Some people are just about to get a little less unsung...

Every comedian who goes up there, puts their heart and soul into a show and works their arse off, they are all heroes! (Don't be rude to them when they flyer you.)
Amy Howerska is a Goddess *unless tired or hungry, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 21:45.

Nicholas Parsons. The Happy Hour is entering its centenary year. They should give him the Castle.
Great British Mysteries?, Pleasance Courtyard, 15:30

The Edinburgh locals. I was born there but despite growing up in London from the age of eight I still feel a loyalty to Edinburgh and empathise with them for putting up with all of London's pain-in-the-ass performers for the month. For every great show there's also a group of arrogant twats using the Botanical Gardens as a rehearsal space.
Lily Lovett Lovett Lovett, I'm Lovin' It Like That, Espionage, 20:00

The Edinburgh Council bin people. All the flyers they must pick up!
Winter Foenander: Aside Effect, The Free Sisters, 14:00

Paul Currie. I've heard a few people humming his "tune" but it should be sung from the mountain tops.
Micky Bartlett: Typical, Gilded Balloon, 17:15

Any of the organisers. It's an impossible job, with a bunch of people with huge egos to deal with. Yet somehow, every year, it works…
John Porter: Five Years Time, The Counting House, 11:00

Bob Slayer for supporting innovation and running at Heroes the only venue model for acts which means they get a well run space and a fair whack of their profits ALL whilst still finding time to search his own name on Twitter every single all year round day like a legend
Jessica Fostekew: The Silence of the Nans, Just The Tonic @ The Caves, 16:00

The guy who works in Kingfisher chippy up past the Grassmarket because his chips never once failed to make a good day great and a bad day better. I love you, Kingfisher chippy man.
Lauren Pattison: Lady Muck Pleasance (Attic) 17:45

Stand owner Tommy Shepherd. He provides something on the New Town side of things that a) caters to the locals which is still important, regardless of the international nature of the festival. Man United wouldn't be worth so much from international viewership and attendance if people in Manchester hadn't got behind it first, b) he believes in the art, first and foremost and c) makes it possible for acts who aren't based in London to take a paid show up without bankrupting themselves. I have a lot of respect for what Alex Petty does with the Laughing Horse, and Bob Slayer, as well as Peter Buckley Hill omg the Free Fringe. I think it's an amazing model and Alex has been very good to me, but as an up-and-coming act who doesn't live in a tiny little area around the River Thames, I feel a lot of great comics and comedy gets overlooked even by the free venues, and it's just fantastic to have someone based in Newcastle ang Scotland, who'll not only put you on a paid show at a purpose built venue with a huge reputation, but who will actually make a concerted repeated effort to not bankrupt you as an artist.
Rahul Kohli: A Not So Chubby Brown, The Stand,19:05

The American security guard who works at Pleasance Courtyard is a lovely chap.
Princes of Main: New Year's Eve, Bedlam Theatre,21:30

Brian Dobie, the manager of The Peartree/Counting House/Blind Poet. He is so supportive of the acts and helps promote their shows while sitting on a keg on the street every day for hours and hours. Also, one year he drove me to the hospital when I became really sick and needed medication right away.
Katharine Ferns is in Stitches, Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, 13:30

John Hastings because he does about nine gigs a day including his solo show. He needs to take a break.
Chris Martin: The One and Only Chris Martin, The Pear Tree, 14:45

Phil Kay. Everyone go see Phil Kay. If you want to know what the Fringe is about just watch him walk down the street. The last time I saw him there he was twenty minutes late and then spent the next 40 minutes describing how he was late because he'd been talking to his daughter and then swapped shirts with a stranger in the road. It was one of the funniest shows I saw all month.
Chris Betts: Bewilderbeest, Pleasance Courtyard, 21:45

The guys in the Fringe Office who get endless emails from tech-idiots like me asking obvious questions about the brochure or image re-sizing. They have the patience of saints! Oh and the folk who deliberately take chances on shows they haven't booked or planned to see.
Rhiannon Vivian's Office Meltdown, The Counting House, 22:15

All the tech teams who slave away in the dark for a month and have to deal with us awful comedians and performers and our 'warm up' noises pre-show.
Samantha Baines: 1 Woman, a High-Flyer and a Flat Bottom, Pleasance Courtyard, 15:30

The lady that owns the cafe called Snax, over by the Voodoo Rooms. Best flat sausage and egg rolls in the entire city.
Rich Wilson: Metamorphosis, Opium, 14:30

Alex Petty of Laughing Horse for providing professional quality venues for far less money than paid venues, making the Fringe accessible to acts like me.
Leo Kearse: I Can Make You Tory, Laughing Horse @ Free Sisters, 19:30

Jojo Sutherland - it is rumoured there has never been a picture taken in the Loft Bar without her in it with a pint in her hand. The woman is a trooper.
Scott Agnew: Spunk On Our Lady's Face, Gilded Balloon, 22:15

Oh the flyerers - can you imagine having to wear a kagool??
Tom Allen: Absolutely , Pleasance Courtyard, 20:00

Published: 25 Aug 2017