As Oasis's mega-tour descends on Edinburgh this month, stand-up comedians at the Edinburgh Fringe are feeling the pinch, with audiences diverted to the Gallagher brothers' shows. Yet the relationship between comedy and rock music has never been more intertwined, with numerous Fringe acts drawing directly on musical influences.
Tom Rosenthal, star of Friday Night Dinner, is performing Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I Am, a show that compares his own experience of public perception with that of the Arctic Monkeys. Meanwhile, Marc Burrows, a comedian and music critic, presents The Britpop Hour, celebrating the era defined by Oasis and other bands.
Burrows questions whether comedy can still claim to be 'the new rock'n'roll', noting that the intense fandom once seen with The Mighty Boosh is now rare. 'Apart from in niche ways, you don't find people wearing comedians' merch these days,' he says. However, he acknowledges that comedy has periodically been seen as rock'n'roll, from Monty Python in the 1970s to The Young Ones in the 1980s.
Ollie Catchpole of Live Nation highlights the growing commercial importance of comedy, which now rivals music as a revenue stream for venues. 'The economics just became a lot more reliable [than music],' he explains, pointing to arena-filling acts like Ricky Gervais and Micky Flanagan. He notes that audiences today are more fluid, crossing over between music and comedy, which promoters actively encourage.
This crossover is facilitated by digital consumption, where young fans explore diverse genres without financial risk. Catchpole adds, 'If we feel that fans like a particular band, a Fontaines DC, say, we know they might also like [comedian] Vittorio Angelone.' This synergy suggests that while comedy may not replicate the cult fandom of the past, its integration with music is stronger than ever.
