We invited multi-award winning comic and ISH Edinburgh Awards founder Nathan Cassidy to discusses comic originality at the Edinburgh Fringe.
If the writing and delivery is great then it will stand out
Two years ago I founded the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards, the ethos of which is to see every show and have volunteer judges vote for Best Show and 100% of sponsorship going to the comedians. There’s been three winners of Best Show so far (as in 2023 there were joint winners) and it’s been interesting, maybe coincidence, that all three have been doing a very different kind of show, particularly Julia Masli and Elf Lyons with the third winner being the equally unique Paul Foot. As I say, maybe coincidence, but to stand out at the Fringe these days do you need to be both outstanding and different?
I try to stand out with original concepts and magical and uplifting elements in my shows – I want the audience to think they are watching one thing, when there’s something else going on that they haven’t noticed. But the material is mainly standup, and how can you be truly original with standup? There are so many comedians and so many that have gone before, is anything original any more? This came into focus when at last year’s fringe a brilliant comedian that always does something different was doing some material that I had also been doing for a while. This is the jumping off point to my show Piracy this year.
In my other show It’s Not The End Of the World I’m running with two main themes that I feel we are talking about in society but not on stage. I think it’s original. But saying that, who knows? There could be another show thats’s covering exactly the same ground. In 2016 I walked my audience out of the venue at the end of the show, then down the road to a nearby club where drinks and music awaited. I thought i was doing something that had never been done – one reviewer commented… ‘the ending was very similar to another show I’d seen.’ You can’t win!
Of course you can win, and of course you can win if you’re doing standup about themes that have been covered a million times. If the writing and delivery is great then it will stand out. But I wonder… is it easier to stand out when you’re dressed as a horse?! It shouldn’t matter as much as it does to me, but it does - if I feel I’m doing something outstanding and truly original then I don’t care about awards, and good job, as I’m the only comedian not eligible for the ISH Comedy Award! If someone says I’m doing something different then it’s the best compliment they can pay me. I wonder why that is? Isn’t being good, good enough? Maybe it was growing up in the 80s, watching comedy on Friday Night Live etc. It was like there was only one of each type of comedian - Ben Elton, very different from Rik Mayall, different from Jo Brand, different from Victoria Wood, different from Harry Enfield. I’m sure there were similar acts in the clubs but as a kid this was my experience - to be a comedian you had to be different. And when I first went to the Fringe in the late 90s the acts that stood out were different from anyone else - Jonny Vegas, Al Murray, Bill Bailey - to me there was no one like them.
Maybe the problem is that there are far too many comedians now! I’m joking, I guess that’s the joy. When someone stands out against the backdrop of tens of thousands of comedians on the circuit and the many hundreds of comedians at the Fringe, then you do truly look at and think, wow! But that could equally be someone doing ‘straight stand up’ as it could be someone walking around with a false leg for an arm asking for people’s problems. That’s the joy of the Fringe and the joy of being involved in an Award. There’s definitely luck of the draw involved, but if something is outstanding then it always has a chance, whether or not it’s ‘original’. Which makes it all the more annoying that I’m not eligible for the ISH. But saying that, that’s never been done before to my knowledge – someone sets up an award and awards it to themselves. A few people suspected I was going to that in its first year, maybe this year is the year I do it. One day, after all, we are all going to run out of ideas!
Links
The Ceremony and showcases for the ISH Edinburgh Comedy Awards are both at the Counting House. Full details at nathancassidy.com and edinburghcomedyawards.com.
