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Succession star Cox, recently announced as one of the festival’s Alumni Patrons, aims to generate financial support for US artists heading to Edinburgh in 2025. 

Fringe Alumni Patron Brian Cox has launched the US Keep it Fringe fund on behalf of the Fringe Society, helping US artists bring their work to the Edinburgh Fringe in 2025. 

The fund aims to raise $350,000, which will be awarded in grants of $4,500 to help at least 50 US artists bring work to the Fringe in 2025. Successful recipients will also receive a support package to aid audience and career development, with specific focus on marketing, screen development and industry networking opportunities. 

Initial partners and supporters of this exciting project are JetBlue, Playbill and individual donors Heather and Paul Innella and Scott and Holly Plank. We look forward to working with other sponsors and donors to invest in US talent at the world’s premier performing arts festival.   

The fund is inspired by the 2023 UK Keep it Fringe fund, which provided grants of £2,000 to 50 Fringe artists. The cornerstones of the fund were its flexibility and minimal entry criteria, allowing recipients to spend their grants in whichever way best helped them bring their show to the Fringe. The UK Keep it Fringe fund was recently extended for 2024 and 2025 thanks to support from UK Government.

Last month Brian Cox was announced as the Fringe Society’s newest Patron, alongside Alumni Patron, the actor and comedian Eddie Izzard, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, the Fringe Society’s honorary President, whose Fleabag for Charity fund contributed £50,000 to the original Keep it Fringe fund. 

Brian Cox, Alumni Patron of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, said: “As a Scottish performer who lives in the US, I’m doubly invested in this project to strengthen the cultural bond between our two countries. There’s already an incredibly strong shared heritage between Edinburgh and the States – one of Edinburgh’s foremost theatres for new writing, the Traverse, was founded by a US airman named Jim Haynes in the 1960s. The US Keep it Fringe fund aims to enable and encourage the next generation of emerging US talent at the Fringe, ensuring that a spirit of adventure and collaboration can continue.” 

Jayne O’Brien, Head of Marketing and Customer Support, JetBlue, said: “In line with our mission to inspire humanity, JetBlue constantly seeks ways to promote the discovery of arts and culture both in the sky, through a robust, diverse inflight entertainment offering, and on the ground in the communities we serve, such as soon-to-be Edinburgh. That is why we are proud to support the US Keep it Fringe fund to connect artists and performers to the unique, defining opportunities at Edinburgh Fringe which carve a path for the artistic expression of the future." 

Shona McCarthy, Chief Executive of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Society, said: “The Fringe has been a touchstone in the careers of so many artists both at home and in the US – Lin-Manuel Miranda came to the festival in his pre-Hamilton days with Freestyle Love Supreme in 2005, while the Broadway hit Six! had its world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2017. We want to make sure that creative pipeline remains active, giving the stars of tomorrow the chance to hone their craft at one of the greatest celebrations of arts and culture on the planet – the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.” 

Find out how you or your organisation can support the US Keep it Fringe fund. 

Thumbnail photo credit: The Kinsey Sicks (2016), Fringe Friends event. Photographer: David Hogg.