Jason Manford and Dara Ó Briain were among the thousands consoling actor Georgie Grier after she shared on X that only one person had attended her Edinburgh Fringe show.
On Thursday (3 August), Grier – who has a supporting role in Steve Coogan’s 2019 comedy Greed – wrote: “There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one-woman play, Sunsets at #edfringe. It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s fine…?”
She accompanied the post with a photo of herself wiping tears from her face.
Grier’s message caught the attention of Manchester comedian Manford, who replied with a video message.
“It’s absolutely normal… for one person to rock up to your show, especially at the beginning of Edinburgh, and also for you to be a bit upset or annoyed or pissed off about it,” he said.
“I did Edinburgh in 2004-5 and I remember [the] first couple of shows, the first week I think, was just, it was such a slog and I was out in the rain and I was flyering and people weren’t coming.
“I got total impostor syndrome. How much is this costing me? What am I doing here?
“Look at all these amazing people. How embarrassing that…nobody’s turned up but, you know what, you’re on the path and it’s just the start, that’s all.”
Former Mock the Week host Ó Briain replied too, saying:“We’ve ALL done it. Soon, you’ll dine out on this anecdote.
“More than once I had to buy my audience a drink, as a thank you for being the only ones there.
“Best thing though, it’s all stage time, and the show will get better every single time, ready for the big crowds later!”
Also among the replies were Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein and astronomer and television presenter Mark Thompson.
Thompson said: “I’ve seen amazing shows with really poor audience numbers.
“Just because there was just one audience member doesn’t mean your show isn’t awesome. Believe in yourself but maybe it’s the poster/marketing?”
Lord Finkelstein wrote: “I went to Norwich to give a speech and it took me 4hrs of travel. There were only 2 people there.
“One of them was the person who invited me. I asked the other person to join the cause I was there to support. He said he would, but it might interfere with the terms of his parole.”
Grier responded to the outpouring of support in a follow-up post on X (formerly Twitter): “Thank you so much @JasonManford and everyone for your kind words of support!”
Grier’s one-woman show tells the story of a woman “fascinated by romantic comedies” who “tries to create her own walking-off-into-the-sunset moment”.
More information and ticket’s for Grier’s show can be found here.
