‘t done your postering yet you‘ll find it pretty difficult to find space .. lfyou have you‘ll probably have to do it again by the end of next week because someone else will have covered yours over. It‘s dog eat dog out there. For other sites don't
- overlook changing rooms in clothes
shops. and the loos in bars and
1 restaurants. But do ask first. Don‘t , neglect areas outside the City ? Centre. People do actually live in
Corstorphine. When those rave reviews come out. rush off more leaflets. even posters if you can
afford it. reproducing the good news. No one minds you
reproducing their reviews but they do mind you turning bad reviews into spuriously good ones by the insertion ofdots. . . Edinburgh is swimmingin printers‘ ink but the boys opposite know the score and will turn stuff around fast. Use every conceivable method to dishout leaflets but don‘t leave them in the Fringe Office. They get thrown away — unbreakable rule. [)0 leave them at major venues. trendy bars etc and do hand them out in the street. Don‘t force them on people though. By and large. the local population enjoy the invasion ofthe Fringe. but everyone has their tolerance ceiling.
0 Stunts and Busking Great fun. great for business and a great place to dish out more leaflets. In 1983 the St Andrews University Mermaids paraded five dazzling mermaids. silver lame. fins and all. down the High Street in a bath. It made the front page of The Scotsman and sold a lot oftickets and one of them is now Siobhan Redmond. famous actress. so don‘t think you‘re above it. Don‘t try to do Beckett on the Mound, it won’t work; ifyour show suits outdoors or ifthere‘s music. flne. Don‘t bottle. you‘ll get arrested. Don‘t cause ‘a public nuisance‘ whatever that means. or ‘Obstruct a public highway‘. If you do get moved on by the boys in McBlue. move. Key busking spots are the foot of the Mound, outside the Fringe Office and in Parliament Square, Festival Square in front of the Sheraton,
outside Register House at the East End ofPrinces Street, Waverley Steps down to the station, but not Waverley Market without permission (ask - they are quite keen). Bristo Square outside the Fringe Club and probably Castle Terrace by the Hole in the Ground this year. No doubt you'll find some more. 0 Press Coverage The BBC seem to be trying to outdo even their Commonwealth Games coverage
this year so if you‘re not on
something it won‘t be their fault. Contact the producer, not the presenter. Spare a moment’s silence for the loss of Radio Forth‘s extraordinary Festival City Radio; jiggery-pokery by Auntie and the Home Office allegedly did for their frequency application this year. The Scotsman does try to see everything, the Glasgow Herald and the Evening News need a bit more persuading We‘ll be doing some reviews in the next issue but we‘re also looking for news stories or something we can make into a picture panel. The papers. even the Record and the ; Scottish Sundays are looking for picture stories (see stunts above) but i you‘ll need to talk to the news editors first.
0 Fly-posting Basically DON’T, but I obviously lots ofpeople do. I have ' never heard of anyone being ; prosecuted although it is technically ' illegal. Do you really want to be the first? If the police catch you red-handed, they confiscate all your posters which can be expensive. The Fringe can and do withold some of your Box Office money if they have to clean up after you. What happens is that Lothian Region or the City send the cleaning-up bill to the Fringe so everyone suffers for a few. Last year one irate Edinburgher made his own personal protest after the Festival was over. It consisted of a large poster version of a letter complaining about the mess pasted to the Fringe window.
0 Incentives I can‘t understand why more people don't incentivize their print. Offer people a cuddly toy, or whatever, ‘with this leaflet’. (Free booze always works). There are a few freeloader spaces available in the next issue of this magazine; contact us if you want to be included. But don‘t overdo the paper if things aren‘t going well. It doesn‘t fool anyone.
TICKET OFFERS
All otters are strictly subject to availability and the individual managements’ decisions are final. You must take the whole magazine with you to claim.
FREELOAD
ON THE FESTIVAL
Ten tree tickets for ‘Rockln’ in Rhythm', Wed August 20th at 9pm in the Jazz Pavilion, Meadowbank. Exchange this voucher as soon as possible at the Jazz Festival Office, 116 Canongate. First ten people only. Jan Festival runs August 17-22 all over the city. Full details from v Jazz Festival Ottice.
Five free tickets for any of the nineteen shows in the Pleasance Theatre Festival, Augusta, 9, 10, 11. Exchange this voucher at Pleasance box office, Venue 33. One ticket per person, only live available tor each show (95 tickets per day in total). Pleasance runs a full programme throughout the Festival.
i -, I _;'. .- , ,4 ’Tz’r on “‘9' W .—’E"“‘ fl/L ’ I, Yet nn‘ifik":’ “LE-2%; e19 \ -"’ "1 $22" “‘23: "‘“ffaugti—“fiw “3‘
50p oti full price tickets for Communicado's ‘Desire' by Stephen Jettreys on August 13th only, 9.15pm. Theatre Workshop, Hamilton Place, Venue 20. Exchange this voucher at Theatre Workshop. Show runs August 1143 (not Suns).
Free tickets for Blood Group’s production of “Strokes of Genius' on August 18th at 12.30pm, Theatre Workshop, Hamilton Place, Venue 20. Show runs August 18-23. Exchange this voucher at Theatre Workshop.
blood group in ST ROKES OF GENIUS
Two tickets for the price of one tor Handspan Theatre’s production of Nigel Trittit's ‘Secrets' on August 9th (6.45pm), 10th (3.45pm) and 11th (6.45pm). Music Hall, Assembly Rooms, Venue 3. Exchange this voucher at Assembly Rooms box office. Show runs August 9—15. (NB This is not in Assembly Programme: late entry).
25 free pairs of tickets tor ‘Circus Senso in The Dome, Pllrlg Park (ott Leith Walk) on Wed August 13th or 20th at 6.30pm. Exchange this voucher at The Dome box office in the park. First 25 tor each date only. Dome programme, which includes Circus Senso, runs throughout the Festival. Full programme from Edinburgh lntemational Festival or The Dome.
The List 8 — 21 August 41