“It’s a romantic comedy with added sexy cowboys”

Eleanor Birdsall-Smith is producer of the sell-out Edinburgh Fringe show ‘Cowboys and Lesbians’ which is about to embark on a 3 week run at the Park Theatre in London and The Wardrobe Theatre in Bristol.

We talk about her background in TV, her Fringe experiences including the importance of reviews and the tactics of flyering as well as the impact of a name change to the show.

LINKS

Park Theatre London (Feb 21st - Mar 9th)

https://parktheatre.co.uk/whats-on/cowboys-and-lesbians 

Wardrobe Theatre Bristol (Mar 12th - Mar 15th)

https://thewardrobetheatre.com/livetheatre/cowboys-lesbians/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CowboysPlay 

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/cowboysandlesbians 

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@cowboysandlesbians 

Times 4* Review discussed in the episode:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cowboys-and-lesbians-at-edinburgh-festival-saddle-up-for-this-brilliantly-funny-teen-drama-66bkcpkx5 

Show Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fysK6vFtLj8 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod 

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

"Even though they took my songs, I still felt like a failure, and I did for the largest part of the last 10, 15 years. I felt like I failed at music"

Alexis talks about her experiences as a singer/songwriter, comedian and actress, about going viral on TikTok and her resurgence as a pop star 20 years on.

We talk about having songs she’s written being recorded by Kylie Minogue and Rachel Stevens, the impact being dropped by her record label had on her and her determination to make the most of the opportunity the second time around.

We also discuss Social Media, online promotion and the psychological impact chasing clicks has on your state of mind.

LINKS

Website: https://www.alexisstrum.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexisstrum  

Instagram:  https://instagram.com/alexisstrum 

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@alexisstrumofficial 

Retropop Article about releasing the albums 20 years on:

https://retropopmagazine.com/alexis-strums-debut-album-addicted-finally-released-after-being-shelved-over-20-years-ago/ 

Alexis on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/49DJil4JyZdW8Upoilkfom 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/

Kat Molesworth who as well well as having a huge amount of experience in digital marketing is event producer at Content is Queen who are running the International Women’s Podcast Festival which is taking place in London in October.

We talk about traditional offline promotion for podcasts, what makes engaging social content to drive activity to your podcast as well as discussing the festival and Kat’s aims for it in more detail.

There’s a load of other practical bits of advice from Kat throughout the episode including examples of podcasts that do things particularly well in a certain aspect of podcasting.

Kat

Website: https://www.katmolesworth.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/thatkat 

Instagram: http://instagram.com/thatkat 

Blogtacular Podcast: https://pod.link/1063884748 

Content is Queen

Website: https://contentisqueen.org/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/contentisqn 

Pitch your talk or panel idea for The International Women’s Podcast Festival:

https://festival.contentisqueen.org/speaker-applications 

Interview with Grace Andrews (Marketing Director for Diary of a CEO) on Callum McDonnell’s ‘Creator Playbooks’ podcast

YouTube: https://youtu.be/44gUHzuLb78 

Podcast: https://pod.link/1613319204 

Normal Gossip Podcast: https://pod.link/1597761181 

Bitter/Sweet Podcast: https://pod.link/1674678902 

Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod 

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

"I think life is bigger than AI. I don't think AI is bigger than life. That may be the most naïve thing anyone has ever said on the subject. We'll see."

Andy Stanton is an author best known for his ‘Mr Gum’ Children’s books and has written a book called Benny the Blue Whale: A Descent into Story, Language and the Madness of ChatGPT which is available in print and also as an audiobook with ChatGPT voiced by Nish Kumar. 

As you’ll hear from our talk this doesn’t mean he’s typed a simple prompt and then printed the results, rather it’s a fascinating look at language and a great lesson on what makes good writing by considering what ChatGPT can’t do as well as looking at what it can manage.

As well as the book, we discuss Andy’s long running podcast Ask The Nincompoops as well as not reading your reviews and the difficulties of promotion in a social media age.

LINKS

Book: https://oneworld-publications.com/work/benny-the-blue-whale/ 

Audiobook: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/Benny-the-Blue-Whale-Audiobook/B0CKM6WDLV 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AndyStanton15 

Andy on the Failing Writers Podcast: https://www.failingwriterspodcast.com/episodes/episode/5137e57d/s3-ep20-how-to-write-a-book-using-chatgpt-andy-stanton 

Mr Gum Website: http://www.mrgum.co.uk/ 

Find more about ‘Making Creativity Pay’

Website: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/episodes/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Beyond_the_Pod 

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

“If you're really Into making it, into doing it, the worst thing in life is getting to 85 and not having tried to do the things that you want to do or not having been your best self”

Dec Munro is a comedy director and producer and co-founder of the Bill Murray comedy club.

Dec has directed loads of Edinburgh Fringe shows for performers such as Stuart Goldsmith, Mawaan Rizwan, Angela Barnes, Sofie Hagen and many more.

We discuss the role of a director in a show, about drawing out ideas and getting the best from an artist and whether taking a show to Edinburgh is right for everyone as well as moving from the Fringe to TV and if the TV industry does enough to nurture scripted comedy.

We talk about The Bill Murray and Angel Comedy Club, how that came about, the London comedy scene, the embarrassment of riches London comedy goers have and how the ‘So what do you do for a living’ clips on social media may impact what people expect from a comedy show.

Dec also runs beginner stand-up comedy courses both to individuals and in a corporate setting and we discuss how this attracts both those who want to make a go of being a comedian and those that realise that the skills of a comedian are transferable to their day job.

Dec’s Website: https://www.decmunro.com/ 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DecMunro 

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

The Bill Murray/Angel Comedy: https://www.angelcomedy.co.uk/ 

"I was in hospital listening to this country album, going, ah, life's too short for me to be listening to country music every other week"

On this episode is comedian and podcaster Liam Withnail.

Off the back of a sell-out run of his show 'Chronic Boom' at the Edinburgh Fringe. I talk to Liam about his experiences at the Festival in August, what he did to promote the show, the challenges he faced putting the show together and how he’s now taking it nationwide with a tour starting March 2024.

We also discuss his podcast ‘Enjoy an Album’ which he co-hosts with fellow comedian Christopher Macarthur-Boyd which itself has been a live show at Edinburgh.  We talk about how they’ve introduced video and developed the podcast with the financial help of Patreon supporters.

Links

Twitter: https://twitter.com/liamwithnail 

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

TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@liamwithnail 

2024 Tour: https://www.berksnest.com/liam 

Enjoy and Album Podcast page: https://podfollow.com/enjoy-an-album 

Links to other activity, including free podcast of Liam’s 2019 Fringe show, Homecoming: https://linktr.ee/Liamwithnail 

BBC article featuring Liam on financial aspect of being a comedian in current economy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-65038562

“It used to be you'd focus on one thing and you'd focus to do it to the best of your degree, but I think now everyone has to be really multidisciplinary” - This episode's guest Elf Lyons who has a broad range of talents that we discuss in the podcast.  

We talk about her Edinburgh show this year ‘Heist’ with Duffy and how audience response turned a two week run into a whole month and how it impacted her approach to being in Edinburgh compared to previous years and her experience this year directing a number of shows by fellow artists at the Fringe.

Elf’s previous Fringe show ‘Raven’ is playing for 2 nights on 27th/28th October at Soho Theatre in London and we talk about the balance of putting shows on yourself versus working with promoters/theatre companies to remove some of the stress of promoting and financial risk and balancing that with a lower return.

Elf also has a YouTube special - “Elf Lyons Talks Dirty” and we discuss the Work In Progress process and development aspects of Stand Up comedy and finding the right platform for you whether that’s Live, TikTok, Twitch or any other medium.

Elf also has a podcast called ‘Elfonomics’ that she runs with her father -  Economist Gerard Lyons taking a look at a range of Economic questions such as the benefits of an artist having an OnlyFans account or what lessons artists can take from footballers.

Links

‘Heist’ co-performer Duffy: https://www.instagram.com/darklydreamingduffy 

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

Website: https://www.elflyons.com/ 

“Elf Lyons Talks Dirty” YouTube Special: https://www.youtube.com/@ElfLyonsComedy 

Raven @ Soho Theatre 27th/28th October: https://sohotheatre.com/events/elf-lyons-raven-2/ 

Elfonomics Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/elfonomics 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ELFONOMICS

Episode Transcript: https://podcasting.makingcreativitypay.com/blog/elf-lyons-comedy-and-performance-episode-transcript/

This episode is the second of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan, the previous episode discusses Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe.

In this episode we discuss the Edinburgh Fringe, the role a reviewer plays in a show getting noticed and the balance for performers between getting their work seen and balancing the financial and mental pressures of a month at the Fringe.

You can find Fergus at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FergusMorgan

Fergus' Newsletter: https://thecrushbar.substack.com/

His work at The Stage: https://www.thestage.co.uk/fergusmor1

This episode is the first of a two-parter with Theatre Correspondent Fergus Morgan.

In this episode we discuss Fergus' experience as a freelance Theatre Correspondent for titles such as The Scotsman and The Stage, as well as appearing on Radio 4 and in publications across Europe.

We also discuss Fergus' own Newsletter The Crush Bar, the differences of being your own boss as a Newsletter producer compared for writing for others as well the current state and future direction of journalism.

The second part of my chat with Fergus will be out on 30th September and will discuss the Edinburgh Fringe, the role a reviewer plays in a show getting noticed and the balance for performers between getting their work seen and balancing the financial and mental pressures of a month at the Fringe.

You can find Fergus at:

Twitter: https://twitter.com/FergusMorgan

Fergus' Newsletter: https://thecrushbar.substack.com/

His work at The Stage: https://www.thestage.co.uk/fergusmor1

"Flyering is like a one-on-one direct intense experience of rejection, constant little micro bits of rejection and that can really suck"

This episode is with Laura Thurlow whose show "A Preoccupation with Romantic Love" is on between 19-27th August as part of the Free Fringe.

She discusses flyering, the importance of the Free Fringe, the impact of Social Media and lots more.

Details:

⁠https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/preoccupation-with-romantic-love⁠

Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurelbrae

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

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@laurelbrae