Reading the Chilcot Report in Full
A total 1444 people – including comedians, Fringe staff and regular punters – joined forces to make ‘Iraq Out & Loud’ possible; it really was a project that encapsulated the spirit of the Fringe. The idea – to read the Chilcot report in full, 24 hours day – came from comedians Boothby Graffoe and Omid Djalili, but it was promoter Bob Slayer who made it happen at the last minute, by building a shed next to his BlundaBus venue where the reading could take place. It took a total of 284 hours and 45 minutes to read the 2.6 million words, with the likes of Stewart Lee, Reginald D Hunter, Bridget Christie, Arthur Smith and Ian Rankin chipping in to read chunks. Djalili himself said winning the panel prize was ‘an award for the comedy industry, because we won’t take bullshit’.