Andy Barr's Fringe bringe, whinge and cringe

Andy Barr is back at the Edinburgh Fringe with his ‘Hotly Anticipated 4th Debut Hour. Here he shares what he can't get enough of at the festival, his most embarrassing Edinburgh experience and the worst thing about the Fringe. Apart from the cost of accommodation, obviously…

Fringe Binge

 At the 2019 festival I got into buying vintage clothing – we’re talking non-breathable 70s fabrics, eye-watering patterns – some of the most flammable clothes on God’s increasingly grey Earth. 

There are at least two excellent vintage shops in Edinburgh (or at least there were…) where I picked up a number of things which became favoured staples of my wardrobe.

2020 was, of course, notable for the ‘inconvenient global circumstances’ that kept us all inside for a bit. During this period, solitude from all but my bubble and  a  lack of independent scrutiny from a judgemental world combined to weave me a cocoon of these fabrics, from which I emerged into the brave new post-pandemic world as an exclusively 70s clad man.

Now, obviously there are cons to this ‘lifestyle’. For one, I can’t take part in Roast Battles any more (having a moustache and a garish shirt are red rags to the roast battle bull, who’ll have 18 ‘paedo’ based cracks formulated before you’ve even approached the oche), and two, the Edinburgh sweatboxes combined with the insulating nature of my chosen cladding may mean I have died of dehydration before the previews are up. 

But the pros? As people pass my drenched corpse slumped at the back of the Pleasance Cellar they’ll think: ‘well, at least he looks distinctive.’

So, once I step off at Waverley, my first destination will be Grassmarket – gimme all the disco shirts you got!

Fringe Cringe

At my first festival in 2013, working as part of the street team for a prominent management and production agency, I was high on life (and leathered on pints). 

Three years into my comedy ‘career’ and I was finally doing it! At the Big Festival, working with (for) Big Talent with a Small Student Showcase to participate in/endure. I was seeing so many people in the flesh whose work I’d adored - there’s Johnny Vegas in the Courtyard, Charlie Chuck’s crossing the road dressed as (or,  perhaps, it was a long time ago, being chased by) a dinosaur. 

There’s Paul Putner. I loved him in that Jam sketch about the doctor who tries to get a patient’s cock to swing up his arse. I should tell him! Yes. I’ve had several cans, I’m with my street team pals - we’re feeling ebullient! I should tell him: ‘Paul Putner, I loved you in Jam.’ I’ve done it! Yes!! So, why is he annoyed? Why is he telling me that that wasn’t him?

Because it was David fucking Cann in that sketch. Oh well, 12 years of shame await.

Fringe Whinge

Five words: ‘Toilets are for customers only.’ 

The Edinburgh day is long. If your show is in the evening, but your daytime is populated with guest spots to try and drive ticket sales into double figures, you barely have an opportunity to return to home base.

This, coupled with the self-imposed terrible diet of Irn-Bru and fried goods (you can eat well in Scotland, you simply choose not to because you don’t respect yourself) can create the perfect storm within your delicate digestive system. As such, you may find yourself needing to pop into the nearest public house to unleash something on the johns at which even Alastair Campbell might blanch. 

This, however, is not my gripe. It is that if (as they often do) the majority of these public houses require one to be a paying guest in order to abuse their facilities, one can find oneself five or six pints deep come showtime - the impact of which is felt keenly the next day. Soon, you’re plotting your guest spots around their proximity to the johns of most comfort, ensuring that you are only ever a five minute scuttle away. 

No, I haven’t been to the doctor about this, stop asking.

• Andy Barr: The Hotly Anticipated 4th Debut Hour From Rising Star, Andy Barr is on at Pleasance Courtyard at 8pm

Published: 15 Aug 2025