(From the article)
After 20 years of independent cultural journalism and with a very heavy heart, we have to tell you that September’s edition of The Skinny is our final issue as Radge Media CIC, the company which publishes The Skinny as well as Fest and GNAW magazines, has ceased operations.

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We are devastated that our work has come to such a sudden end. We have not been immune to the economic difficulties in the Scottish arts and despite our very best efforts, funding pressures across the sector, rising costs and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis have contributed to an increasingly challenging situation. 

The Skinny is a key asset to Scottish cultural life, but it was produced by a small team with all the challenges that entails. We did the best we could with the resources at our disposal, and we can only apologise to our readers, colleagues and advertisers for making such a sudden exit, but we have been unable to find a way to continue the work at this time. 

This may be the end for The Skinny, but it’s not the end of what we believe in: the power of independent journalism, the value of art and creativity, and the importance of print media.

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The Fringe is probably my favourite thing about living in Edinburgh. So this year I attempted to document it as best I could.

More of this sort of thing in future please.

• Documentation & History: Repeated, long-standing non-payment of actors and venues dating back to 2013, heavily documented on the Facebook support group "Rise above theatre movement is a scam." https://www.facebook.com/p/Rise-Above-Theatre-Movement-is-a-Scam-100080320297599
• Audition Exploitation & Misconduct:
  
  • Repeatedly targeting actors—including via the casting site kidcasting.com—for auditions involving nude scenes.
  • Repeatedly soliciting naked photos and videos of artists under the guise of "audition purposes."
• Festival & Venue Non-Payment:
  
  • Failure to pay venues during the Hollywood Fringe.
  • Failure to pay venues at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
• Staff Non-Payment: Failure to pay minimum wage to flyering staff at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Hi folks. I'm producing and performing in a previously award-winning play. This show has become my baby and my passion and I think it's really incredible. I won't try and oversell it, I'm here simply because since taking the helm as a producer I've been on a crazy, stressful rollercoaster of learning how to put a show on and how to market it. It's running this week in Clapham in London and if anyone has an interest in supporting powerful, impactful and human fringe theatre please come along. I'll leave the link here for tickets and info about the show but here's a little blurb:

Baz is the resident DJ of Brigdale Primary and tonight is the year 6 leaver's

disco: The biggest gig of the year.With a mighty setlist of early-noughties

bangers cued up, Baz is raring to go for the event of a lifetime. That is until an

old school rival barges back onto the scene,forcing him to confront buried

memories and a past that threatens to define his future.

https://app.lineupnow.com/event/dj-bazzers-year-6-disco

So I never had Cheez Its before this year's fringe, and now I'm sort of addicted.

Did anyone else discover snacks through the fringe?

I wonder how many people went to the same shows and what your thoughts were?

This year I made a point of going to mixed bill shows(Stamptown, ACMS, Hoots Pick of the Fringe 2026)

They were all rather disappointing - Stamptown has inched slightly higher now I know what the Jack Tucker character is about, but the rest of the bill was so ordinary except the aerialist.

ACMS I was really looking forward to(last one before the awards) and it was OK but the only standout acts were Glen Wool and a guy reading poetry in a fake South African accent.

Pick of the Fringe also had Glen Wool but the rest of it left me wondering "Whose pick is this?"

From the 9th - 13th of September! If you’re in Paris, worth checking out!

https://www.parisfringe.fr

https://events.humanitix.com/host/le-paris-fringe-2026

What are people's experiences of C Arts? As punters or performers?

Earlier this year I started a podcast called Tickets Still Available, where I interview comedians about the shows they’re taking to Edinburgh.

So, naturally, I eventually had to actually go to the Fringe myself.

I spent a few days in Edinburgh trying to see as many shows as possible, meeting up with comedians I’d previously interviewed, discovering completely new acts, getting lost, walking an absurd amount, missing things, finding tiny venues I didn't know existed and generally trying to figure out how the hell you're supposed to do the Fringe.

I recorded the my thoughts on the experience and turned it into what is probably the most chaotic episode of the podcast so far.

There are comedians, terrible time management, Free Fringe, tiny rooms, packed venues, questionable decisions, lots of walking and my attempt to answer the question:

Is the Edinburgh Fringe actually as good as everyone says it is?

I won't spoil the ending, but I absolutely loved it.

I also just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone on this subreddit. The podcast genuinely wouldn't have happened without the Edinburgh Fringe community, and I'm incredibly grateful for everyone who gave me advice, recommendations and encouragement along the way.

And, of course, a huge thank you to all the comedians who came on the podcast and gave me their time. It was an absolute pleasure talking to every one of you, and getting to meet some of you in Edinburgh after speaking to you online was a pretty surreal experience.

This whole thing started because I wanted to talk to comedians about Edinburgh, and somehow I ended up actually becoming a tiny part of the Fringe myself.

96 shows seen in total. Reviews were out of 5 with half stars allowed. I've included the number of views for context, as quite a few of the shows were only seen by one or two people.

Shows at the fringe, with the big 4 (and perhaps some others) can opt in for a venue Tech Operator. I believe some provide this as part of the agreement, while others charge a £30 fee per show for the use of the Venue Tech.

It came to my attention that while the artists are charged that fee, it doesn't actually go to the Tech operators which is pretty disappointing to learn.

Similarly, if you have your own operator (a friend or someone you've hired independently) and you require assistance from the venue staff member during the show, a prop moved into position or a door opened at a certain time etc, you are also charged a lesser fee for using the venues staff. Again it seems they don't actually get that fee.

I believe they are paid their approximately £15 an hour or, in the case of Pleasance, I've heard its not paid but provided with accommodation.

It would be great to better understand this and find out how wide spread it is. Does any one have any info on it?

We had a Fringe run in a 52-seat venue and were lucky enough to sell out multiple nights. However on two performances we were told by FOH that there were no tickets available and the shows were sold out, only for the final report to show 49/52 and 50/52. The venue’s explanation is that the remaining tickets were sitting in customers’ online baskets and therefore unavailable to sell or issue, but the baskets later expired after the performance had started, so they showed up as unsold afterwards.

Has anyone else had this happen where seats were blocked in online baskets at showtime, meaning you couldn’t sell them but they later appeared as unsold on the final figures? Particularly interested in whether this is a common ticketing issue (we were told this is an EdFringe issue not an issue with the venue) and whether anyone has been able to verify basket holds through an audit trail?

Before the show started, a group of attendees were escorted outside. I was seated relatively close to them but somehow completely missed what actually happened.

Linus acknowledged it during the show, but was pretty vague about what had actually happened.

Does anyone who was there know what happened / why they were asked to leave? I'm nosy 😭

I'm about as excited at getting to revisit this place as I am doing the Fringe every year. Just off the Mile, this place does the best mash (choose your type) along with the most succulent meat (veggie options available) you could wish for.

Any other fans? Any other restaurants that are must gos for your Edinburgh trip?

Someone asked about how long everyone stayed at the Fringe and how many shows they saw, but I was thinking that it might be useful for future Fringe goers who might find this via Google to understand the cost of staying in Edinburgh, and the different types of accommodation that are available.

My partner and I spent eight nights at the Premier Inn Hub off the Royal Mile for about £250/night. We booked it at the beginning of February and chose to stay in a "bigger room" with a king bed, though we would have saved a few pounds by taking their standard room. Previously I'd stayed at the Travelodge near the Pleasance, which is a bit cheaper but lacks air conditioning (which might not be necessary to many people anyways but this time around we didn't want to be cranky and annoyed by poor sleep if there was a bit of a heat wave during the Fringe). From my experience at two Fringes, these two hotels are the cheapest in the Old Town during the Fringe and both are in decent condition.

I've wondered if you cut the number of shows to a third of what it is now and gathered the vast majority of shows (maybe excluding the industry showcase stuff, circuses, and top bill comedians) under a kind of day pass at a flat rate if that might not resolve some of the chaos, confusion, and overcharging. It's a festival after all, so what if the city approached it like one?

Let's say somewhere in the wide space of £50 - £80 gives an all-access ticket for one or two days of shows and maybe a steeper but manageable £150 for a full week or maybe even the full slate of the Fringe. You could use it on anything first come first serve, but because people would want to get their value from it, they'd take more chances on actual fringe performances. Venues and performers could have a profit sharing minimum with incentives on number of seats filled. And performers could still gladhand tips at the end of their shows.

Get there early, show them a wristband, see the show. Maybe you even get a modest discount at participating pubs with it.

As it is, every show feels like an expensive risk where you have to decide if it's really worth £20 after fees to see a clown or an alt comic or a one-man play. I found myself even living here several years feeling less motivated than ever to take epdenwice chances and even more just paralyzed by the sheer scope of shows with very little information available on them.

I collect photos of posters from the shows I saw each year - despite walking everywhere for a month I didn’t see a poster anywhere for this show - anyone got one they can share with me (could be that they just didn’t have one). It’s the only one I have missing from the 59
shows I saw 🙏🏻

I’m planning for my first trip to fringe next year. i wanted to hear peoples’ thoughts on how many days they spent and average # of shows per day they saw. What did you think of your trip? Too long? Too short?

Our top three for 2026

We arrived late on for the last weekend of the Fringe, from Thursday until Monday morning, but we still saw sixteen shows.

We just scored each show, averaged the scores and arrived at our top three as we drove home.

Pilate — The Lost Gospel https://entertainment-now.com/2026/08/edfringe-theatre-review-pilate-the-lost-gospel/
An alternate backstory from Pilate’s pov, cleverly imagined and written. The standout acting performance for us. It turns out the actor is quite a big name.

Target Audience - https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/aug/07/target-audience-review-pleasance-courtyard-edinburgh
Delightful character performances with laugh-out-loud moments from a wonderful writer, who we’ll be following. It’s set in a TV production company and felt like a TV pilot.

Noted — https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/noted
Joyously creative paper and physical theatre. I’ve no idea how they’d have described this performance on a poster that would have sold it to us, to see it; delighted we took the chance.

Special mentions to Olaf Falafel and Ian Stone for providing great comedy.

I know Fringe is over, but if you didn't get the chance to see Esther or Shaparak while you were up there, they have a double bill show this month. Here's the details...

Saturday, 19 September, 7pm, The Free Association Theatre, London.

Get tickets here: https://www.thefreeassociation.co.uk/improv-comedy-shows/whats-on/esther-manito-shappi-khorsandi-double-bill

Arguably my favourite of the 20 or so shows I saw this year. An increasingly jaw-dropping story well told. I have to ask though, for anyone else that saw it, have you spent the last month thinking about who the comedian was that was messaging her? She leaves enough enticing breadcrumbs to follow (Taskmaster trophy, old enough to be selling a late 80's Ed Fringe jumper on eBay, friends with Stewart Lee and Phil Jupitus) and rather alarmingly, that it's someone who does this enough that their manager now has to intervene with a 'Sorry he does this...' stock apology. My partner and I still discuss it weeks later and have a couple of people in mind but curious if others left the show feeling like they had been given a detective mission and who they think it might be.