Aim

Help Leith Comedy Festival to bring some Fringe magic to Leith!

Welcome to Leith Comedy Festival Presents… The Edinburgh Fringe Edition, a project by Edinburgh's very own Leith Comedy Festival! Our mission goes beyond entertainment. We create positive social impact through laughter. By supporting this project, you’re not just funding comedy shows, you’re championing a cause that uplifts our local community all year round. We are thrilled to announce our upcoming series of three comedy nights at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Our Purpose

Leith Comedy Festival is a social enterprise committed to making a difference. This means that all profits go back into the Leith Community. We believe that by combining laughter with a social purpose, we can create a ripple effect of positivity in people’s daily lives. Laughter has an incredible ability to bring people together, break down barriers, and provide amazing health benefits. Leith Comedy Festival is a local social enterprise, dedicated to using comedy as a tool for social impact.

The Shows

Festival Director, Rosalind Romer, has curated three exceptional nights of comedy, bring the best of Edinburgh Fringe comedy to a local audience in Leith.

Each showcase will have a different line-up of the funniest comedians on the Fringe, which will be announced soon. Each will have 2 visiting Fringe acts, a compere, and a short set from a new local comedian. That's 12 different comedians in 3 days!

All three shows are at 8pm to approx. 9.45pm on Thursday 15th, Friday 16th and Saturday 17th August 2024.

All at The Biscuit Factory on Anderson Place in Leith.

This is your chance to experience all the fun of the Fringe in Leith, safe in the knowledge that we will choose the best comedians on the Fringe. Our track record is outstanding. In fact, two of our acts went on to be nominated for an Edinburgh Comedy Award last year!

Acts will be announced soon, and we promise you they’re good. Previous acts include Larry Dean and Emmanuel Sonubi.

‘You can guarantee the night will host a fantastic mix of top class comedians’ STV

Additionally, we will be trialling a comedy show for age 14 and up. There are lots of funny shows for children, and loads of comedy for adults, but what happens if you’re in between? That’s where we come in. Standup for teens and adults alike. Comedy should be for everyone but there’s a gap and we want to work out why!

Who’s behind Leith Comedy Festival?

Meet Rosalind Romer, the visionary behind Leith Comedy Festival. With 20 years’ experience in the comedy industry, Rosalind envisioned a festival that breaks the mould, celebrating a broader realisation of comedy beyond the traditional stand-up setting. Here are some career highlights: 

• A record-breaking Perrier Judge, Leicester Comedy Festival Judge, Funny Women Judge & BBC New Comedy Awards Judge
• Managed Jimmy Carr’s award-winning UK tours
• Produced the Edinburgh Comedy Awards (formerly Perrier)
• A prophetic ability to spot talent way ahead of the rest
• Founder of Punchline, a comedy production company and Edinburgh Fringe review site, which produced largescale comedy shows around Scotland: 'Conjuring up yet another smashing bunch of stand-ups' List

Why We Need Your Support

Putting on a show at the Edinburgh Fringe is an exciting opportunity and it also costs a fortune! Your generous support keeps ticket prices in line with similar events in the centre of town.

Essentials set up costs we have to cover: 

• Venue hire: the hire fee for the incredible Biscuit Factory in Leith for three days
• Chair hire
• Production costs: lighting, sound, and other technical elements to create an unforgettable experience
• Talent fees: fair compensation for the amazing comedians 

Items we want to cover:

• More community tickets: we allocate a number of community tickets at all our events, which we distribute through our local charity partners. Funding will allow us to offer more tickets to people who may not otherwise be able to attend because of financial or other barriers
• Marketing: promoting our shows to attract a diverse and engaged audience in one of the world’s most competitive markets. Marketing boosts your donation as the more tickets we sell, the more we can do
• Paying the small team a living wage for all the hard work they put into making the events happen
• A photographer to capture the electric atmosphere on the night

What happens with extra funding:

If we are lucky enough to exceed our funding goal, additional funds will be used to amplify our impact by: 

• Creating workshops and outreach events in our local community of Leith, particularly focussing on giving local people access to laughter in different forms
• Designing comedy courses for different groups (e.g. young people) to boost mental health, confidence and teach life skills
• A British Sign Language interpreter for one or more performances in August

You'll be lessening the financial risk of putting on shows at the Edinburgh Fringe, this year and in the future.

Join Us in Making a Difference 

By supporting Leith Comedy Festival you’re helping us bring laughter to a local audience at the Edinburgh Fringe. You’re also contributing to our vital year-round community initiatives. Not all residents like the crowds and noise of The Edinburgh Fringe, so help us bring some Fringe magic to a different part of town. Together, we can show that laughter really is the best medicine and a powerful tool for change.

Thank you for your generosity and belief in the power of laughter to make a difference. We can't wait to see you at the Fringe!

This project successfully funded on 25th July 2024