Making Creativity Pay

“I think actors can really focus in on like a minute ahead of what they're saying and a minute behind of what they're saying. And what they need a director to do is sort of, now here's the hour long statement of of this thing. So so you got to trust me that when I say like do it over here, you got to do it over here because ten minutes ago you did something that will be a contrast to it and the audience will be aware of that. You probably won't be because you're you know, you've got so much to worry about in the immediate term. But yeah, the director, you just got to look out for the long term vision of the piece.” This episode is with director Harry ConwayHarry is director and co-creator of Racists, Recessions and Revolutions which is on at Theatre 503 from 12th-14th NovemberThe show is having a London run after a successful Edinburgh Fringe and we discuss how the show came about, their Edinburgh experience and the longer term plans for the show.Also, after the show on the 13th is a POST-SHOW Q&A – Surviving And Thriving at Edinburgh FringeInstagram:  https://www.instagram.com/racistsrecessionsrevolutions/ Tickets: https://theatre503.com/whats-on/racists-recessions-and-revolutions/  Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“So every day it was a real honest, quite transparent process. You looked in the bucket, you looked on the sum up and you knew what you have for the day and you got to take that home. I've had really good experiences with paid venues and really bad experiences and everything in between, but I just didn't have thousands of pounds to outlay this year. I wasn't going to do it. Last year [2025] went so bad from a commercial and experiential point of view for me. I was never going to do Fringe again.”  This episode is with Comedian and Podcaster Vix Leyton and Director Charlotte Redding.We talk about their extensive Fringe experiences over the years both good and not so good and their experience promoting their 2026 Fringe show ‘Chief Petty Officer’ as well as podcasting experience with Spendology and Comedy Arcade podcasts.Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/vixleyton Website: https://www.vixleyton.co.uk/ Spendology:https://www.spendologypod.com/ Comedy Arcade: https://podfollow.com/the-comedy-arcade Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/

“[After stand-up] I moved into advertising, I'm a creative director in advertising so I write for a living and stand-up has always been a huge interest and so I realised a few years back I have lots of books about stand-up but there wasn't one about UK stand-up certainly over the last 25 years and so I thought that maxim ‘write the book you want to read’”This episode is with Jonathan Grant author of “Reading The Room: The Inside Story of UK Stand-up in the 21st Century”   We talk about his experience both inside and outside of stand-up comedy, why he wanted to write the book and some of his thoughts about the process.  The book includes a wide range of stand-ups including Jen Brister, Ed Byrne, Ivo Graham, Sofie Hagen, Wil Hodgson, Richard Herring, Elis James, Phill Jupitus, John Kearns, Nish Kumar, Zoe Lyons, Stevie Martin, Geoff Norcott, John Robins, Suzi Ruffell and Isy Suttie. Book:  https://gofasterstripe.com/cgi-bin/w.cgi?showfull=69222 Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/jonogr/  Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“I went very hard on marketing and promotion and one thing is getting the actors to feel confident doing that too. You are going to feed off the atmosphere of having 50 people in that room on the night so let's give ourselves the best opportunity to have a high exciting atmosphere in that room” This episode is with writer and director Elise Simond who is taking her play ‘Speak of the Devil’ to The Hope Theatre  in London from 13th to 24th OctoberWe talk about what it takes to put a play like this together, working with a cast of six and where her love of drama and writing came from.Tickets: https://www.thehopetheatre.com/speakofthedevil   Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/speakofthedevil.play/   Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/ 

“It's a medieval farce about women's rights in the wake of the Norman invasion in 1066. It's very much within the remit of things that I love to work on. It's taking ideas that are reflected still today about kind of the progress of women's rights and how we think about literacy rates and the way that we understand each other but reflecting it through a medieval farce in the wake of the normal invasion.”This episode is with writer and director Esalan Gates who is taking her play ‘God Save Us’ to The Lion and Unicorn Theatre in London from 6th to 10th OctoberWe talk about what it takes to put a play like this together, running workshops for up and coming directors as well as working in fundraising for theatre projects. I started by asking Esalan to give a brief introduction about herself.Tickets:  https://app.lineupnow.com/event/god-save-us Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/esalangates/ https://www.instagram.com/codextheatre/ Website: https://esalangates.com/ Find More about ‘Making Creativity Pay’Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/makingcreativitypay/ Making Creativity Pay Newsletter: https://makingcreativitypay.substack.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danjbarnett/