| Edinburgh Fringe 2003 | home |
This was another performing day, a day in which my friends from Newcastle were due to arrive to see my show in the lift. From my point of view, having friends in the audience is something of a double-edged sword. It's great to have their support, but a bit more pressure on me to make the show work because I don't mind looking an arse in front of an anonymous audience, but feel bad making my friends squirm. In addition, seeing a friend's face NOT laughing at a punchline is a bit harder to bear. This, however, is my own problem and no reason to be an ungrateful swine when friends come to see me perform. So I was looking forward to seeing Mal and Lindsay later in the day.
Stepping out into the morning, via Tesco's lovely breakfast, I negotiated my way over to C Main. I was looking for the chap whose song I still had not managed to provide him in his hand. While there I decided to go and see "Bad Play". As they sold me the ticket I was told "I have to warn you, this play is really bad" - a laugh before it even started. Managing to give the CD to its recipient, I went to see the show and laughed a lot. It was very very funny.
Back home for a quick change of clothes and to pick up my increasingly heavy instrument and comedy-bag, I returned to town and got ready for the show. Getting ready included doing a leafleting run of the Pleasance Courtyard. Am I wrong to admit that I quite enjoy leafleting? Maybe so. Somehow the spontaneity of the process and the excuse to talk to loads of people in one of my favourite locations in the world... well, okay, I think you get the idea.
Standing outside the lift, waiting for the show to begin, I was thinking of Mal and Lindsay and how they hadn't arrived yet. Perhaps the arrival of friends from a distance was in the air, because someone came up and introduced themselves to me. "Hi, you know me from Leeds, I'm James." or words to that effect. As I write this, I'm starting to wonder if the correct response should have been something like "well happy birthday then"... but my memory is not good enough to be sure. What I actually did was study this broad, bearded gentleman for a few seconds and then reply "You're not who I think you are". It was... a surprise. That was a little unexpected, but not unwelcome.
Shortly afterwards Mal and Lindsay appeared and were introduced to James and his lovely lady Emma. The lift show started and I went in, at the very end, and performed my bit... in a sort of sometimes good, sometimes not so good vibe. The freestyle jazz on the kazoo at the end made the show for me.
Afterwards, we had a little to drink, got thrown out of the Pleasance because it was having a fire (alarm, more than actual burning) and then had to part from James and Emma to cross town and see Ross Noble's show.
After Mr Noble's hour of fun, Mal, Lindsay and I had some food and then parted company. I toyed with the idea of partying late in C Main and then decided to go home to bed. A good move.
Show: Bad Play
Performed by: The Trap
When: 14:30
Where: C Main, Adam House
Cost: £7.50
An hilarious romp. Essentially, everything about this play is bad. The performances, the writing, the technical issues, the arrival into the auditorium and even the ending time... It's great! To make this sort of thing so bad, you have to be very good at making it seem natural, rather than just forced. Even when I could see the way that some of their setups were going, I could not outguess these guys on how they'd make it come out funny.
Admittedly, there were a few lulls as they reused a couple of gags, but we had an audience full of love and a room full of laughter. That last sentence was so bad, it was nearly bad enough to be worthy of their script.
I may go and see Bad Play again, if I get the chance.
Show: Unrealtime
Performed by: Ross Noble
When: 21:00
Where: Assembly Rooms, Music Hall
Cost: £12
Ross Noble defies description. In essence, he stands on a stage and creates nonsense and it's funny. In a larger venue, it's harder for him and a few cracks were on display. However, his confidence was high and he marshalled the audience into streams of laughter at things they were initially worried to laugh at. His prepared material was funny in itself and his long and frequent deviations were just magic. I wish I had the guts and ability to do that sort of thing myself.
Spent £19.50, saw 2 shows and performed 1. At the day's end:
Total shows seen: 30
Total shows performed: 7
Total spent: £191.50
14 August 2003
Ashley Frieze