Laughs Ahoy! Durham Revue’s Desert Island Hijinks | Sketch Marks the Spot Interview

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The Edinburgh Fringe has long been a launchpad for the UK’s sharpest new comic voices, and this year The Durham Revue made their mark once again with Sketch Marks the Spot. Marooned on a desert island with nothing but their wit to survive, the troupe delivered an hour of raucous, cutting-edge comedy that proved why they remain one of the country’s top student groups. With alumni like Ed Gamble, Nish Kumar, Ambika Mod and Stevie Martin, the Revue’s reputation precedes them — and their latest show more than lived up to the hype.

Brimming with 100% new material, Sketch Marks the Spot showcased the group’s trademark blend of clever writing, big laughs, and sharp ensemble performance. From absurd premises to perfectly timed punchlines, it’s no wonder audiences continue to flock to see the Revue – their sketches are packed with energy, invention and a genuine joy.

But even for a group with such pedigree, bringing a show to Edinburgh is no small feat.

Rising costs for accommodation, venues and everything in between make the Fringe an increasingly difficult space for student troupes to access. In our conversation, the Revue opened up about the challenges of staging Sketch Marks the Spot this year, the balancing act of funding and rehearsals, and why, despite the obstacles, the lure of the Fringe — with its audiences, buzz, and sheer scale of creativity — remains irresistible.

TRANSCRIPT

(0:00 - 0:16)

Hello, I'm Ruth and I'm the Arts Business. Earlier this month I caught up with the Durham Review from Durham University who brought their sketch show Sketch Marks the Spot up to Edinburgh Fringe Festival this year. I started by asking them what their show's about and how it came to be.

(0:17 - 3:30)

We sort of spend the whole year working together as a troupe to write our material and then it all culminates in our fringe show, an hour long of some of the funniest things you'll ever see, probably ever in your life. Nat? I think you've got it covered but yeah, whisks if you're into that, amazing. We've got some good whisk stuff.

How's the response been so far for your last couple of shows? Yeah it's been great, we've got one review and they said five stars so you know only five star reviews. Five star sketch show at the fringe, you heard it here first. Average five stars.

Nice. Why did you decide to come to Edinburgh Fringe? I think as like someone who wants to pursue a career in the arts ultimately, like it's such a good place to kind of like test your wings a little bit, like as a budding creative. I mean the fringe I think is still one of the best and most accessible places for the arts.

It's still maintained that relevance for god knows how many years now and it's sort of, I'm you know, we are a university troupe but we're performing sort of in the same venues as professional comedians that have been doing this for years and sort of an opportunity that you don't get all the time. So yeah it's great. And you guys are students right? Yes we are.

From Durham, I assume otherwise that would be a hell of a commute. Yeah. And what are you guys studying? I'm studying English Literature.

Nice. And I'm studying a niche degree called Ancient Mediaeval and Modern History. Oh nice.

Don't quiz me too much on that. Excellent. How did you guys fund the show to come up to Edinburgh? Oh well we have a GoFundMe linked to our website so if anyone watching feels really bad for us, fund us through that.

But mainly it's ticket sales that we get from kind of shows that we do throughout the year but also the big one is the fringe so we will use this year's fringe to fund next year. I think it's worth saying I mean usually we have enough funds in the bank to do it but this year we have had to do a GoFundMe and that's sort of linked to the rising cost of fringe for student groups like us. It's not something we sort of want to do, we don't want to be sort of paying people for money but it's sort of rising costs have sort of made that a bit of a necessity this year.

What's the sort of rough budget for your show? Taking account of like accommodation and things like that I mean. Yeah and we've all had to pay for our own transport. We've all paid for our own transport.

It's looking, I think it's probably 10,000 upwards. Have you always performed at Cowgate? We have for the past, not always but I want to say for the past kind of 10-15 years. I don't think that, I think that's roundabout right.

Yeah I think yeah I think weirdly the Dome Review has some sort of connection with the venue and they quite like us. Nice. What's your daily schedule look like during the fringe? Wake up, it's one shower between sevens, probably spend half an hour waiting for the shower.

Get out of the house, flyer sort of kind of 11 through to 1.30 and then you guys will get ready for the show. Me and the other writer will flyer a bit more, watch the show. Watch some other shows probably.

(3:31 - 3:54)

And then collapse. Yeah. As you guys have been here lots before and you do the entire run, do you have any tips on how to manage burnout? Oh well it's actually mine and Nat's first time sort of up at Fringe.

So we are trying to navigate the burnout right now. Sort of catching up with us I think. I'd say my big tip is probably stay up, don't always go so hard on the pints every single night.

(3:54 - 4:09)

Stagger, stagger is what I think. Meal prep. Meal prep and staggering.

Boring. What do you wish you'd known before you came? Bring Tupperware with you for your meal prep. That is so sensible.

(4:10 - 5:12)

Practise flyering techniques I think. What advice would you give to first timers thinking about coming up next year? Bring Tupperware and also I think just enjoy it for what it is but also don't feel a pressure to enjoy it for what it isn't. Like it's okay to feel exhausted and to think God like what am I doing here, I'm flyering and someone's just looked at me like I'm the most evil person in the whole world.

And try and see shows I think is my other thing. It's an amazing sort of opportunity to see so many things that are happening. We've already seen like about six shows and they've all been wildly different from each other and yeah it's great.

Brilliant. And where can our audience find you and keep in touch? What are your socials? Okay we are performing every single day at Fringe 2.30 p.m in the Underbelly Cowgate in the Belly Dancer venue. Our Instagram is the Durham Review.

Facebook is the Durham Review. It's always the Durham Review. Our website is also the Durham Review.

(5:12 - 5:14)

Amazing. Great thank you very much.