Aim

I’m delighted to be selling tickets to the AJ Bell Fringe on Friday digital cabaret, in support of the Fringe artist and venue recovery fund

Join me for a 60-minute digital cabaret show on Friday 28 August at 9pm. The show will feature nine different acts and will go out live at 9pm BST, with tickets costing just £9 each (£1 less than the cost of the average Fringe ticket).

100% of the money raised by ticket sales on my project will go straight to the Fringe’s artist and venue recovery fund, helping artists who are struggling as a result of COVID-19 return to the festival in 2021. 

Whats my show all about?

BEST NEWCOMER NOMINEE | EDINBURGH COMEDY AWARDS 2019

BEST NEW SHOW WINNER | LEICESTER COMEDY FESTIVAL 2019

THE PLEASANCE COMEDY RESERVE 2018

BBC NEW TALENT HOT LIST 2017

BBC NEW COMEDY AWARD 2016

CHORTLE STUDENT COMEDY AWARD 2016

An exceptionally smart young man with something to say, Michael Odewale’s stand up covers everything from politics to pigeons. He began performing in 2014 whilst at university and was a finalist in both the Chortle Student Comedy Award and the BBC New Comedy Award.

A fresh new voice known for delivering sharp, slick and beautifully executed content, Odewale is taking the comedy world by storm. His debut show #BlackBearsMatter won Best Show at both the 2019 Leicester and Hastings Comedy Festivals and achieved critical acclaim at the Edinburgh Fringe 2019, earning him a nomination for Best Newcomer in the Dave Edinburgh Comedy Awards. He will be releasing a live comedy special of this show in 2020.

His most recent TV credits include: The Mash Report (BBC Two), Chris Ramsay’s Stand Up Central (Comedy Central), The Stand Up Sketch Show (ITV1), Comedians Solve World Problems (Comedy Central) as well as his own mini sketch format Comedians In Quarantine (Comedy Central).

Who’s joining me on Friday 28 August?

The full line up for the next show on 28 August is Briefs, Le Gateau Chocolat, Stiff & Kitsch, Megan Shandley, Kid X, Farr Out, Craig Hill, Helen Duff, Alfie Ordinary and your host for the evening Courtney Act.

AJ Bell Fringe on Friday

This new digital show will showcase the festival across a range of genres, including comedy, cabaret, theatre and music. The show has been made possible thanks to the generous support of online investment platform AJ Bell, and is produced and curated by Lucky Cat & Michael Fraser, alongside production company Inner Ear.

Fringe artist and venue recovery fund

The creative industries have been among the hardest hit by the coronavirus outbreak, with the Fringe community alone facing estimated losses of over £21 million. 

The opportunities derived from presenting work at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe can be enormous; many artists book onward touring, build collaborative partnerships, find a new agent, get bookings for stage, screen, and film work. Many engage with a loyal and adventurous fanbase, earning income to support their year-round activities, or taking the chance to try out new work and ideas on audiences who are actively looking for something new. 

The impact of these lost opportunities will stretch way beyond 2020, with artists looking at a long recovery for their work to be seen on stage again, with the worry that many will be forced to leave the sector to earn a living elsewhere, with the impact far reaching.

All the money we raise from this project page will go to the central artist and venue recovery fund to support our return to the Fringe in 2021. 

This project closed unsuccessfully on 10th September 2020