Strathmore-Bar

yoo hoo do you work?

As venue captains for new PBHs venue The Strathmore Bar the experience was pretty good. The majority of acts came along to the tech/venue briefing on the Friday. Performer Corin Rhys Jones had accepted delivery of and set up the sound equipment and bar staff had accepted delivery of chairs and had set out the space as they required it to be kept for the duration. Karen and Shelagh explained how the space could be used (see images uploaded). Shelagh set up the additional tech she was lending and explained how it should be used. The group of performers worked extremely well together with various performers lending items for everyones use. Staff supportive and engaged with PBH FF. Any issues we raised were resolved without problem. The bar did have other events happening during the fringe which the regular clientele were very much invested in so for PBHs shows we really had to work hard to bring audiences in. Some of the events in the bar were quite loud but we did manage to rub along with that and make it work. However, maybe look at programming differently next year, later start and earlier finish perhaps. Performers were allowed to put posters up on windows and there didnt appear to be any limitation on that by the venue. Storage was difficult but doable. There is a small space to one side of the performance area that was useable for large items, and it soon became clear that the alcove for audience to the side of the performance area was better reallocated as a performer small item storage/prep/changing area depending on the type of act and we quickly established a way of working together that eased the changeover between us.

Location will be perfect next year as a comedy venue since there was a large student accommodation block being built right beside the pub that should now be open. Currently the clientele is perhaps not a PBHs audience but once the students establish themselves, we feel that it will become a student pub and the clientele will therefore change. Bar manager and staff also feel that this will happen and agree it should be a comedy venue. Location will be even better once Edinburgh and its visitors have got used to sharing space on the roads outside. There is quite a lot of road-side parking nearby especially towards Easter Road. Just be careful as some of it is permit holders only and also be careful of the impact of Edinburghs Low Emission zone which will kick in June 2024. In Scotland there is no daily charge option anyone driving a vehicle that is not exempt or does meet the emissions requirements will be fined. Flyering outside the Omni and exit flyering the Playhouse worked quite well for many of us but there is a feeling that further down the hill nearer The Strathmore will pick up as a flyering area by next year. There are many cafes and bars with outside seating all the way down to the bar and beyond its a growing area in terms of leisure.

Accessibility, there are two entrances. One has a couple of small steps, the other just has a tiny lip so okay for wheelchair access to the bar. They seem to be using the ladies toilet as an accessible toilet but this is not explicit so maybe have a conversation about that for next year. No steps to the toilets from the bar. There are 3 or 4 regular steps into the performance space, and they are willing to accept loan of a ramp if PBHs can provide one but are also willing to buy one themselves. Not all our acts flyered, so more emphasis on this next year.

Thanks Lari, that was a very enjoyable read from start to finish

Part II Well. poetry and a historical sub-genre are never going to attract big audiences: 'Celtic Swansong - The Gododdin' aka Scotland's Oldest Poem, . . Owing to a last minute change of venue - nobody's fault - i was offered a spot at Whistlebinkies - which would never have done - it's very noisy (see other reviews) and i'm autistic, so i wouldn't have coped with the noise. So off to Leith and the Strathmore Bar. Nothing wrong with the 'Strathy' as the locals call it - an excellent performance space - large, room for about 40 seats; the bar staff got me a very nice coffee every day just before i started the performance (thanks Mel, Grant, and Corry); they were very keen to help us promote our shows and suggested locations to flier and put up posters, and generally very friendly. I didn't have any equipment - spoken word - just bellow - so can't comment on that side of things.

Part III The Captains - Shelagh and Karen (thanks) likewise friendly, helpful, and sympathetic to my condition, always replied to texts promptly and kept us up to date with PBH news. My fellow performers likewise very helpful - especial thanks to Tom, Arran, and Shelagh for doing 'bucket duty'! Their shows were all deserving of more attention. One show, Renfield, ought to have had a great deal more attention. It would have been of great interest to 'nouveau goths', but getting the word out/publicity is the problem. That, i suppose is the sadness/joy of the fringe - so many good shows smothered in the haystack of innumerable stand-up comedy shows. ! Despite wandering round for an hour and asking at a very posh hotel, i never found the opening night party . . .

Part I Thoughts on PBH Freefringe | Venue 160, The Strathmore Bar, Leith Not brilliant, to be honest. Why? [Note: owing to the inflexibility of this websight, i am having to place this review of 1500 words in small pieces (much as one feeds a baby . . .) in order for its brain to be able to digest it. Please, if you are interested, read down through the appendices ad nauseum . . . thanks lp]

Part IV But oh dear! 6 no shows, and an average audience of one and a half (1.5454 recurring) per day for a 22 day run . . . Leith is a working class area, and we have a cost of living crisis, so i'm not that bothered about money (i've just done Buxton fringe and offered free entry for under 18's, and recipients of universal credit and pension credit - some 'pensioners' are fantastically wealthy). Some of my audiences were, i thought, excessively generous, bringing the average 'take' to 7.26 per day which is above the PBH average of 2 or 3 per visitor.Would have been nicer to have had bigger audiences since that is the point of performing. Publicity is always difficult for something 'none standard' or different, or unknown. Comedy is so much easier to 'sell' than poetry. I actually persuaded people who had just turned up at the Strathmore for a late morning drink, to attend the show 'Viking 9 - 5', and i am neither comedian, showman, nor salesman. Tom: great joke about Suella Braverman . . .

Part V I was banned by the Scottish Story Telling Centre (SSTC = snobs) from flyering their audiences after their shows. This would have been an excellent spot, and whilst i tried to collar some people at some paces' distant - how far does their reach extend from John Knox House? - it wasn't very successful. I left my fliers in the National Museum of Scotland, and fliered outside as well, but, a lot of families go there, so pubs are not the venue for them . . . I did though, stick posters up in every shop window in Leith where i had permission - and a very great 'Thank You' to all the businesses who did allow me; often they gave permission for my fliers and the Wee Blue Book as well. I know this worked because several people turned up who mentioned the poster - and then i had a couple of word of mouth referrals.

Part VI Other performers at the Strathmore down in Leith were also struggling to attract audiences. The Drill Hall Arts Centre just round the corner from the Strathy, also allowed me to place significant numbers of fliers, Wee Blue Books and a poster in prominent places in their foyer I also was quite ill during the run - bronchitis following a mild-ish cold, requiring antibiotics and steroids. Appologies to audiences whose shows were blighted by my ruined voice - key words of emfasis always disappeared in a croak, and i was still hoarse on arriving home. And all the by-products of Edinburgh:

Part VII I met a filosofer who taught me an important lesson on the human condition - Bruce E Benson The Jewish lady i spied fotografing a ?synagogue on Easter Road - Malki I discovered a mulberry tree in one of the parks near Waverly station The profuse growth of japanese cloudberry fruit on the corner of Easter and London roads that supplied me with one of my '5 a day' for the whole run! The consul of the French consulate who caught me admiring his beautiful tree with bright yellow blossom Peter und Vera, a German couple who attended the show, and then allowed me to practise my very rusty German on them . . . John a local bloke, who attended after seeing the poster somewhere in Leith, and who gave me a coat, and who recommended the show to others I discovered, or rather saw, a plant i'd never seen before in a wildflower garden in the middle of Leith, and its owner who told me its name and sent me some of its seeds (masterwort)

Part VIII Edinburgh truly is the city of the Elm tree - they grow everywhere; old, gnarled ones, and young ones sprouting like weeds in every unseen crack in kerbs and byways - good on you The grand avenues and crescents of this city: Regent crescent, and the neo gothic turrets - charming and the inspiration for part of the Harry Potter stories; Queen Mary's Bathhouse - dinky The old Scottish Office building perched on its crag: all very brusque and 1930's - reminiscent of the nazi style, but contectuallizing what must have been an architectural 'fashion' of the late inter-war years The Leith community councillor who attended following John's recommendation, and whom i spent an interesting hour discussing the problems facing the Gaelic language, and who informed me there was a Gaelic medium primary school in Leith All the musicians who played the 'public' pianos at Waverly and Haymarket - thanks, and thanks also to those who provide this amenity The waste food kitchen on the junction of Iona Rd (not far from the Strathy) and Leith Walk delicious grub, thanks for your efforts

Part IX The great inequity, iniquity, of Peter Howson, artist, christian, (and in my view, a hypocrite) and the City Arts Centre for charging 9.00 to view his paintings. Since this man has received public money for his commissions - - i have contributed by way of VAT on Mars bars (and possibly elsewhere) to this expenditure - - i feel i have the right to see his work for nothing. Also having squandered a veritable fortune - in my terms - to provide Edinburgh with an exposition of her earliest poem, i couldn't justify the nine quid. I dare say the mealy mouthed bourgeoisie are giggling at my poverty, and belittling me: well belittle away: but remember, everyone of my class in Edinburgh and elsewhere, suffering the so-called cost of living crisis would also have been effectively inhibited by this unfair charge: locked out not by a gate but a paywall: Peter Howson, i'm not a christian, but what did the son of god say concerning the ultra rich - camels and narrow entrances - tough! I virtually stole a copy of the image on the poster advertizing your show on North Bridge.

Part X The Swedish lady whom i 'collared' outside the SSTC (don't tell 'em) and who informed me that the Swedish response to Putin's barbaric attack on Ukraine was to shine blue and yellow lights onto the russian embassy in Stockholm, and to rename the street where this 'facility' is to be found 'Volodomyr Zelensky Street' - heh! I couldn't afford to stay in town, so stayed in Dunfermline (and that wasn't much cheaper), but there i discovered the Abbey Church; anyone with any interest in Scottish affairs really ought to visit this - it is quite, quite remarkable The band of young US of America 'refugees' (the madness of Trump) who were so enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the poem and who attended Twice! - thanks

Part XI To all of the peacocks i encountered in Dunfermline - thanks for brightening up most mornings, as i walked to the station - you are all the most carefree of birds And 2nd to last, thanks pal, to the seagull who sat on the ledge just outside the window of my lodgings, and entertained and charmed me for three weeks And FINALLY, thanks to you all, members of the PBH free fringe coop that helps bring low cost shows to the most expensive city in Scotland lp

Guys, no projector in here, right? (just trying to find a space for someone for this year)

In fact any guidance at all on what would work well here would be great

Did you read the previous show reports for Straithmore Bar

tbh i just started! i don't know why i didn't think of this last time i asked

and i have shelagh on facebook too so i can bug her there

i just have such a phobia about booking someone in the wrong space

What type of act are you booking

I've a few horror-based shows to look at, and still some comedy where sci/rat is a secondary genre that i should probably help with. i think some may need simple music/audio cues so would need something to play stuff on

so i expect a small stage, small PA, etc etc would be great, but i can't see any type of display

i think there was some improv thing which would probably work well on a small stage area

I filled in for a night here, and had an interesting experience. The bar is a little farther out, but there were enough people in the early evening who were willing to come back and see a show. However, one of the patrons was quite drunk, and would not stop talking, and it was difficult that they didn't allow amplified sound.

I loved performing here. I found it best to flyer all of the shops along Leith Walk and then neighborhood people on the corner of Iona and Leith. The people who make the trip to see you really want to see you, so everyone who came was such a gem. It's great for doing a work in progress - it's not near the main fray so people tend to stick around for a pint afterwards, and I got great feedback this way. Also important is the venue is clean - a typical local pub.