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Name: Gemma Maramis Job title: Administrator / Festival Co-ordinator Company: The Stand Comedy Club / Scottish Comedy Agency When did you start your job? I started working with The Stand in August 2009 at the beginning of the Fringe, having worked as an Arts Programmer at Birnam Arts in Perthshire.
So what does your job actually involve? I spend half my week organising and planning, ensuring that both the Edinburgh and Glasgow branches of The Stand have live comedy shows 7 nights a week. Currently I am focusing on our Fringe programme. There will be 46 shows to run each day whilst preparing to open our new club in Newcastle in October 2011. The rest of the week I work for the Scottish Comedy Agency co-ordinating and programming private and corporate comedy hires, tours and festivals. Best / Worst Aspects? The best part of my job is that it is dynamically different each day and I’m proud to work with such fun loving and exciting people creating comedy shows. I get to see fantastic comedy for free and get to meet the fun folk behind the work. The most demanding aspect is when a show doesn’t go to plan and you end up
running about silly trying to make it work. To be honest, that’s all part of the fun too: making something come together with moments to spare.
Looking back, what advice would you give to a young Gemma at the start of her career? Keep thinking of ideas and do everything you can to turn them into reality. Never follow a crowd and trust your own creativity. Get as much experience as you can in all fields – you never know when you may have to step in at last minute to do sound and lights! Lastly, keep asking questions no matter how outlandish; if you don’t ask, you won’t get. And finally . . . what are you most looking forward to in 2011? The Stand Comedy Club in Newcastle opening its doors for the first time, as well as working on making The Assembly Rooms 2012 Fringe programme happen. I am also looking forward to the Scottish Comedy Agency’s next round of festivals and tours which is great for getting out of the office. There is some really exciting work in the pipeline. On a personal note, I am starting to work on building my own creative business and will begin studying a Masters course alongside my work next year. Busy, busy!
4–11 Aug 2011 THE LIST 125