2022 Edinburgh Fringe
The Stand's cowboy backdrop snapped up by rival
When The Stand comedy venue in Edinburgh auctioned off the iconic artwork that has served as the backdrop to countless stand-up performances, they were probably expecting one of the club's regular punters to buy the memento.
However, the promoter of a rival venue snuck into the auction to make the winning bid, and thus the image of the young cowboy with a gun to his head will now have a new home in a different comedy club.
Alan Anderson, who runs Rotunda Comedy Club in Glasgow, made the winning bid of £7,500.
Speaking to British Comedy Guide, he explains: "Having gone through all other bidders - I had stayed silent and unnoticed by The Stand's owners / management - the hammer was going down on Sloss [comedian Daniel Sloss] for £4200... From the back of the room, at "going three", I shouted "Four Four"... my first bid. The room was shocked."
Bidding continued, with the money raised set to go to new scheme to help primary school children develop their comedy writing and performance skills. Anderson continued to bid until he won. He explains: "I won on £5,500... I added an extra £2,000 after that, as the charity work deserved it."
The sale has certainly stirred up much comment. As pointed out by The Sun newspaper: "In comedy circles, this is a bit like Celtic buying the Rangers goalposts."
The auction was instigated by The Stand as feedback from audience members and comedians suggested it was no longer appropriate to have an image of a cowboy with a gun to his head at the venue.
The club will also be removing the copies from its Glasgow and Newcastle stages shortly, to be replaced with a new image by the original artist. As seen below, Thomas 'Mac' Macgregor has now painted a version of the cowboy with empty hands for The Stand.