All the fun of the Edinburgh Fringe is coming straight to your screens! And as ITV puts it, “The magic, chaos and hilarity of the Edinburgh Fringe will be streamed directly to viewers on ITVX this summer via four specials.”
Streaming The Fringe’s Best
Audiences will be immersed into the anarchic and irreverent atmosphere as if they were in the rooms themselves – all streamed live on ITVX, and available to catch-up for 30 days afterwards.
There will be four episodes produced by NextUp Comedy. The guys who livestream 150 UK shows every year. You can check out their site HERE, where you could watch shows from Ian Smith, Zoe Lyons, Alasdair Beckett-King, Huge Davis, and more!
Details of the show are still a bit fuzzy but venues, broadcast dates, and of course the show line-up to be included in their curated compilation but all of it would be announced near August.
When they say that the Edinburgh Fringe is a fantastic way to get your comedy career going, then this would be a massive step-up as those who could not attend would be able to watch performer highlights, both from newcomers and comedy veterans.
ITVX and Comedy
That’s not the only comedy bit that ITVX is cooking up as managing editor of ITVX says that,
Comedy has proved to be one of the most popular genres on ITVX, with streaming hours increasing by 80% year-on-year. We already have over 2,500 hours of funny on ITVX – and these programmes will be a welcome addition.
Last year they had huge success in the comedy market so now they’re coming back with brand new shows aside from the ‘Edinburgh Live’.
Changing Ends
They will also be showing Alan Carr’s ‘Changing Ends’ the semi autobiographical service that attracted 6.5 million streams last summer. Based on Carr’s life in Northampton in the 1980s, as the son of fourth division football manager.
This second series immediately picks up after the end of the first one, which sees the ‘young Alan’ deal with puberty and familial issues. Produced by Baby Cow Productions and co-created by the late Simon Carlyle, the show is now being aired on ITV1 at 8:30pm on Tuesday.
Piglets
A new series inspired by the government’s policy to recruit 20,000 new police officers, with the premise that a recruitment drive such as this might lead to a decline in standards.
Set in a fictional police training college, will drop as a full series box set on ITVX and then air on ITV1 primetime weekly. Written by producer Victoria Pile, Robert Harley, Oriane Messina, Richard Preddy, Fay Rusling, and Omar Khan.
Slip
Lastly, ITV has also bought the rights to American science fiction comedy, Slip. Written and starring Zoe Lister-Jones, who is trying to find her way back to her partner by travelling parallel dimensions.
Produced by Dakota Johnson’s company TeaTime Pictures, it was a seven episode series on The Roku Channel before it was axed just after 6 months of airing to cut costs. In that short time it gained a large following and even led to a lot of positive reviews from different channels.
Looks like ITV is taking heavy steps in the comedy scene this summer! Best news is that those who cannot attend the Fringe Festival would still be treated to lots of laughs through their streaming service! But, if you’re still looking to experience some truly hilarious comedy shows then we’ve got a bunch of great comedians lined-up 7 nights a week here at Big Belly Comedy Club!
