There’s a mild scandal brewing in Scotland. With thousands of comedians competing for audiences at The Fringe, marketing a show is all-important. Posters and flyers litter Edinburgh streets and alleyways, advertising everyone from Jack Whitehall to Dave Gorman.
Yet some campaigns have gone a stage further, defacing other performers posters with their own mark. Someone supporting (an over-eager PR or perhaps very dedicated fan of) The Boy With Tape on His Face, better known as 32-year-old New Zealand prop and mime artists Sam Wills, has gone around sticking a small tape-size stickers on the visages of other comedians, reading “This is not the boy”.
One act has gone even further, distributing small phallus-shaped stickers, which have been placed on other comics’ posters, causing quite a stir.
**** And The Gang (it starts with “K”, end with “T” and sound like “runt”) is a musical comedy act that performs songs with risqué lyrics over a Depeche Mode beat.
“I gave out the stickers for four nights at my show,” says singer Wayne of Basildon, Essex. “It wasn't part of any big marketing plan, I just didn’t fancy handing out flyers this year and thought people would find it funny to see crudely drawn male members appearing all over the place.”
One even ended up on a large poster of Christine Hamilton adorning the main Bristo Square. “Someone had stuck it in her wine glass,” says Wayne.
This Saturday the performer received a call asking that he no longer distribute the stickers. The organisers had received several complaints. The same night, two men from the Edinburgh’s Environmental Department turned up five minutes before Wayne was due on stage and asked him not to distribute any more stickers.
“Most comedians have taken my stickers in the manner in which they were intended, but some are very angry. One irate comic even physically threatened me. He just didn’t see the funny side of his posters being decorated by a member of the public with a crudely drawn image of a man's winky.”
Wayne has since distributed an open email apologising if his stickers “got up anyone’s nose”.