Exclusive:Daniel Sloss: I get the fear of 'is this festival dying?' every time I come to the Fringe

Daniel Sloss, who has been performing stand-up at the Fringe for almost two decades, said city authorities need to take action to cap rents, reduce venue costs and increase public transport from outside Edinburgh to open up the event to a wider audience - or risk killing off the 79-year-old event.

Sloss, 35, who is performing three shows at Edinburgh’s Playhouse during the festival as part of his Bitter tour, also said he would consider a return to grassroots Fringe to perform a full run in a small comedy venue next year when his current tour is over.

”Every year I come, I just get more of the fear of, ‘is this one of the last years, like, is this festival dying, because nobody can afford it?’ he says.

“If the working class cannot perform there, what is the point? How many great Scottish comics have we got who are middle class? None. If we look at the Scottish fan base for those people, it’s for the working class. And to outprice those acts and those audience members, which is Edinburgh Council’s fault and the venues’ fault, you’re just shrinking the pie of people who can enjoy this festival.

“I do worry that not enough is being done and there have been so many years of restriction of growth.”

Sloss, who lives in Edinburgh with his family, recently added an extra matinee to his two night run at the Playhouse on 14 and 15 August to give audience members who could not afford to stay overnight in Edinburgh the chance to travel home.

“Trains should run from Edinburgh to Glasgow until three in the morning during August,” he says. “They should run to Kirkcaldy until three in the morning and those trains should be cheap. That’s a really easy thing to do.

“And there should be a price cap on what you’re allowed to charge for rent during the month of August - you should not be allowed to up your prices for August.”

He admitted his younger self would be ashamed of his decision to cut short his Fringe appearance this year to just three shows - as well as for the work in progress (WIP) show he performed at last year’s festival.

“I don’t miss full runs,” he says. “But the 23-year-old in me would kill me for saying that. The two things I used to hate the most were the two things I’ve done in recent years. I’m the biggest hypocrite alive. I was like, ‘why would you sully the greatest arts festival in the world with a half-arsed attempt?’

“It just felt disrespectful in a way. This isn’t Melbourne, this isn’t Just for Laughs, this is Edinburgh. There is nothing like it in the world.”

He adds: “Then three years ago I did work in progresses and then a half run. But integrity is a young man’s game. I used to say, ‘I’d never do this, or I’d never do that,’ but it’s easy to say when you’re not being afforded these other opportunities.”

The opportunities he now has are lucrative worldwide tours. After he finishes performing at the Fringe, Bitter is touring the US and Europe between September and March next year on a fairly relentless schedule.

Sloss says he has “other priorities now”: his wife, Kara and two children, Caelan, four and Aela, two, followed by his physical health and mental health. He admits he used to “abuse my body and not look after my brain.”

“It’s a very different thing when comedy is the fifth most important thing in your life, when it used to be number one,” he says. “In order to give the top three things the best life for them, other things have to give and that took years for me to learn.”

He is openly adoring of his wife, Kara, who often features in his comedy routines, not least because he previously dated her older sister, something he has discussed publicly on stage.

“That’s why I’m not as good [a comedian] as I was when I was 27,” he jokes, adding that his love for his family has changed him.

“It’s hard, because sometimes, on stage, I feel like I’m trying to do an impression of my younger self, because the problem is, you find your voice, then you change as a person and I worry about that all of the time.”

Sloss credits the Fringe with his comedy career, which saw him secure his slots on on late night US TV show Conan with comedian Conan O’Brien in 2013.

“I’ve been coming here since I was seven,” he says. “The Fringe made me love comedy. My dad would drive me through to the festival from Fife. Then sometimes I would come through on the train with my friends and I would pick free shows during the day to see and then pay for comedians I wanted to see at night. It was a really easy thing to afford to do with pocket money we had saved up. I just don’t think that exists any more.”

He says his first four Fringe shows as a comedian “sucked”.

“They weren’t great shows,” he admits. “At the time I was devastated not to be nominated for best newcomer or best show, but the panel was right. But I learned how to turn over an hour and how to tour. I learned my limits.

“For comedians, the full run, which I don’t do anymore, the experience it gives you, is like a year on the circuit, which is why I want it to become more affordable.”

He adds: “I want this festival to be as good as it always has been. I’m also willing to hold my hand up and say maybe my perspective of things is this is just an old man yelling at clouds, saying it was better back in my day. Maybe it is better. But it doesn’t feel like that when I talk to the new comedians.”

He says he would consider returning to an old-style Fringe run, but accepts his fame means he is no longer one of the artists affected by the changes.

“Maybe I’m a part of it, maybe I shouldn’t do the Playhouse, maybe I should leave those 9,000 tickets available for people to go to other shows,” he says. “I am willing to accept responsibility, while also screaming and yelling.”

He adds: “I’m always tempted by [doing another full Fringe]. There’s a big part of me that would want to do a WIP show at one of the comedy venues. That sweat running down your back in a basement is the real Fringe experience.

“I’d want to do it in a way I’ve never treated it before, which is a real chance to go on stage every night and do something different because you’re not secretly desperate for a nomination or for that five star review that you’re scared to take any risks.

“But I’d need a slot at 8pm that would allow me to do my kids’ bedtime and get a bus in afterwards to do the show.”

Edinburgh Council has been contacted for comment.