At about 11 a.m. on a recent Saturday, the first of five ongoing comedy shows began on the Elysian Theatre stage, the audience was invited to provide feedback, and bagpipe music echoed through the Echo Park space in between the five hour-long performances.
For performers Sarina Freda, Natasha Mercado, Charlie James, Miles Woods and Griffin Kelly, “Edinburgh Fringe Percolator” was a chance to test out their material before heading off to the famous Fringe Festival in August, and for Los Angeles audiences, it’s a chance to experience the Fringe without having to physically travel to Scotland.
The annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe bills itself as the largest gathering of performing arts on the planet, with tens of thousands of performances across some 250 venues over the course of a month. Before talented artists step into the spotlight, they often hone their work. In Los Angeles, they do so at venues like the Comedy Store in Hollywood, the Kookaburra Lounge in the nearby Ovation complex, and the Lyric Hyperion in Silverlake.
Griffin Kelly is workshopping the production of “Two Cats on a Date” at the Elysian Theatre.
(Chris Unko)
The two-year-old Elysian Theatre is positioning itself as Edinburgh’s artistic community and place for sharing ideas through its Frogtown outpost and Facebook group. The nonprofit will host Edinburgh-wide runs of Rachel Caley’s mental illness-themed “Hospital Hour” on July 15 and “Demi Adejuyigbe Is Going to Do One (1) Backflip” on July 14 and 16. Natalie Palamides will perform five performances of her Edinburgh-bound “Weer” this month. “Avital Ash Workshops Her Suicide Note,” part of the 2023 Fringe Festival, will be revived by Ash on Tuesday.
Toni Nagy has been preparing for its Edinburgh debut since June when she co-starred with Sarah Buckner in Grape Culture, which played five shows at the unrelated Hollywood Fringe festival. At next month’s festival, Nagy will perform her second play, the title character Go to Your Womb, a cathartic parenting journey, with her daughter Adelia Aldrich.
“Everything I create tends to go against the status quo, which has forced me to take an unconventional approach to my career,” Nagy said. “Bringing two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time may seem a bold move, but… they complement each other thematically, and if I can get through rehearsals and performances with my 13-year-old daughter, I can do anything.”
Toni Nagy’s Grape Culture was performed at the Hollywood Fringe Festival in preparation for its Edinburgh run.
(Aletheia Lane)
Jay Wright’s free-roaming show “Wrong! A Dark Comedy Game Show” began at the Alamo Drafthouse in Los Angeles and has toured to New York, Chicago and Austin, Texas, before hitting the Comedy Store in October. The show pits three comedians against each other by committing “cancellation-worthy infractions” or making “questionable decisions.” The show will premiere at the Belly Room at the Comedy Store on July 22 before moving to Edinburgh.
At the Ovation Complex, formerly known as Hollywood & Highland, Fielding Edlow’s Gaslighting Is My Love Language promises “an hour of brutally honest, unashamedly explicit and highly enjoyable comedy” at the Kookaburra Lounge on July 25th.
Lyric Hyperion will also be previewing some Edinburgh shows, including Natasha Mercado’s “#1 Son” on Saturday, Milanka Brooks’ “Mum and I Don’t Talk Anymore” on Monday, Kim Preece’s “Loser Lion Party Bus” and Jackie Skinner’s “Beautiful Night” on Tuesday, Catherine McCafferty’s “(Not) That Bad” on Wednesday, and Alex Kahn’s “Thank You So Much for Coming” on July 13.
Kyle Ayres will reprise “Hard to Say” at the Lyric Hyperion on July 22. The show focuses on Ayres’ chronic pain disorder, trigeminal neuralgia, so the comedian’s goal in Edinburgh feels as personal as it is professional.
“More than anything, I’m looking forward to the rad chaos,” Ayers said. “I’ll be way out of my comfort zone. This is completely different from anything I’ve ever done before, so I’m trying to embrace that aspect. I want to see shows I never thought I’d see, meet people I never thought I’d meet, and perform for people who may never see my show otherwise.”
The Elysian hosts workshops and discussions aimed at both established Edinburgh talent and those “curious about the Fringe.” “Opening day is important,” Kelly warned during one Saturday session, noting that early reviews are crucial. But the pressure is on, with comedy’s gatekeepers and trendsetters potentially stepping in at any point during the nightly marathon.
Naked Comedy producer Sam Varela said crowdfunding is part of a trend: “Everybody’s tight on money this year,” she said, citing labor strikes and a lack of work in Hollywood as examples.
A lot of time and effort goes into putting on a successful Edinburgh production, and for Los Angeles audiences, previewing the production offers a glimpse into that process.
“My first time doing the Fringe gave me a real appreciation and understanding of the DIY approach to comedy that has exploded over the last few years,” Wright says, noting that bringing the show to the stage required collective development: “It took us two years to get what we had on paper good enough to be in front of an audience.”
