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I arrived in Edinburgh, full of the joys of spring. This was odd, since it was actually summer. Go figure. As I sat in traffic at around 4pm, with the windows open and a crowd buzzing around South Bridge (not literally buzzing - they were not a crowd of bees), I put my arm out of the window as though to hug the city I have come to adore and which will be my home for the next few weeks.
The flat is perfect and my landlords are excellent company, good people and probably reading this - hi guys! The best thing about the flat is the location - it's quite a walk from the centre. Molto exercise my friends. Not only that, but the return trip is downhill. To quote my host - "just when you think it can't get any more downhill and easy... it does".
After landing, I went to meet the performer David Firestar Simmons - the Canadian Celtic Cowboy. It's thanks to him that I have some of the gigs I'm performing this fringe - albeit indirectly. After a chat we rushed to find the stage on which he was supposed to perform and I got roped in as his techie - I was wearing shorts, they jumped to a conclusion and I was happy to help. I ran his CD player as he played live over the recordings of his songs. The crowd appreciated his unique act.
Later on I returned to the flat and collected my hosts to enjoy a celebratory start-of-fringe drink together. Good beer and good company had to end when I went along to see The Establishment - the first gig I was to perform in (the following day). In fact this gig didn't happen. Instead I chatted to some nice people from various productions and had a few beers. The productions in question were Lolita - which I may see, and the Oxford Revue, which is a show I went to last year and had down to see this year at some point.
A good orientation day for me, but not really the start of my show-watching gluttony. There will be some statistics to follow, so let's define some rules. A show watched is one which I bought a ticket to see or is a free event that I attended the entire duration of. A show performed is any performance I give as part of a show in front of a live audience. The total spent is how much I paid for tickets to see the aforementioned. Days are waking days rather than calendar days. So a midnight show counts for the night, not the following day. Yawn!
Total shows seen: 0
Total shows performed: 0
Total spent: £0
06 August 2003
Ashley Frieze