Nightnews-media XTRA: FINAL FRINGE PRESS RELEASES; ZOO Venues; Circus of
Horrors;
Edfinge. - Edinburgh

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Last minute press information has been received for the following

Contents
#1 - ZOO VENUES LTD CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING FESTIVAL
#2 - Church Minister calls for ban on Circus of Horrors after Bizarre Accident
#3 - EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE CLOSING PRESS RELEASE 2007 - 1.7M TICKET SUCCESS

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#1 - PRESS RELEASE 30th August 2007, ZOO VENUES LTD CELEBRATES OUTSTANDING
FESTIVAL

Zoo Venues manager James Mackenzie hailed the 2007 Edinburgh Festival Fringe as
a
breakthrough year for the company after an ultra-successful three weeksfor The
Zoo
and Zoo Southside.

The company's sixth year at the Edinburgh Fringe saw a 45% increase in audience
numbers over 2006, and a 77% increase in press and promoterbookings.

The omens were already good before the venues even opened for business, as the
often-arduous get-in week ran so smoothly that the technical staff had time for
a
lengthy lie-in on the final day of preparations. That set the tone for the rest
of
the month, as Zoo's two venues hosted 641 successfulperformances of 49 shows
across
five spaces.

"It has been an absolutely amazing year," said venue manager James Mackenzie.
"The
increases in audience figures, press coverage and the quality and profile of our
shows have generated a real 'buzz' around the venues, and have made the last six
years of hard work more than worthwhile.

"The challenge now is to continue this momentum into 2008 and beyond. We're
already
working hard on next year's programme and some additional projects that will
create
an even bigger and better Festival Fringe for Zoo Venuesnext year."

Read on to relive a selection of Zoo Venues' 2007 highlights...

ZOO DANCE
Zoo Venues' project to become an essential destination for Fringe dance
audiences
gained huge momentum in 2007. Programmed in collaboration with Scottish Dance
Theatre's artistic director Janet Smith, Zoo Southside's dance and physical
theatre
line-up featured a vast array of disciplines from classical ballet to
breakdance,
performed by companies from Korea, South Africa and the USA as well as Scotland
and
England. The cross-promotion between the dance companies paid off superbly, with
many audience members and promoters basing themselves at Zoo Southside for whole
days to ensure they caught the entire dance programme. With several of the
leading
dance companies now in discussions to make Zoo Southside their long-term Fringe
home, the programme is set to go from strength to strength in future years.

AWARDS AND ACCOLADES
Zoo Venues' shows also received unprecedented critical acclaim and a host of
awards.
Eugenia Caruso and Janet Bamford from 'Truckstop' (Eastern Angles/Company of
Angels) shared the 'Best Actress' honours at The Stage's Awards for Acting
Excellence. Bob Karper's 'Big in Japan (or three Steves and a Bob)' was the
deserving recipient of a Herald Angel, while Precarious' dance, physical theatre
and
multimedia hybrid 'Druthers' was shortlisted for the Total Theatre Award for
'Best
Emerging Company' and ultimately collected the 'Wildcard Award', voted for by
Fringe
audiences. Beyond the awards, many shows picked up outstanding reviews, with 'My
Filthy Hunt' (Horizon Arts), '"as the mother of a brown boy."' (Chickenshed),
'Truckstop', 'Druthers', Laurence Clark's '12% Evil', 'Puppet' (Dae-gu City
Modern
Dance Company), 'State of Matter' (2FaCeD Dance Company), ScottishDance Theatre,
'The Devil, Chess - A Burlesque!' (Foul Play Productions) and 'Paper Monkeys:
Legends' (Paper Monkeys) all receiving five-star reviews.

FUNKING SUCCESSFUL
While the dance programme and award-winning shows grabbed many of the headlines,
there were countless other success stories amongst Zoo Venues' extremely diverse
programme. One of the most pleasing was the complete sell-out achieved by the
teenage musicians of the Black Tie Band. Their show 'Funking Cool Jazz' marked
their
first major performance outside their home region, yet it achieved packed houses
throughout its run - leaving the group's family and friends (and the venue
staff) to
try and listen in from the corridor outside the crowded Zoo Southside Cabaret
Bar.
They weren't the only ones enjoying the support of capacity crowds - by the end
of
the Festival, over a third of Zoo Venues' shows had achieved a sell-out
performance.

NIGHTS AT THE ZOO
Zoo audiences and performers had plenty more after-show entertainment to enjoy
in
2007, with a brand new Patio Bar opening at Zoo Southside and a host of events
in
the Cabaret Bar. These were headlined by the weekly Zoo Idol talent contest,
which
invariably boiled down to a music versus comedy head to head between acts from
across the Fringe and local talents, all cheered on by the large and very vocal
crowd.

The highlight of the cabaret programme for many was the 'Slippery Absinthe
Sketch
Show Showdown' - a sketch and improvisation shoot-out between the stars of Zoo
comedy shows 'The Absinthe Monologues' and 'The Slippery Soapbox: Spotbanded
Skat'.
The crowds for the first running of this free head-to-head were so large that
nearly
100 people had to be turned away on the door, and the re-match a week later
proved
similarly popular.

But for the venue staff, the most memorable cabaret bar evening was 'The
Re-wedding
of Matt and Boo', as Zoo press office colleagues Matt and Boo Beer celebrated
two
months of marriage by holding a Fringe-style re-enactment of their wedding
service
before an audience of performers, colleagues and the public at Zoo Southside,
featuring charity shop costumes, a wedding cake constructed by piling most of
the
products of a nearby supermarket's cake section atop each other, and an
absinthe-fuelled ceremony performed by the 'Reverend' Lewis Ironside of
'Absinthe
Monologues' (with assistance from an altar boy in a pig mask and robes). It was
just
one of many unforgettable nights in a truly outstanding Festival for everyone
involved in Zoo Venues' programme.

NOTES FOR EDITORS
Founded in 2002, Zoo Venues Ltd runs two venues at the Edinburgh Festival
Fringe.
The Zoo (venue 124, 140 The Pleasance) features two studio spaces in buildings
attached to Kirk O'Field Parish Church, while 2006 addition Zoo Southside (venue
82,
117 Nicolson Street) boasts a studio, a cabaret bar, and the 230-seater Main
House,
which is used exclusively for the dance programme.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Contact Zoo Venues' Press and Marketing Manager Matt Beer via 01803 849347,
07714 763515 or matt@....

Matt Beer
Press and Marketing Manager - Zoo Venues Ltd

Office: +44 (0) 1803 849347
Mobile: +44 (0) 7714 763515
Fax: + 44 (0)1803 226741
Email: matt@...

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#2 - Church Minister calls for ban on Circus of Horrors after Bizarre Accident

Church Minister calls for Circus of Horrors to be banned from Ireland after
reading
that’s its star performer had accidentally glued his penis to a vacuum cleaner.

Baptist Minister Stan Cullen from Derry has called on the people of Ireland to
boycott The Circus of Horrors after reading about one of the most bizarre
accidents
in the history of the Edinburgh Festival where Captain Dan the demon dwarf
accidentally his penis to a Hoover.

During the show Dan (real name Daniel Blackner, 42) pulls a Henry Hoover across
the
stage, however the attachment had come loose and he decided to bond it back
together with Super Glue, however he misread the instructions on the pack and
instead of leaving it for 20 minutes to dry he left it 20 seconds before he
tried
it out.

Consequently the Hoover was well & truly stuck to his manhood and he was rushed
to
the A & E department of The Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh where nurses spent
almost
an hour trying to free him.

Danny said ‘it was the most embarrassing moment of my life & when I got wheeled
into
a packed A & E on a Wheel Chair with a Hoover attached to my willie I just
wished
the ground could swallow me up’, ‘luckily they saw me quickly so the
embarrassment
was short lived, although I had to share a lift to the hospital with a girl with
a
twisted knee & I don’t know what she must have thought’.

Captain Dan is on of the Stars of The Circus of Horrors which was performing to
full
houses during the Edinburgh Festival and is now is the process of bringing the
whole
cargo of coffins & chainsaws to Ireland where they are due to perform in Derry &
Dublin.
The show which also includes the man with the stretchiest skin in the world, a
pickled person, a sword walking vampire, human pincushion and a whole host of
the
most bizarre & dare devil circus acts has been blasted by Rev Stan Cullen who
claims ‘there is no place in society in this day & age for this type of so
called
entertainment, I am 100% against this & I would suggest all church goers boycott
it’.

Dr Haze, creator & undead ringmaster with The Circus of Horrors countered ‘ I am
pretty sure Rev Stan Cullen has not been to see the Circus of Horrors & I would
recommend that he came to see the show for himself before making such outlandish
comments, The Circus of Horrors has performed all over the world in the last 13
years, its great fun & great alternative entertainment where you can see acts
that
you would normally only see on the television’.

‘I am quite happy to meet and talk to Rev Cullen & if he wont come to the show I
would go and meet him at his church.

The Circus of Horrors will be performing at:-

DERRY, Big Tickle Comedy Festival
The Millennium Forum.
Fri 7th & Sat 8th Sept at 8pm.
BOX OFFICE: 02871 264455

DUBLIN, Bulmer's Comedy Festival
The Olympia Theatre.
Sun 9th & Mon 10th Sept at 8pm.
BOX OFFICE: 0818 719 300

PLUS FUTURE UK DATES
Fri 9th Nov Wookey Hole Theatre 01749 672243
Sat 10th & Sun 11th Nov Newport Riverfront Theatre 01633 656757
Mon 12th Nov Northampton Royal & Derngate 01604 624811
Wed 14th Nov Epsom Playhouse 01372 742555
Thur 15th Nov Grays Civic Hall 01375 383961
Fri 16th & Sat 17th Nov Gt Yarmouth Hippodrome 01493 844172
Sun 18th Nov Huddersfield Town Hall 01484 223200
Mon 19th Nov Preston Guildhall 01772 258858
Tues 20th Nov Liverpool Empire 0870 6063536
Wed 21st Nov Skegness Embassy Theatre 08456 740505
Thur 22nd Nov Newcastle Journal Tyne Theatre 0870 1451200
Fri 23rd Nov Whitby Pavilion 01947 604855
Sat 24th Nov Kings Lynn Corn Exchange 01553 764864
Mon 26th Nov Yeovil Octagon Theatre 01935 422884
Tues 27th Nov Horsham The Capitol 01403 750220
Wed 28th Nov Cheltenham Town Hall 01242 227979
Thur 29th Nov Newtown Theatr Hafren 01686 625007
Fri 30th Nov Telford Oakengates Theatre at the limes 01952 382382
Sat 1st Dec Warrington Parr Hall 01925 442345

Contact
http://www.circusofhorrors.co.uk
john@...

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#3 - EDINBURGH FESTIVAL FRINGE CLOSING PRESS RELEASE 2007 - 1.7M TICKET SUCCESS
Released 27 August 2007 17:54

Award winning shows and record audiences make Fringe 07 a 1.7m ticket success

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe closes today with a raft of award winning shows
and
1,697,293 tickets sold. The increase reflects a 10.8% increase on 2006 figures,
with
a 5% increase on ticketed shows in the same period. Strong sales were reported
throughout the majority of Fringe venues, with Underbelly Pleasance, Gilded
Balloon,
The Stand and T on the Fringe reporting strong sales.

The Fringe e-Ticket Tent in association with Microsoft and HP saw an incredible
increase of 40% on 2006, while the Half-Price Hut went up 47% in use.

This year has seen debate over the growth of the Fringe and the quality of the
acts
that perform.

Jon Morgan, Director of the Fringe, said, “Ultimately the Fringe is a self
regulating festival. If audiences and artists continue to come to Edinburgh the
festival will continue to grow, with 2007 being a good example of that.

Setting the record straight, he added ‘To suggest I should have control over the
size of an open access festival is wrong, and against the principles of the
Fringe.”

As in previous years, 2007 has seen an incredibly diverse range of high quality
and
innovative work across the programme, from comedy to dance and physical theatre.

The Fringe is the place for artists to challenge themselves and to be spotted by
world’s most important promoters and producers.

Festival highlights have included if.comedy Award winner Brendon Burns, a Fringe
regular who has honed his craft here over 11 years and is a ground breaking
challenging performer.

2007 was not only a year for established venues and companies. 1927 theatre
company,
founded in January, brought Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea to the
Fringe,
which was praised for being a delightfully creative show and won virtually every
award for which they were eligible.

The Ladyboys of Bangkok, Fuerzabruta and shows at the Spiegel Garden and T on
the
Fringe will continue running until 1 September. Check http://www.edfringe.com
for
ticket details.

For more information contact Leroy, Duncan or Anne at the Fringe Press Office on
0131 240 1919 or email press@...

FRINGE FACTS 2007

Fringe 2007 featured 31,000 performances of 2,050 shows in 250 venues

An estimated 18,626 performers were on stage at the Fringe in 2007

Theatre made up 31% of the programme followed closely by Comedy with 30.5% Music
was
next with 17%, Children’s 5.5% Musicals & Opera totals, 5%. Dance & Physical
Theatre
weighs in at 4.5% Exhibitions is 3.5% and finally Events 3%

40% (815) of the shows were world premiers and from the remaining 60%, 236 of
the
shows were European premieres and 93 were UK premieres

304 shows at the Fringe were absolutely free

In 2007 there were 6 new awards available to performers. This was in addition to
the
15 that were up for grabs in 2006

1.7 Million tickets (1,697,293) were sold during the 2006 Fringe smashing all
arts
festival records.

The Fringe sells 118% more tickets than it did only 10 years ago (776,560 in
1997).

Contact :: For more information contact Leroy, Duncan or Anne at the Fringe
Press
Office on 0131 240 1919 or email press@...

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by http://www.nightnews.net
Thats all folks...

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