Harvesting inspiration at the Edinburgh Festivals

Comedy researcher and Open University literature tutor Dr Emma Sullivan shares how she finds a wealth of riches at Edinburgh’s Festivals.  

Once a year, for the month of August, Edinburgh becomes the epicentre of the arts world. An array of festivals, including the Fringe, International, Film, Art, and Book festivals, take over the city and are commonly referred to collectively as “The Festival”.   

Comedy is my primary research interest, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is a unique window into contemporary comedy and theatre (the boundary between the two can be pretty blurred). 

As a comedy reviewer for The Skinny, a Scottish arts magazine, I get to see some of the most exciting new work out there.

Sometimes certain themes or preoccupations are apparent at the time, but often the larger picture takes longer to emerge, and with so much to see, it’s often simply about trying to do justice to each show. 

The stand-up performances I see in the Fringe proves once more just how worthy comedy is of close attention – not mere escapism, but a significant art form in its own right.

The riches of each Festival help feed my research for the rest of the year – and, in a kind of harvesting, I garner up as much material as I can during the summer months. 

A recent example of work that builds upon my Fringe experiences is a conference paper which looks at how conventional forms of sexually explicit material are shifting – with #MeToo, concerns about ‘toxic masculinity’ and social justice campaigns, all challenging the centrality of the white, male perspective. 

I also produced a blog-piece about female comics’ use of vulnerability, which is a vexing concept from a feminist perspective, because of its association with weakness and dependency. In the piece I examine how some comics are exploiting the expectation of feminine vulnerability, to ultimately achieve invulnerability. 

The regular work of writing and analysis means I’m continually thinking about structure and expression – accompanying my students in the work of wrestling an essay into shape, and sharing my insights with them.”

And most recently, a submission to a special issue which argues that, despite the concerns about audiences having ‘gone soft’, we’re actually in a newly bold era of audience participation, with shows using the traditions of clowning and cabaret to extend the parameters of participatory theatre (shows like Bill O’Neill’s anarchic 'The Amazing Banana Brothers' and the communal healing offered by Julia Masli’s 'ha ha ha ha ha ha ha').

As an Associate Lecturer for The Open University (OU) in Scotland, I teach the module Literature in Transition, which extends from the start of the 19th Century into the contemporary period.

Both my research and my work with The Skinny ensures that I am always paying close attention to the ‘now’, in ways which help inform my teaching.

The regular work of writing and analysis means I’m continually thinking about structure and expression – accompanying my students in the work of wrestling an essay into shape, and sharing my insights with them. 

I’m very invested in my OU students and so proud of their hard work and all that they accomplish. I’m proud, too, that as part of the OU’s knowledge exchange activities - funded by the Scottish Funding Council - the OU supports arts festivals across Scotland. Indeed, the OU is a long-term supporter of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and we’ll be sponsoring three events there this year. 

Despite the sense of summertime abundance, the arts in Scotland need as much support as possible! 

10 June 2024