Comedian Aaron Twitchen was packing his bags ready to travel to Edinburgh ahead of his Fringe run at Gilded Balloon, when a friend sent him a photo of one of his giant promotional posters. Unlike previous photos he’d received, this one showed one of Aaron’s posters for his show, Himbo, covered in graffiti which read “Boycott the Fringe”.
Aaron has paid a fortune for a number of posters around the city and was looking forward to seeing them in situ ahead of his show starting on 31 July. Instead, he was faced with having to pay out to replace the damaged poster – an unwelcome additional cost on top of the thousands of pounds he (like other Fringe performers) has already spent to bring his show to Edinburgh.
Posting on social media, Aaron shared the photo with the caption “My big expensive banners, defaced before I even arrived”.
Aaron says that he has already spent around £10,000 to bring his latest show, Himbo, to Edinburgh and that over the years he’s racked up tens of thousands of pounds worth of debt performing at the Fringe.
“I haven’t been to the Fringe for five years, as I’ve been paying off the costs of previous years, and this year could be the last chance I have to come to Edinburgh and do it.
“If people really want me to boycott the Fringe, I wish they had told me back in January, before I spent £10,000 to do it” says Aaron.
Aaron explains that the damaged poster will add to his costs for 2024 as the poster, which cost him £300, will cost around £90 to replace.
Despite his upset, Aaron remains philosophical about the situation, “when I heard that one of my posters had been vandalised, I initially thought that it might have been homophobic comments, so I’m quite relieved that it’s nothing personal against me per se. And at least they got my gender right, ‘boy’.”
Aaron says that he fully supports people’s right to protest and that he understands that the Fringe may sometimes inconvenience Edinburgh residents.
“As a gay man I can’t honestly object to any form of protest – without the protests of the past we wouldn’t have things like gay rights and gender equality. Plus, recent protests have seen iconic works of art targeted – such as Van Gogh’s Sunflowers – so I’m telling myself that my poster must be pretty iconic to be picked by protesters; I just wish they’d used soup instead of spray paint, it would’ve been easier to clean!” says Aaron.
Aaron Twitchen, Himbo
Gilded Balloon Patter House (Venue 24),
Chambers Street, EH1 1HT
1900 hours 31 July to 25 August (not 12 August)
Tickets here.
