The Edinburgh Fringe
Ken Wilson, UK
Ken Wilson is a teacher trainer and ELT materials writer, with more than 20 titles to his name. He writes both coursebook and supplementary material and his recent course material includes a Senior High course for China. He also wrote a book to accompany Channel 4 TV's first-ever ELT soap series. He was artistic director of the English Teaching Theatre until 2002. E-mail: kenwrite@btinternet.com
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The Festival
The pick of the crop
Every summer, there is an enormous international arts festival in Edinburgh, which celebrates its 60th year in 2007. At every festival, there are the mainstream events - for example, world-famous orchestras, soloists and singers.
And then there is the Fringe. The Fringe is an expression used to describe all the events which are not part of the main festival. The expression was coined by Robert Kemp, a Scottish journalist, during the second Edinburgh festival in 1948. He wrote: "Round the fringe of official Festival drama, there seems to be more private enterprise than before ... I am afraid some of us are not going to be at home during the evenings!"
He was referring to groups of actors, comedians and musicians who turned up in Edinburgh uninvited and found places to put on their own shows.
The expression became much more common after a show called Beyond the Fringe, a revue of satirical sketches by four performers who all went on to become famous in different ways. Peter Cook and Dudley Moore performed a double act for many years, and Moore, a very short man whose main talent was playing the piano, became an unlikely Hollywood hero after his appearance in the movie 10 with Bo Derek. The two others were Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, who went on to write plays and direct operas, amongst other things.
At first, there was a great deal of animosity between the Festival organisers and these uninvited guests, but in the intervening years, relations have improved. The Fringe now has its own management and programme, and employs 120 people during the summer.. More than one and a quarter MILLION tickets are sold
The Fringe still has all kinds of performers, but the people that usually make the headlines are up-and-coming comedians, or established performers trying out new material. And every Edinburgh Fringe throws up a new list of classic one-liners.
Here's the pick of the 2006 crop...
I didn't realise I was dyslexic until I went to a toga party dressed as a
goat. - Marcus Brigstocke at the Assembly Rooms
Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation.
- Jimmy Carr
The right to bear arms is slightly less ludicrous than the right to arm
bears. - Chris Addison at the Pleasance
My dad is Irish and my mum is Iranian, which meant that we spent most
of our family holidays in Customs. - Patrick Monahan at the Gilded Balloon
Is it fair to say that there'd be less litter in Britain if blind
people were given pointed sticks? - Adam Bloom at the Pleasance
You have to remember all the trivia that your girlfriend tells you,
because eventually you get tested. She'll go: "What's my favourite
flower?" And you murmur to yourself: "Damn... I don't remember...
Self-raising?" - Addy Van-Der-Borgh at the Assembly Rooms
The world is a dangerous place; only yesterday I went into Boots and
punched someone in the face. - Jeremy Limb, at the Trap
I saw that show, 50 Things To Do Before You Die. I would have thought
the obvious one was "Shout For Help".
- Mark Watson, Rhod Gilbert at the Tron
Got a phone call today to do a gig at a fire station. Went along.
Turned out it was a bloody hoax.
- Adrian Poynton at the Pleasance
Employee of the month is a good example of how somebody can be both a winner and a loser at the same time.
- Demetri Martin at the Assembly Rooms
A dog goes into a hardware store and says: "I'd like a job please".
The hardware store owner says: "We don't hire dogs, why don't you go
join the circus?" The dog replies: "What would the circus want with a
plumber". - Steven Alan Green at C34
Hey - do you want to feel really handsome? Go shopping at Tesco Supermarket! - Brendon Burns at the Pleasance
I like to go into the Body Shop and shout out really loud "I've already
got one!" - Norman Lovett at The Stand
It's easy to distract fat people. It's a piece of cake.
- Chris Addison at the Pleasance
I enjoy using the comedy technique of self-deprecation - but I'm not
very good at it. - Arnold Brown at The Stand
If you're being chased by a police dog, don't try to go through a tunnel,
then on to a little seesaw, then jump through a hoop of fire. They're trained for that.
- Milton Jones at the Underbelly.
Please check the Fun, Laughter and Learning course at Pilgrims website.
Please check the Drama Course course at Pilgrims website.
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