A SCOTS comedian who suffered a stroke on the opening day of his Edinburgh Fringe show has seen a £7,500 fundraiser set up in his name smashed in just 48 hours.
Raymond Mearns had been booked to perform his Alive in Hive Show at the Beehive Inn throughout August, whilst also giving festival-goers a laugh on the move with his Old Town Comedy Walking Tours.
However, the Glaswegian revealed on Monday that he had suffered a stroke the previous Friday and after taking medical advice was left with no option but to cancel this year’s show.
The Scots funnyman who has appeared in Rab C Nesbitt, River City and Limmy’s Show has since been inundated with donations after a GoFundMe campaign was set up to help him.
The fundraiser, set up by fellow comic Graham Mackie, aims to recoup the money lost after Raymond had to pull his gigs from the acclaimed festival.
Graham set up the campaign earlier this week, writing: “Hello, my name is Graham Mackie, my comedy pal Raymond Mearns has had a stroke and I hope we can raise some funds to help him along at this time.
“He’s in hospital following the stroke, he’s self-employed and has had to cancel his gigs for August and will need support to get him back on his feet again.
“If you can dig deep at this time it would be appreciated.”
The plea hoped to raise £7,500 but surpassed that inside two days with the current balance of donations standing at £8,147.
Donations flooded in from hundreds of people – including fellow Scots comedians Janey Godley and Kevin Bridges.
Raymond took to Facebook on Monday to update fans on his condition, writing: “Hello people, some clarity regarding my situation re Fringe 2023 cancellation.
“I suffered a stroke last Friday morning and was admitted to hospital yesterday and upon advice from the doctors I had no option but to cancel this year’s show and the comedy walk.
“Apologies if you bought tickets but these will now be refunded by the Fringe office.
“Thank you, Raymond
“[PS] I will be okay; I have Annie looking after me.”
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival sees the spotlight of the culture world beam on the Scots capital with an audience of more than 400,000 people each year attending events in Edinburgh.
