Alison Spittle has some recommended viewing

There are as many documentaries on the Edinburgh fringe as students flyering the Royal Mile – loads!

I myself was the subject of a documentary filmed nine years ago. It was about my first ever full hour, called  Alison Spittle Needs An Agent. It turned out to be a cry for help that went deservedly unanswered. 

New comics, if you’re reading this, don’t do your first hour if you have only a solid ten minutes. 

The comics in the know wait at least five years, they’ll have split a bill with another fellow comic, do a 45-minute work in progress and have a very decent debut hour. 

It’s not a secret but an unsaid norm that I wish I knew at the time, the other norm would be don’t have a documentary crew following you when you discover this.

There are several Fringe documentaries on YouTube and thought I would share some hidden gems with you.

Hannibal Takes Edinburgh

This looks at Hannibal Burress’s Fringe run in August 2013. It’s no longer on Netflix, but you can find a dodgy version of it on YouTube. 

This doc really explained to me why I hear a lot of American comedians say they will never do the Fringe again when they appear on podcasts.

I started comedy in Ireland and we do not look at Edinburgh as a legitimate way to further our careers, we go to be in a place where we can do as many gigs as possible and get better to gig in Ireland, Now I live in London so I changed that view. 

Doing comedy every day should not be stressful, it’s the dream. 

Edinburgh Or Bust

This is one episode of a weekly series that came out on Channel 4 while the Fringe was happening. 

I found it very impressive that in 1998, so much effort was placed into covering the Fringe on TV. It follows various comedians in the last week of Edinburgh vying for awards.  This was a real time capsule of comedy in the late 1990s. The incredible financial opportunities, sponsorship of multiple awards, and the lack of women and non-white people being pushed as stars. 

Doing An Edinburgh Fringe Run As A Nobody

Evaldas Karosas has made a must-watch documentary for Fringe-goers. This one absolutely spells out about what it’s like to perform at the Fringe.

He sets himself small goals and you find yourself cheering him on while begging him not to bring up a debate about Michael Jackson as an icebreaker at industry events.

The peril is visceral. Will he pay his rent this month? Will the new flyerer bring in an audience? Will Edinburgh council sort out the bins? 

I could smell the trash juice off the screen. This will join the big reunion as a yearly YouTube watch at the fringe. 

Aidan Jones: You Had To Be There

There's a notable exchange in comic Aidan Jones's documentary with the American stand-up Robyn Perkins, when she mentions that she only has one ticket sold for her show in an hour and speaks vulnerably about the Fringe. Aidan laughs, then sees she’s upset and offers her his condolences by saying he went to a famous comedian’s show and they had barely anyone in.

This is the blueprint for every conversation between comedians at the Fringe. I found it moving but nothing gripped me more than Aidan’s battle with a chip shop over an extortionate battered sausage. 

My documentary is not on YouTube. It’s not anywhere. But I'll tell you what I can remember. 

There’s footage of me flyering in the rain for a show that was getting two people a night and I was mostly cancelling.  In my Edinburgh Fringe interview, the thought occurred to me that I wasn’t going to be able to hide this failure, I ended up crying and my last words on the documentary were "I haven't validated myself as a comedian". 

But my documentary – as well as the others – have taught me none of this matters in the scheme of things and it’s OK to fail. I still haven’t validated myself as a comedian as I’m still not quite sure what that means.

• Alison Spittle’s new stand-up show Soup will be at the Monkey Barrel @ The Hive at 1.25pm from August 2 to 27.

Published: 28 Jul 2023