Popular Edinburgh venue The Tron feels like the Fringe’s best kept secret, but this year the Just the Tonic venue has announced it will be a venue of purely female stand-ups – the first venue in the history of the Edinburgh Fringe to do this.
Just the Tonic’s founder Darryl Martin said: “As we were programming The Tron, we realised, that without any actual intention, the room seemed to be mainly female performers. So, with only a couple of slots left, we actively sought out more to create an all female venue. It wasn’t driven by us wanting to prove a point, or to be all political. It was going that way, so we pushed it further. So, the point is, this happened because we chose a load of funny people to be in the space, and it just turned out they were female. Make of that what you will. Over the years, when booking comedy clubs, we have tried to make sure our line ups are balanced. I would say that the way this happened goes to show that the comedy industry is heading towards a more balanced ratio of male to female performers. It was definitely not that way 27 years ago when I started booking comedy, but these things take time to change. Cultural shifts take years to come to fruition. Without any real effort, we have now got a fully female line up in one of Edinburgh’s finest comedy venues, all programmed with ‘being funny’ as the first criteria.”
The venue has always operated a model where they offer reasonable ticket prices to the public, as well as being a realistic working model for artists, meaning they are not one the venues where people go and regularly lose thousands. They have always maintained a policy of paying their staff and not relying on volunteers.
Just The Tonic encourage and support newer and diverse acts providing a professional setting at an affordable price for people wanting to go to Ed Fringe. Fringe venues and comedy clubs are the vital grassroots training ground for the future stars of the future, as well as the places that allow performers and artists to grow, develop and experiment.
Just the Tonic was launched in Nottingham over 25 years ago and has played host to countless up-and-coming comics as well as the most established TV names.
This year they will be hosting:
Esylit Sears: Absolutely Not,
Nina Gilligan: Late Developer
Adele Cliff In The Dark
Eryn Tett – Finds Her Audience
Abigoliah Schamaun: Legally Cheeky
Aliya Kanani: Where Are You From, From?
Kate Barron: Losing Myself
Aideen McQueen: Sugar Baby
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