Making Creativity Pay

"Comedians will perform all those unhinged ideas they had in their notes app that never did anything, I realised how different every comedian was and that looking behind the scenes and being in the artist's bars, they all had different processes. And they would try jokes on each other. And I was like, why don't we see this?"Continuing our series of episodes with those performing at the 2026 Fringe is our chat with Stephen Gordon, who is taking his show Notes: The Comedy B-Sides.We talk about the inspiration for the show, the logistics of filling 120 slots for comedians over the 24 shows as well as his other show Comedy Canopy which features a number of Scottish and Scotland based comedians.Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/notescomedyshow/ https://www.instagram.com/stephengordoncomedy/ https://www.instagram.com/comedycanopy/ Fringe Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/notes-the-comedy-b-sides  https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/comedy-canopy 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/ Episode Image: https://www.instagram.com/ezzthetic.photography/

“My show Church is about my story as a former mega church pastor, now queer, happy person. and it's about queerness, life, faith, finding, faith in humanity again. It features live music, it runs like a church service, it's at twelve forty, so it could be your first show of the day. Start the day with church and then go on about the festival.”Latest episode is with comedian Brit Barron about her upcoming fringe Show Church.We talk about how her experience as a mega church pastor was the starting point for the show, how Fringe prep is currently the equivalent of a part time job and the experience of getting a Fringe show up and running for someone who is based in the US and has never been to Fringe previously. We also talk about her other experiences including publishing non-fiction books, having a TED talk and performing at Netflix is a Joke.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/britbarron/  Fringe Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/brit-barron-church Crowdfunder: https://www.crowdfunder.com/p/church-2  TED Talk: https://youtu.be/fDzj9vRw5yM?si=FZ4y67NiUTPuw1-k 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 have to do the fringe because I have to do a show, I'm telling myself it is better that I do like, God forbid, it's better to have a one star show that you do than a show that does not exist that in your mind has four stars or five stars.Like you just have to do the thing. Because otherwise, you know, I'm not a natural jumping off the cliff kind of thing. I'm naturally really risk averse, but I just have to do a show. It's like something in me”Latest episode is with comedian Davina BentleyDavina is currently preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe where she is performing her show ‘Dancing While Old’, we talk about why this year is the right year to debut, and moving away from a legal career to focus on comedy.We also talk about building a social media presence and creating comedy both online and for radio.Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/davinabentleycomedy/ Fringe Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/davina-bentley-dancing-while-old    Episode Image:  https://www.instagram.com/bekor_/ 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 gigged at Comedy Nights as the spotlight character, I do a lot of just straight Stand Up nights and I'll be like the character act. And I think often it's great, but there's always an adjustment of , okay, this is something slightly different.And I think if I'm being an inanimate object, it's like, not only is the audience having to go from straight stand up to a character, they're going like, okay, this guy's doing something weird and he's also not a human.”Latest episode is with actor and comedian Hamish Lloyd BarnesHamish is currently preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe where he is performing his show ‘Stage Presence’, we talk about the show’s development both with work in progress and sometimes being the only character comedian on a stand up line up We also talk about the logistics of playing multiple characters and his experience as a finalist in this years Leicester Square Theatre Sketch-Off. Website: https://www.hamishlloydbarnes.com/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/hamishlb123/  Fringe Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/hamish-lloyd-barnes-stage-presence    Episode Image: https://www.instagram.com/bekor_/ 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/ 

“Everybody says that the best person to flyer your show is yourself. And that's true apart from when it's me. I'm really bad at flyering. I'm someone who wears their emotions on their sleeve quite a lot, people can tell that I'm not enjoying myself when I'm flyering.  When you're trying to get yourself in the mindset for a show and be positive, there are better ways to prep for that than being rejected 150 times by people saying, are you funny though? Are you funny? We'll come if you are”Latest episode is with comedian Richard Stott.Richard is currently preparing for the Edinburgh Fringe where he is performing his show ‘Streets won’t forget’, we talk about nightmare reviews, bad flyering experiences and a lot of good experiences too such as reaching the final of the UK pun championship.We also talk about how his day job and comedy experience combine creating social media content for organisations.Website: https://www.textualhealing.co.uk/richard-stott-thpr-2026   Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/the_rstott Fringe Tickets:  https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/richard-stott-streets-won-t-forget Episode Image: Andy Heathcote https://www.instagram.com/andyheathcote/ 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 was hoping to do [Edinburgh Fringe] and I didn't get anywhere that I wanted. In my mind, I'm like, I’ve got to be at the good venue. It's got to be worth the time and the effort. I'm not doing it for the love of the art. I could go to Droitwich Spa for the love of the art.”Latest episode is with harpist and performer Sam HickmanSam is currently taking her current show First Woman around the country with a view to taking to the Fringe in 2027, we talk about First Woman, her previous show Sexy Rude Harp Concert and about finishing third in the 2026 Musical Comedy Awards.We also talk about social media promotion and how sometimes less polished is better.Website:  https://sam-hickman.com/ Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/samhickmanmusic Tickets: https://linktr.ee/samhickmanmusic Episode Image: Rhian DixonFind 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 started off with a lot of Zoom calls. I was in Sydney and of course TJ is in New York. I've done two productions in the UK in 2025 and 2024. And both times the way I've kind of approached it was mostly through online Zoom meetings where I would put up a casting call. We'd get a lot of applicants and I'd get self tapes coming in and then I do meetups with them online to get a sense of how they were to perform. And this play was about two months worth of auditions that we went through.”This episode is with playwright TJ Elliot of Knowledge Workings Theatre and Liviu Monsted of Mon Sans Productions.We talk about their show ‘Retrospective’ which is on at Barons Court Theatre in London until 23rd May, the London Pub Theatre scene and how it compares with other locations such as Off-Broadway.We talk about casting a show that crosses three continents as well as promoting the show through traditional methods and Social Media.Knowledge Workings Theatre: https://www.instagram.com/knowledgeworkingstheater/ Mon Sans Productions: https://www.instagram.com/monsansproductions/ Show Details: https://knowledgeworkings.wpcomstaging.com/retrospective-at-barons-court-may-14-23-2026-2/ Tickets: https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/retrospective 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/