Bob Slayer

Bob Slayer is an Edinburgh Comedy Award winning comedian, comedy promoter and venue operator. He has been credited with establishing a new economic model for venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe which has made it fairer and more affordable for comedians and audiences. Acts that have performed at his venues have won and been nominated for a number of prestigious awards.

Slayer is a former music manager, and at one time was a jockey. He has performed stand-up at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe since 2008.

Under the name Heroes of Fringe, Slayer and associates promote and operate a number of venues at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival and the Leicester Comedy Festival, and tours around the UK and Europe.

Heroes was initially called The Alternative Fringe and set up as set up as a statement against venues which charge performers for their spaces. The first year, Heroes promoted in a former Free Festival venue, The Hive. Notable acts that year were Phil Kay, Kunt and The Gang, John Robertson, Frank Sanazi and Slayer himself. In 2013, new venue Heroes @ Bob's Bookshop was added. This was renamed Bob & Miss Behave's Bookshop in 2014 to acknowledge performer Miss Behave's co-production of the venue. In 2015, the Bookshop was replaced with a pop-up bar and venue on a double decker bus, called Bob's BlundaBus. In 2017 Heroes also programmed the line-up at the Monkey Barrel, a year-round comedy club in Edinburgh.

In 2014, Heroes also promoted at the Leicester Comedy Festival. The venue, Heroes @ Hansom Hall, was nominated for the best venue award at the festival. Slayer was nominated for best promoter and won the Liberty Award for Spirit of the Festival. Heroes now also promote at the Criterion with Bob's BlundaBus parked outside.

Slayer has been a vocal opponent of the increasing commercialism of Fringe venues. in The Guardian Typically, venues charge acts for the hire of a performance space at the Fringe, including a fee for rent, equipment hire, and a compulsory marketing charge. The sums involved mean that performers are often charged more than they can make back in ticket sales.

Heroes do not charge performers for the space. Audiences can either buy tickets in advance to guarantee a seat, or turn up on spec and pay what they want afterwards. Fringe commentators have commented on how the Fringe is changing because of smaller independent promoters such as Heroes.

...
Wikipedia