Cost of Edinburgh Fringe means comedy is becoming more elitist, says Matt Forde

Independent

29-04-2025

Comedian Matt Forde has said the cost of performing at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe means that comedy is 'becoming more elitist' in the UK.
Forde, 42, who presented political satire programme Unspun, said the 'Edinburgh model' is making it 'almost impossible to become a working-class, successful comedian in this country'.
Giving evidence to a Commons select committee on the live comedy sector, he said: 'A lot of comedy clubs, the money has gone backwards since when I first started gigging. The money has got worse.'
' People face higher costs and less money for the work that they're doing, and then, really, until the birth of TikTok and social media, the main way really to get discovered as a comedian, to really get a career on the whole – and this isn't true for everyone – was to really have a successful Edinburgh Festival.
'And performing at the Edinburgh Festival costs a fortune, and the single biggest cost is accommodation.
'The single biggest barrier to be able to perform, and indeed visit the Edinburgh Festival, is the exorbitant rents that landlords charge.
'And year after year it has gone up and up and up, and I think performers and audience members are prepared to pay a bit of a premium for staying in someone's house that they've had to vacate for a month.
'But it is growing exponentially year on year on year, and that is meaning that comedy at that level is becoming more elitist.'
Forde said that the 'only people' who can afford to do hours of unpaid work in the hopes that comedy will become a full-time job 'are privileged people'.
'And then the only people that can afford to perform at Edinburgh, and indeed visit Edinburgh, are privileged people,' he said.
Last year, ex-BBC presenter Gail Porter said she had been 'priced out' of attending the festival in her hometown due to 'the soaring costs of B&Bs'.
Forde said: 'The Edinburgh model is making it almost impossible to become a working-class successful comedian in this country, and the lack of recognition from Government, I should add, is part of that problem.'
Forde also discussed the benefits of Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels bringing a British version of the long-running sketch comedy show to Sky.
'I'm really excited that SNL is coming to the UK. I think it's a very good thing. I think we need more topical comedy on telly. We need more sketch on telly', he said.
'You go to the Edinburgh Festival, you see amazing sketch shows, it's a real breeding ground for talent. It's a different discipline to individual stand-up, and there should be more of it on telly.
'But I think SNL in itself isn't going to dramatically change the culture here.'
Edinburgh Festival Fringe has helped to launch the careers of numerous comedians and writers.
Phoebe Waller-Bridge premiered her play Fleabag at the festival and Richard Gadd performed Baby Reindeer there, before it was transformed into a hit Netflix series.
The Culture, Media and Sport Committee's evidence session was the first in a series of hearings to be held as part of the State Of Play inquiry, which has invited everyone from those in the UK creative industries that are often overlooked to send in their ideas on what MPs should be examining.