Ashley Frieze on one of the most important skills at the Edinburgh Fringe

I recently did a stint flying at the West Berkshire Comedy Festival. It brought back a lot of memories of the Edinburgh Fringe, and the old instincts kicked in. It even got some people into the show! Oh, and I was dressed as a piano. So here are a few tips for handing out flyers….

Have a snappy pitch

You need to be able to get someone’s attention in under 10 words. Try to find something they’re not hearing from everyone else. What are you going to say after ‘hi’?

‘Topical comedy show written for today’
‘Surreal comedy about frogs’
‘Find out who Elvis was’

Try to create curiosity or even provoke a question. Think of what to say if they show an interest.

‘Four-star rated show’
‘Sold out last year’

Hopefully they’ll either engage in a deeper conversation or add your flyer to the list of things to consider.

Try to avoid ‘free show’ as a selling point. It doesn’t add value.

Take no for an answer

Be respectful and calm when someone says no, regardless of how unpleasantly they do it. You’re asking for something from them, and they don’t owe you a yes. Indeed, the sort of person who doesn’t want your flyer would be a rubbish member of your audience. Be glad they said no.

Remember everyone can see you

You’re not just flyering the person in front of you. You’re attempting to get everyone around you interested. If you successfully flyer one person, other people may ask to see your flyer. Similarly, if you crash and burn with someone, then how you behave will dictate whether the next attempt to get a flyer in a hand will continue or break that losing streak.

Be charming

Treat it as a light-hearted, and polite interaction with a member of the public. Do something fun or witty if something goes wrong. I used to take a flyer which had been refused a few times, declare it unlucky and put it to the back of the pack.

You’re representing your show and you need to be a positive sales influence, not a nuisance.

Look for interested parties

Depending on how you’re dressed and what graphics you’re displaying, you may notice that some people are already paying you more attention than others. Read the crowd.

Similarly, look at the show you’re promoting and what’s your demographic. You’re wasting your time flyering young families for a late-night edgy show, or trying to get a bunch of boisterous teens to sit through an emotional dead-dad play.

Rely on ,onkey brain

In general, if you put a flyer near someone’s hand while making positive noises, with the right body language, their monkey-brained instinct is for them to grab it.

You’ll get a lot of flyers out just by putting them at the right height.

You can also flyer dogs this way, but that doesn’t always get the message to the owner.

Save your voice

If you’re performing 25 or so shows, then you need a functioning voice. Talking loudly to be heard in a crowd is probably the worst thing for your voice, so be wary of overdoing it and wrecking your show. I have consistently failed to save my voice over my flyering years.

One of the techniques I used, to rescue my voice, was silent flyering, where I just caught people’s eye, smiled, nodded, produced a flyer and then gently offered it to them. Luring them in with everything but words.

Make sure the flyer’s self-explanatory

You need all the right information on the flyer. Make it easy. Most people take the flyer and immediately turn it over, so have something with details on the back. Reviews, description of show, map to the venue etc.

Right time and place

You’re going to need to figure out where to be. Exit-flyering a similar show is always a good idea. Exit-flyering the show before yours will help too, if you can fit that in before the setup. Being near the ticket-buying public is also useful… but having a supply of flyers in your bag at all times makes everywhere a flyering opportunity.

Put in the effort

You’re in a saturated market. People will be using guides and apps to find shows, but word of mouth, especially from someone involved in the show, trumps all of that. If you put in the hours - 2 or so a day - and if you do it with good grace and precision, then you’ll reap rewards.

I’m not doing a show at this year’s Fringe. Good luck to all of you who are up there. Have a blast!

• Ashley Frieze was editor on Ian Fox’s book How to Produce, Perform and Write an Edinburgh Fringe Comedy Show and he also releases comedy albums here. 

Published: 9 Aug 2026