Making Creativity Pay

“So every day it was a real honest, quite transparent process. You looked in the bucket, you looked on the sum up and you knew what you have for the day and you got to take that home. I've had really good experiences with paid venues and really bad experiences and everything in between, but I just didn't have thousands of pounds to outlay this year. I wasn't going to do it. Last year [2025] went so bad from a commercial and experiential point of view for me. I was never going to do Fringe again.”  

This episode is with Comedian and Podcaster Vix Leyton and Director Charlotte Redding.

We talk about their extensive Fringe experiences over the years both good and not so good and their experience promoting their 2026 Fringe show ‘Chief Petty Officer’ as well as podcasting experience with Spendology and Comedy Arcade podcasts.

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/vixleyton 

Website: https://www.vixleyton.co.uk/ 

Spendology:https://www.spendologypod.com/ 

Comedy Arcade: https://podfollow.com/the-comedy-arcade 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/

“[After stand-up] I moved into advertising, I'm a creative director in advertising so I write for a living and stand-up has always been a huge interest and so I realised a few years back I have lots of books about stand-up but there wasn't one about UK stand-up certainly over the last 25 years and so I thought that maxim ‘write the book you want to read’”

This episode is with Jonathan Grant author of “Reading The Room: The Inside Story of UK Stand-up in the 21st Century”  

We talk about his experience both inside and outside of stand-up comedy, why he wanted to write the book and some of his thoughts about the process.  The book includes a wide range of stand-ups including Jen Brister, Ed Byrne, Ivo Graham, Sofie Hagen, Wil Hodgson, Richard Herring, Elis James, Phill Jupitus, John Kearns, Nish Kumar, Zoe Lyons, Stevie Martin, Geoff Norcott, John Robins, Suzi Ruffell and Isy Suttie. 

Book:  https://gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/w.cgi?showfull=69222 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jonogr/ 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“I went very hard on marketing and promotion and one thing is getting the actors to feel confident doing that too. You are going to feed off the atmosphere of having 50 people in that room on the night so let's give ourselves the best opportunity to have a high exciting atmosphere in that room” 

This episode is with writer and director Elise Simond who is taking her play ‘Speak of the Devil’ to The Hope Theatre  in London from 13th to 24th October

We talk about what it takes to put a play like this together, working with a cast of six and where her love of drama and writing came from.

Tickets: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/speakofthedevil   

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/speakofthedevil.play/  

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“It's a medieval farce about women's rights in the wake of the Norman invasion in 1066. It's very much within the remit of things that I love to work on. It's taking ideas that are reflected still today about kind of the progress of women's rights and how we think about literacy rates and the way that we understand each other but reflecting it through a medieval farce in the wake of the normal invasion.”

This episode is with writer and director Esalan Gates who is taking her play ‘God Save Us’ to The Lion and Unicorn Theatre in London from 6th to 10th October

We talk about what it takes to put a play like this together, running workshops for up and coming directors as well as working in fundraising for theatre projects. I started by asking Esalan to give a brief introduction about herself.

Tickets:  https://app.lineupnow.com/event/god-save-us 

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/esalangates/ 

https://www.instagram.com/codextheatre/ 

Website: https://esalangates.com/ 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/

This episode is with Lucie Lutte who is founder of Arts organisation Limitless Presents and director of upcoming play Extremism that is on at The Cockpit Theatre from 29th Sep to 2nd October

We talk about what it takes to put a play like this together, running workshops for actors and creating opportunities to help people break into the sector.

Tickets: https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/extremism_by_anders_lustgarten 

Instagram:  

https://www.instagram.com/limitless_presents/ 

https://www.instagram.com/lucie_lutte/ 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

"Some people were really scared... it kind of surprised me how many tourists I came across that didn't even seem to realise that Edinburgh Fringe was going on. And they were sort of walking down the mile, like what is happening right now. Some people came up to me because I was in costume and they were like, right, what's all this about? Give me your pitch kind of thing. So yeah, you get a real mix on the mile."

Latest guest Natalie Patuzzo talking about flyering in costume for her Fringe show 'Every Single Sound in the World'.

We talk about how the show and her love of clown came about, her experience at the Fringe and also her regular comedy night in Manchester Village Idiots!

Instagram:  

https://www.instagram.com/nataliepatuzzo/ 

https://www.instagram.com/villageidiots_comedy/ 

Cover Image: https://www.instagram.com/bensherwoodphotography/

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

"I've taken four solo shows to the Edinburgh Fringe previously, which have all been multi-character shows, and slowly throughout, the very first show I did was just all characters, and then second, third, fourth, I started more and more each time being a bit more myself in the show. and it's interesting because a lot of the time, especially after my last show in 23, a lot of the sort of industry feedback I was kind of getting was like, we loved it, it was great, but sketch is dead. so maybe you should work on like a one-woman play or a one-woman show and I thought, I don't know about that.

Of course now though that I'm telling everyone I'm doing stand-up, they're like, but sketch is coming back.”

This episode is with Charlie Vero-Martin who is at Fringe this year with her work in progress stand-up show Poltergeist

We talk about deciding to take a stand-up show to Fringe after previous years with character comedy shows, the resurgence of sketch comedy, her workshops and other writing experience.

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/charlievmartin/ 

Fringe Tickets:  https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/charlie-vero-martin-poltergeist-wip 

Substack: https://charlieveromartin.substack.com/ 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/

“I did a sketch show that was on the free fringe that during that month, I walked so much that I actually put holes in my shoes. So I had to buy shoes in Edinburgh during the fringe, but it meant I had a pair of shoes with holes in. I could physically show the audience. To go, look, I need money. I have actual holes in my shoes.”

“For me, it's leaning on the nerd culture thing. I think that there are very different types of nerds. There are nerds who really studied hard, got into maths and have really high paid jobs now. If you're that kind of nerd, please give... And then there's the nerds like us who, you know, we really enjoyed being nerds, but unfortunately, we've chosen to nerd out about an industry that is completely not high paid”

This episode is with Juliette Burton and Gareth Gwynn - Juliette is doing 3 shows at Fringe this year across both ticketed and Free Fringe and we discuss doing multiple shows and the differences between them.

Gareth is performing his show Cyril after a having it as a work in progress last year 

We talk about skill swaps between the two of them, PR, social media advertising and other ways to get the word out

Instagram:   https://www.instagram.com/juliette_burton/ 

https://www.instagram.com/gareth_gwynn/ 

Fringe Tickets: 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/juliette-burton-villain-era  https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/get-your-geek-on-a-nerdy-comedy-showcase 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/juliette-burton-s-board-to-distraction 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/gareth-gwynn-cyril 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“Ruby is daft and funny and high energy and silly, and whatever the content of the show is, it will be through that lens. And same with Hannah, it'll be dry and witty and things. And people who know me and have seen my stand-up, like know what I'm like on stage. 

I think for me having done marketing and stuff for other fringe shows before, sometimes it's about making that clear what the content of the show is, because some people just want to see stand up, right? Some people don't want to see clowning or whatever else, but then there's even within, you know, stand up, me, Ruby, and Hannah all do very different things on stage.”

This episode is with Hannah Platt, Ruby Carr and Kat Higgins who are all performing at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

It was brilliant to hear from 3 great comedians and how their styles and attitudes to things like Flyering or Social Media differ as well as the things they have in common.

We talk about poster design, fringe finances and lots more

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hannahtheplatt/ 

https://www.instagram.com/rubyvroomvroom/ 

https://www.instagram.com/kat.higginscomedy/ 

Fringe Tickets:  https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/hannah-platt-cult-classic 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/ruby-carr-bite-me 

https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/kat-higgins-in-memory-of-me 

Odd Jobs Podcast: https://spotify.link/D2IrPvmdCXb 

Hannah on Bandcamp: https://alovelytime.bandcamp.com/album/defence-mechanism 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/

“Maureen has learned piano in recent years and we had a scene where she sings a song and so she was playing piano, but because we're gonna be at fringe and renting a piano and then bringing it on and off stage just all felt too persnickety. Maureen has now learned the ukulele”

This episode is with comedians Claire McFadden and Maureen Monahan who together are Sketch Duo Spooky Dookie.

We talk about where the name comes from, their wide range of comedy experience between them writing for SNL, The Onion, Comedy Central and others

We also talk about the right balance of written and improv work in a show, working together for over a decade and lots more.

Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/spookydookieduo/ 

https://www.instagram.com/czmcfadden 

https://www.instagram.com/maurmon/ 

Fringe Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/spooky-dookie-cool-new-planet  

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ 

Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/