Skeptics On The Fringe
2/8/19
Alcohol, it’s been the ruin of many and the root of much. Is it all that surprising it would be where the story of the Skeptics on the Fringe starts? Sitting in the pub in 2010 after another Skeptics in the Pub with founders Ash Pryce and Alex Buque, Keir Liddle asked: “Why can’t we do a show in August?” the response was “Venues all booked up for the fringe”. Somewhere in the haze of that night there was an exchange with Sid Rodriguez who made Keir aware of the PBH Free Fringe. They might be interested in a science/skepticism show as spoken word? Well they were interested. They were surprisingly enthusiastic. Could we do a full run? The answer as it turned out, with Alex’s organisational skills and Ash’s showbiz background and experience, we could. Skeptics on the Fringe was born and, as of yet, Edinburgh Skeptics haven’t looked back.
Tomorrow is the opening of our 10th year. The first Fringe featured luminaries such as Chris French, Richard Wiseman, Caroline Watt, Matt Parker and Simon Singh and there was a live podcast of Righteous Indignation featuring Hayley Stevens, Michael Marshall and Trystan Swale. In addition Ash Pryce organised 'Ghost walks' of the city and hosted our Skeptical panel game 'Devil’s Advocate' every lunchtime. Since 2010 we have put on 275 events, we think that's around 7,000 attendees in that time
Apart from committee members, there's a three-way tie for most talks between Richard Wiseman, Caroline Watt and Michael Marshall, all with 6 shows of some sort; though the latter has attended the most seperate years.The 2019 run opens tomorrow - which again features these same three people - and we are in the Banshee Labyrinth every night at 7:20, with 4 additional talks in the Royal Society of Edinburgh at noon every Saturday. Full line-up is here: