The Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society held a reception to talk about all things Fringe in the AKC (American Kennel Club) Museum of the Dog.
It was a fittingly off the wall kind of place to be talking about what the Fringe boss admitted is the “chaos” which descends on Edinburgh each August – and the entertainment was appropriately unique.
The wacky show was provided by Batsu!, a live comedy outfit with performances both in New York and Chicago from Tuesday to Saturday every week. The company came to notice after Underbelly introduced Batsu! at the Fringe in the capital several years ago.
The invited audience watched on while the Rt Hon Lord Provost, Robert Aldridge, wielded a ninja warrior sword in an impromptu session. Then came the bagpipe playing chicken. A man in a chicken suit danced around in front of the New Yorkers and really playing a set of bagpipes while dancing.
Even the real dogs present (the museum allows them to visit on Fridays) were entranced.
Tony Lankester, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “There’s really two reasons for our trip to the States.
“The first is a strategic one, and the second is a sentimental one. The strategic reason for us is that the US is a hugely important market for the fringe. More than 10% of participants in the Fringe come from the USA. Outside of the UK, it’s our single biggest feeder country. So there’s a lot of love for the Fringe in the USA, particularly on the east coast. For us, strategically, it’s important to be here to keep talking to artists, to give them opportunities and reasons for coming to Edinburgh.
“And I guess the other one is a sentimental one. Part of what the Fringe Society does, and part of what the Fringe stands for, is all around spreading joy and spreading the love and making connections between people and building bridges between people. And now more than ever, the world needs that.”
Freedom of speech
In his short speech Mr Lankester said that the world needs people to stop “talking past each other, to stop shouting at each other and to talk and listen to each other. That’s what the Edinburgh Fringe does in spades. That is why people keep coming back.”
He referred to the new building on Infirmary Street which the Society will be moving into in June, saying it is going to be “an amazing space”. He said: “The council gave us the building and the bricks are now in place. We will invite artists into the space to bring it to life, not just in August, but year round. But we are asking people to step in and support us. We can name things after you. We can give you bricks, boardrooms, staircases, the entire roof if you want. We are very flexible like that!”
It is an expensive refurbishment – the UK government awarded around £7 million to enable it to happen – and it is almost complete. But in the way of such building projects it has run over budget and the Society will need to find some extra monies from within its budget to get the doors open.
Ninja Provost
And suddenly, the invited audience was watching the Rt Hon Lord Provost, Robert Aldridge, wield a ninja warrior sword in an impromptu session. Then came the bagpipe playing chicken. A man in a chicken suit danced around in front of the New Yorkers really playing a set of bagpipes while dancing. Even the real dogs present (the museum allows them to visit on Fridays) were entranced.
Keep it Fringe US fund
The act portrayed some of the madness of the thousands of Fringe shows, but the Society came to the States with a real message. It is an expensive business and artists need help to get across the Atlantic to Edinburgh.
The Keep it Fringe US fund is led by Fringe Ambassador, Brian Cox, CBE, to help with bursaries, advice and a support package to help artists from the US make it to the largest arts marketplace.
Lankester outlined that, for $9,000, donors could help two Fringe artists perform in Edinburgh. There are various tiers of donation all of which have benefits such as access to behind the scenes events.
It was only in 2025 that the Keep it Fringe US fund helped just five US shows with bursaries of $2,500 each. So $25,000 would allow the 2025 pilot scheme, assisted by American stage body, Playbill and the US airline JetBlue, to double in size.
Brian Cox, Ambassador of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, said: “As a Scottish performer who lives in the US, I’m doubly invested in this project to strengthen the cultural bond between our two countries. There’s already an incredibly strong shared heritage between Edinburgh and the States – one of Edinburgh’s foremost theatres for new writing, the Traverse, was founded by a US airman named Jim Haynes in the 1960s.
‘Keep it Fringe US aims to enable and encourage the next generation of emerging US talent at the Fringe, ensuring that a spirit of adventure and collaboration can continue.”
Parade Day attire
Tony Lankester will not be wearing a kilt. The South African boss of the charity which underpins the third largest ticketed event in the world, behind the Olympics and the World Cup, is aware of his own heritage. He said that although he has “some Scottish blood” in the dim and distant past he will be wearing a lot of blue and flying the Scottish flag.
He revealed that on future visits he may look at expanding the Fringe network across to the west coast. But for now while he is just one year into his job, celebrating his work anniversary on National Tartan Day, 6 April, he is continuing the work already begun some years ago to connect with artists and hopefully donors, in the Big Apple.
