Edinburgh Fringe: The Rise of the Comedy Director

The role of stand-up director is a bit of a Fringe mystery, like who’s still going to see Shit-Faced Shakespeare, or Jack Whitehall’s success. The average Fringe audience member probably couldn't tell you what they do – in an ostensibly solitary artform, the role might seem redundant.

John Tothill is making his Fringe debut this year, having cut his teeth in character comedy and university sketch groups. His hour The Last Living Libertine (Pleasance Courtyard (Below), 2-27 Aug (not 15), 8.30pm) was directed by Adam Brace: playwright-turned-dramaturg, multi-award-winning standup director and Associate Director at Soho Theatre, who died unexpectedly in April. He confesses that, taking his lead from Brace, he refers to his onstage persona in the third person. “[Adam] conceived of these personas as characters that need to go on a journey across the course of an hour. The truth is obviously that the persona is an exaggerated version of me... It's what I would be like if I was a small doses person.”

Fellow debutante Mary O’Connell agrees having a director has made her show more robust: “I know that I can coast on my personality for a bit, but maybe not for an hour.” Her first solo Edinburgh appearance, Money Princess (Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker Three), 2-27 Aug (not 15), 6pm), is one of four Fringe shows this year directed by Elf Lyons, clown extraordinaire who studied clowning at École Philippe Gaulier. The school is semi-revered in comedy circles, but focuses equally on theatre. This training lives on in Lyons’ directing: she approaches O’Connell’s script as a dramaturg approaches a text, asking probing questions about feelings and motivations, and giving homework (O’Connell generously shares a playlist she made after Lyons asked for five songs that described her relationship with money – Diamonds Are a Girl’s Best Friend, Biggie’s Juicy and Millionaire by Kelis all feature).

Mary O'Connell. Credit: Matt Crockett

A director can be any friendly external sounding board (there's a reason so many young comedians have their shows directed by friends and partners). Tamsyn Kelly points out that a director can do what the performer cannot: tell what the audience is thinking.

Kelly’s show Crying in TK Maxx (Pleasance Courtyard (Bunker One), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 8.40pm) is being directed by Amy Gledhill, of Delightful Sausage fame. She says a large bulk of Gledhill’s feedback has been to rework stories so they're less truthful but more streamlined. “It's hard for you to see past what actually happened to you.”

Comedy is an inherently risky business, but a director is there to push you. For O’Connell, not a natural risk-taker, Lyons’ background in clowning is key, whether that's as basic as encouraging her to use props, or use the stage more. “Clowning is kind of about joy in failing and I'm like, 'failing? That's not success.' She really pushes me into doing stuff that's kind of scary for me.” O’Connell feels lucky to be working with Lyons, but highlights that her director’s style of comedy comes with barriers for some: “There isn't enough space for Black and brown people to do alternative comedy. It's still something that I think comes from a place of privilege.” 

It would be impossible to talk about the Fringe and risk without immediately thinking about finances. The festival is a loss-making exercise for all but the most successful performers, and things are only getting harder. Tothill rolls his eyes at the idea of a 26 year-old having ‘life-savings’, but nonetheless that's what this run is costing. “So I'm putting a lot on the line, which is fine. I would not have done that without someone like Adam – well, actually specifically Adam – saying that it's worth doing.”

Kelly says she needs a huge push to spend any more money on the show. Historically she’s had bold ideas, but hasn't had a trusted voice to tell her they merit the risk. This time around, Gledhill’s pushed her to believe in her ideas: any day now she's expecting the delivery of a life-size Mr Blobby suit which one lucky audience member will get to wear every night.

Because the situation (cost, accommodation and everything else) is so dire this year, Kelly is seeing a lot of working-class people in the industry banding together to help each other. She says her relationship with Gledhill is particularly special because of her director’s motivation. “She's doing it because she wants to help other comics, working-class comedians especially, rather than it just being transactional.” She also singles out Alison Spittle as an incredible source of support and advice – they have a wealth of shared life experiences, both having grown up on rural council estates. Spittle is the only other woman in comedy Kelly knows with that background.

Tamsyn Kelly. Credit: Rebecca Need-Menear

This shared background dictated how Kelly selected a director; she knew from the very beginning that she needed to ask a working-class woman. “One thing I hate doing is unpacking every single thing in my life and having to explain it you know, like having to explain growing up on benefits and what that was like. Those are such minor details to me".

Shared history is also crucial for Tothill, whose friends and long-term collaborators Daniel Emery and Molly Stacy stepped in as co-directors in April. "Molly and Dan have been godsends because they know instinctively what it is that I want and what I find funny".

Tothill was such a fan of Brace’s previous shows that there had never been any question of who he wanted to work with (“I was always going to bite his hand off”). But he doesn’t think there are any obvious similarities between him and Adam’s other acts. “It's like how a good chef uses salt. It’s like he makes food taste more like itself, you know. He made shows feel more like themselves.”

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Adam Brace made an indelible mark with his attentive Fringe oversight. Two other shows with input from the much-missed director are String v Spitta (Pleasance Courtyard (Above), 18-26 Aug, 8pm) starring Kiell Smith-Bynoe and Ed MacArthur plus alternative comedian and performance artist Ben Target’s Lorenzo (Summerhall (Anatomy Lecture Theatre), 2-27 Aug (not 14, 21), 11.55am) which straddles the realms between storytelling, theatre and yes, standard of the genre, live carpentry.

Elf Lyons has quite the busy August. As well as Mary O’Connell’s show, Elf directs the sophomore solo outings of Amy Matthews (Monkey Barrel (Tron), 2-27 Aug (not 9, 16, 23), 3pm), Sian Davies (Assembly George Square (The Box), 2-27 Aug, 3.45pm) and Cerys Bradley (Laughing Horse @ Bar 50 (Alcove), 3-27 Aug (not 26), 3.30pm).

Someone we’re yet to mention in the directing sphere is Edinburgh Comedy Award winner Jordan Brookes. While trying out material under the guise of one of the best show titles at this year’s festival, Snakes for Cats to Watch, (Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand), 2-8 and 21-27 Aug, 10.50pm), he lends his astute, absurdist eye to one of last Fringe’s smash acts, Ania Magliano (Pleasance Courtyard (Baby Grand), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 4.35pm), musical sketch-duo Crizards’ second show This Means War (Pleasance Dome (10 Dome), 2-26 Aug (not 14), 5.50pm) and Edinburgh newbie Benji Waterstones (Pleasance Courtyard (Below), 2-28 Aug (not 12, 21), 4.30pm).

Several other acts who’ve previously won high praise from the big Edinburgh Comedy Award turn their hand to directing this year. Best Newcomer winner Natalie Palamides, best known for her incisive, big-themed clowning shows, is behind the scenes for Bill O’Neill’s Edinburgh debut, The Amazing Banana Brothers (Pleasance Courtyard (Beside), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 10pm). Celya AB (Pleasance Courtyard (Beside), 2-27 Aug (not 15), 7.30pm) returns to the festival with her second hour, guided by the wonderful Mike Wozniak, while yellow t-shirted Tom Parry, who reached success with big-hearted solo shows and sketch group Pappy’s, directs Matty Hutson (Pleasance Courtyard (Attic), 2-27 Aug (not 14), 7.15pm), who bursts onto the Edinburgh scene with his multi-instrumental musical comedy.