Money is changing hands during a number of Edinburgh festival performances this year, and not just when it is time for the traditional “bucket speech” at the end of Free Fringe shows. Mary O’Connell fires notes from shiny money guns at the start of Money Princess. Tom Mayhew has a suitcase full of bits and pieces, which he attempts to auction off to make his first million. And Stanley Brooks, AKA comedian Lewis Dunn, is paying his audience minimum wage to experience 10 seconds of doing their dream jobs.
With price rises and stagnant wages, we are all thinking about money more. And at the fringe, where the cost of performing and watching shows is ever increasing, it’s no surprise that plenty of artists are tackling the topic. Krystal Evans, Tamsyn Kelly and Alison Spittle discuss growing up poor. Lane Kwederis lets us know what it means to be a financial dominatrix. Paddy Young serves up cheeky digs at landlords and the financial precariousness of renting in London. On the flipside, Fool’s Gold sees one performer grappling with their financial privilege.
Mayhew’s previous two shows explored the reality of being poor. As someone who grew up with little money, he has always wanted to see positive representations of those on benefits, and direct jokes at the issues that entrench inequality. This year’s show, which he says is “inspired by my dodgy Del Boy-esque dad”, is a quest to turn his fortunes around and become wealthy, where he considers whether money really can buy happiness.
“When you’ve always been worried about money it toughens you up and you can joke about it,” Mayhew says. “Sometimes it’s the people who have not who are very sensitive about it.”
Comedy is Mayhew’s passion and the only thing he ever spends money on – even when he was receiving £50 a week in benefits, he would save up cash so he could travel to perform at comedy nights. In the show, he recounts his dad’s bafflement that comics starting out don’t always get paid. It can be jarring when the emotional investment you put into your art isn’t always reflected back financially, he says.
View image in fullscreen‘When you’ve always been worried about money it toughens you up and you can joke about it’ … Tom Mayhew
O’Connell explores similar avenues. She has always had a full-time job alongside doing standup and because she enjoyed it so much, she didn’t believe that you could make a living from it. “I place more value on my salaried job than on comedy. Comedy was always something I snuck in.”
When she started writing Money Princess, it was going to be a show about money anxiety, with O’Connell reflecting on why she judged others’ reckless financial decisions and could never enjoy being in the moment. She describes herself as middle class, but in the current climate, becoming financially secure while living in London felt far off.
Then something big happened that challenged her anxieties. She entered an OnlyFans comedy competition – and won £100,000. “It’s not enough to stop working,” she says, “but it’s a big amount.”
The show takes us on the wild journey to her win. The whole thing forced her to recontextualise her career. “I can’t process that I made the most money I’ve ever made from comedy,” she says. “I still have a hard time calling myself a comedian!”
For those who would like to know how to get-rich-quick too, Stanley Brooks’ seminar could hold the answer. It was inspired by a real encounter that Dunn had, when he turned up for a job interview, only to be taken to a service station to sell cosmetics. “The whole thing was a pyramid scheme,” Dunn says. “The guy literally drew a pyramid and explained, I am at the bottom and I need to move to the top. He was convinced that tomorrow he was going to be a millionaire.”
The character of Brooks draws on this man, plus shows such as The Apprentice. “It’s this idea that bravado and saying things like they mean something is better than actually knowing things,” he says.
In the get-rich-quick seminar, Brooks makes us workshop business ideas, berates the audience for poor financial decisions and reveals that running these sessions are his dream job. “The joke with Stanley is that he thinks that ‘dream job’ means rich. But he’s wrong. He is selfishly doing the thing he loves, but he will tell you off for not being rich.”
The character predates the cost of living crisis, but he is now more relevant than ever. “People are finding it funnier because they’re starting to see more of that person, the YouTubers who say: ‘Get-rich-quick, you can make millions!’”
Mayhew also tackles the idea that there are quick fixes. “At the end of the show, I haven’t made a million because there is no quick fix for poverty,” he says.
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But there are rays of hope. Mayhew was one of 50 acts to secure the new Keep It Fringe fund this year. He has performed on the Free Fringe in the past, and is doing so again this year, but feels the bursary has given him rare financial security at the festival. “For the first time, I could do something creative without worrying about losing a load of money. That is such a big thing.”
All three performers ask their audiences to reassess what they place value on. “Ultimately, the end of the show is saying: I’m probably never going to be wealthy but you can still find joy in simple pleasures,” Mayhew says.
“I do think we can all be a bit more money-savvy and open about wanting more for ourselves,” says O’Connell, “but I also think it’s important to just value joy.”
Dunn wants his audience to reflect on whether they are happy doing what they’re doing. “The point is, I want to be a standup comedian,” he says. “Even though it’s costing me thousands, even though it’s hard work, I still want to do it. And that’s why I’ll never be rich.”
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Tom Mayhew: This Time Next Year, We’ll Be Millionaires! is at Laughing Horse @ the Three Sisters until 27 August. Mary O’Connell: Money Princess is at Pleasance Courtyard until 27 August. Stanley Brooks: I Can Make Me Rich is at Just the Tonic at the Caves until 27 August.
