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You can be one of the biggest names in comedy. But the way to really get audiences queuing round the block is simple – offer them free tea and biscuits.

That’s what Wolverhampton comic Paul Savage discovered while appearing at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time.

He called his show Free Tea and Biscuits and kept his side of the bargain, giving everyone who turned up a cuppa and a snack. And it worked a treat.

“I went up with Andrew McWhirter in 2010,” remembers Paul.

“We’d been told the average audience for a show is six people, so we thought we’d be doing well if we got 20. Instead we got 120 people queuing down the street.

"We had to run out to Tesco’s to buy more biscuits. When we were drumming up business in the street, as soon as we said ‘free tea and biscuit’, instead of hurrying off people turned on their heel and went ‘OK’.

“They just wanted a sit down and a cuppa. They probably would have watched anything, though most people said they liked the show.”

In August, Paul is back in Edinburgh doing his first solo show, called Cheerful Shambles, at the Dragonfly.