Comedian celebrates his absence from the festival with a 'show'

It’s not unheard-of to have no one in the audience for an Edinburgh Fringe performance – but one show at next month’s festival will have no one on stage either. 

For musical comedian Ashley Frieze has booked himself a slot and advertised it in the programme – but deliberately won’t be showing up to perform.

He said: ‘Anyone can not show up at a Fringe. It takes a lot more commitment to book a room, arrange the publicity, prepare the material and then, satisfied that the groundwork is fully covered, close the deal by not showing up.’

Frieze – who has more than 20 years experience of performing at the Fringe – says his minimalist stunt is a protest at the spiralling cost of accommodation in the city for performers.

‘I do feel that the economics of Edinburgh are year-on-year pricing us out of the market,’ he says.

‘It doesn’t help that Oasis have chosen this month to stage another large event in the city, though if things go south and they decide not to attend their own show, they’ll be hearing from my lawyers for copyright infringement.

‘For the world’s largest, most open-access festival to require almost financial ruin for its performers is a real pity.’

Needless to say, Frieze expects to make a small loss with this year’s show – which he says shows solidarity with his fellow performers. ‘If you think about it in terms of price per minute of stage time, this show is infinitely expensive.’

Frieze’s show is in the official Fringe programme, with a one-off performance scheduled for The Counting House at 7.15pm on August 12 as part of the Laughing Horse Free Festival.

The comedian previously wrote the book on not performing at the Fringe – a slim volume based on the work he put into the 2020 festival that was cancelled due to Covid.

Published: 2 Jul 2025