8th August - Gin and Tonic
Show is a bit flat today. Still no sign of the Scotsman or Guardian reviews, but a nice review on one4review.com cheers us up.Do a bit of flyering, then sit in the Red Bull room doing some friendship bracelets. Bit more flyering - run into Russell Howard who needs people in as they have a reviewer today apparently - all of my lot are going to see Lucy Porter but I promise to go.
Dunlop and Dowdeswell are on right before - Dougie is a bit tense as their review in Three Weeks today thought he was a bit hard on old people, and all of the audience thus far aren't exactly young - he needn't have worried, audience fills out a bit and everyone has a great time. I try one of these new Gordon's Edge things which they have been giving samples out here and there. Gin with lime. Quite nice.
Then Ebony and Irony - no sign of the promised reviewer, despite Russell running out after someone to ask if it was her. She was apparently a bit startled to have him running down the stairs after her shouting her name!
Then wander down with Matt and some others to see Peter Buckley-Hill and Some Comedians Free. Does what it says on the tin, as they say. Great show, including Kev F, Josie Long and Noel James. After this, we go on to the Cafe Royal, where the Just the Tonic late-nighter is due to start. Loads of mates there, including Steve Best who I didn't expect to see. Death by Sketches is going well apparently.
The idea for Just the Tonic was going to be that the room upstairs would be the big name comedy and there'd be another room downstairs with three-quarters of the Black Liars playing music, with some less senior comedy acts doing some stuff. However, as everyone fits in the room upstairs, they somewhat predictably all go up there to watch Daniel Kitson and Glen Wool, leaving the poor old Liars downstairs without an audience.
The decision is made to go up to the bar and play acoustic, as there are a few people in there. This little experiment goes down well, so once the comedy is over, Damian, Christian and Nick play until 3am in the corner of the bar. As you can see from the picture, they're more or less playing for each other's amusement, but it's great fun for everyone else too! Spontaneous dancing and singing breaks out, and everyone's happy...
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9th August - Do You Know Who I Am?!
Tom's parents are in the show today and it's quite a nice one. Go back to the flat afterwards for a nice long bath and to do some of the sewing on that blouse I bought.Get a tipoff SMS from Christian - "Doing Late n Live with Rich instead of Cafe Royal tonight". Spread the word to a few choice people that Otis is to make an appearance.
Go to Nick's show and ask him if he's doing Late and Live too - he is, but he thinks they're going to be on at 1am. He is slightly dismayed to hear that I estimate they won't be on until about 2.30 as they'll be headlining - so he decides he's going to go home after his show and get a few hour's sleep.
Promised to go to Hal Cruttenden's show at the Underbelly - and it's great! My tip for the Best Newcomer prize. Really funny show...
And so on to Late and Live. Bump into various people waiting to get in, but we are all diappointed - there are so many ticket holders today they are not letting any of us scroungers with passes in. I pull the old "Do you know who I am? stunt on the door lady but she is adamant there's no space, whether I know the headliners or not.
So, back to the library bar, in a bit of a grumpy mood. At least there you can watch on the screen. Rich and the boys start up and I can't hear a thing so decide to try again - maybe some punters have left and I'll be able to get in. No joy. Christian has apparently verified that I am a friend of his and asked if I can come in but no I can't, they say.
So, back down to the bar. Am chatting to Steve who does the Chortle website and he mentions that he has for some reason bought a Late and Live ticket but not used it.... so after giving him money for a drink I rush upstairs to catch the tail end of their set - Incest Boy, Like a Woman (which always goes down well) and Death Row Blues I remember them playing. Only slightly spoiled by some woman behind me who is too drunk to understand the jokes and heckles loudly - everyone around her tries to point out that a) we're all loving it and would like her to shut up and b) he's a Perrier winner so she's lucky to be there, and perhaps if she'd like to leave so that one of the people who are desperate to get in could enjoy it we'd be most grateful. She's having none of this.
Nip backstage afterwards for a chat with Rich and co. Nick didn't have the nap he'd promised himself earlier... Then we go off to the Library Bar. I met a couple of girls from Adelaide the first night Novalounge were on, and they are here again having a good old chinwag with Damian about the comings and goings of Australian comics. All Greek to me.
We leave - Damian is unable to get hold of a taxi - hope he gets one soon otherwise he's going to have to walk a mile or so with his double bass.
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10th August - Bad Luck
Just seems to be one of those bad luck days. During the set change a near-full glass of water gets spilled over the futon so during Act 2 they all have to sit in the wet. After the show I drop a picture from the set and break the glass. I don't know how many years bad luck you get for breaking a picture frame though.Get a box from the bar staff, clear up the glass. Have a job getting the broken bits out of the frame, so by the time I get out everyone has disappeared.
So I go out - and who should I see having his picture taken by the press outside but Kev F. We have a short chat - he is also feeling a bit sorry for himself as he's doing two shows and publicising them himself. Working too hard I think. I volunteer to be a Sitcom Trials understudy which cheers him up a bit I think.
Kev goes off to move his car so I go back to the Library Bar to do a bit of the friendship bracelet I have promised Christian's girlfriend Emma I'll do for her - she admired the one I had on and I gave him one for his 30th birthday, so I offered to do one for her too. She'd like red and pink.
Down to the Sitcom Trials. Can't remember the exact timescale at this point - spent some of the afternoon with Kev, some feeling sorry for myself at the constant rejection that is solo flyering, some with my old mucker Mark Felgate who is always a tonic for those feeling a bit down in the dumps.
Go to Kev F's other show, Rude Health - in which I get a mention! Don't want to give too much away, but I learned something very odd about knotting earlier this year and he's worked it into his set... Something for me to boast about anyway - I am now in a show! Maybe just as subject matter at the moment, but if the Sitcom Trials comes off I might get a chance at doing some stage time.
I had promised Mark Felgate I would come to the Best of So You Think You're Funny? show that he is doing, but I can't get into that one either. Shows sell out at the weekends, which is a bit of a downer for me as it means I can't get in. I did actually buy one ticket today as there are three main reasons for doing this - 1) it's for Ross Noble, who is fab; 2) these are extra shows added to a sellout run, so if I don't buy one I'll never get in; and 3) Damian wrote the music and I want to hear it. Only a tenner though - absolute bargain for a show of that calibre really. I think he's up for the Perrier this year. I've heard good things about Adam Hills and Phil Nichol as well.
So, sit in the bar with Kev, Harriet Bowden and another friend called Lou, waiting for the show to finish as none of us could get in. Do a bit more knotting. The friendship bracelet kind.
We manage to get into the Midnight Show so I say a quick hello/goodbye to Mark as I am dead on my feet. Walk home, to find to my surprise that my ankle has now chosen this moment, days after the event, to swell up. Doesn't hurt - well, only if I'm walking on something uneven like cobbles. I'll keep an eye on it.
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11th August - "It's Burning the Props"
Ankle still swollen and am now developing a cold so am excused flyering for today. Spend a bit more time on the bracelet, and type up my diary.During the show manage to hit Jenny's head with the presents. It was a set change, it was dark. That's my excuse, anyway!
Feeling a bit sorry for myself as I can't find any of my friends to have lunch with - they're all busy or tired or some such. Decide to busy myself with a couple of the busy ones - Noel and Steve from Death by Sketches are flyering on the Royal Mile. Noel has a huge rent in the back of his bag which is letting the rain in so I sew it up for him while he's standing there flyering. He's using Harriet's umbrella which is a bit girly - green tassel and everything. It's certainly getting him noticed. Noel gets noticed anyway - he's very good at flyering. Have a quick lunch with them in Starbucks. I'm trying to stop Noel from flyering other customers.
Met Kev F who is looking for people and scripts to be in the Sitcom Trials - Noel and Steve are to do something on Tuesday and I'm down for Monday for a bit part, which should be fun - my first Fringe stage appearance!
Then I go off to a nice comfy sofa in the Library Bar to do the bracelet for a bit. It's coming on nicely. About a third done. A copy of the one I wear all the time as it means I've always got the pattern on me! Different colours though. I get a lot of admirers - tell them that my work is "in the collections" of at least four fringe acts including two of the Black Liars...
So to Death by Sketches - nice crowd. Surreal and silly as ever, and also even funnier tonight because both Mark and Noel knock the stage lights over - muffled voices... "It's burning the props" coming from backstage...
Southwards towards Teviot again as we are having a Sitcom Trials script meeting in the Library Bar tonight. Stop off on the way for a fried egg and bacon roll - very hot and lovely.
Settle down to the bracelet again (they're great for whiling away the odd quiet moment) while a So You Think You're Funny? heat briefing goes on behind me. Quick hello to Christian (Knowles) and back to work.
Kev turns up and we have a look at the scripts. I'm cast and then re-cast ("I really liked your Bex") and we are all sorted out for tomorrow. After this, Kev goes to move his car again and I pop into Late and Live to see who's on.
Mark Felgate is standing at the back, looking for a friend of his in the audience. We sit and watch the show for a bit. Can't remember if we found his friend or not. After the show we go out to the Pleasance Dome - find out it's shut, but we hang around outisde Teviot as Marks friend Barry, another comic from the Midnight Show I think, has been having trouble with one of the bouncers and seems to be having a polite, if frank exchange of views with one of them in the doorway and Mark wants to hang around in case things kick off a bit. In the end one of the Gilded bigwigs comes out to smooth everything over. Mark is going, but just arriving (it's nearly 4am!) is Damian and a couple of his friends, so I go back in and we have our usual chat in the bar - not about Australian comics and festivals this time, but about New Zealand. It's still all Greek to me, but I smile and nod. When the conversation comes around to music I'm a bit more clued up. Apparently Damian is into early Tom Waits wheras Christian likes the later stuff.
The bar closes and we all head off. Damian's going on a short holiday further north around Loch Lomond with his friend Jay and so can't come to my party. Wish him a nice time. He's going to be back for more Novalounge and Black Liar appearances later in the festival though.
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12th August - "Christ, My Tits"
Quickly pack up the props after the play as I'm going to the Doctors to get my foot checked out. Ask the receptionists if I can tear an article out of the magazine I'm reading while I'm waiting - it's about a man who makes hurdy-gurdies and I'm sure Nick would like to read it as he's a maker of obscure instruments himself.Doctor reckons I've pulled something in my ankle but it's okay to walk on. Just as well, I've been walking on it all week. Also quite precictably, after I'd told him it hurt when I rotated it, he said "the one thing you probably shouldn't do is rotate it". Nice doctor - and noticed it was my birthday tomorrow from the notes, which was nice of him!
Quickly down to the Sitcom Trials. Goes well. I even got a laugh, which was a nice feeling. My first line is "Christ, my tits" which is very fun to deliver... I thought I wasn't very good but everyone else said I was, so I must have been. Harriet also has a couple of parts and does them very well, including the big speech as "Cassandra" which I don't think I could have carried off.
Quick chat wth Steve Best and then Mark and Noel as they all turn up for their show at the Gilded Balloon Cowgate. I'm not going this evening as I want to give Nick his hurdy-gurdy article. Go to the Underbelly and wonder why no-one is there yet - it's their day off of course - so I pop home for a quick nap before going to see Noel at Peter Buckley-Hill's gig and then Silky's Midnight Run. But I of course sleep through them both and wake up at 3.30 am. Zzzzzzzzz
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13th August - Happy Birthday to Me Part 29
Mum rang first thing to wish me a happy birthday - so I had a bit of time to write up the last few days of the diary.Bill also rang to say hello while I was on my way into town to pick up my new card from the bank. Lloyds told me they'd send it to their branch in George Street which I can't find - after much hunting and phoning it turns out that there hasn't been a branch on George Street for a few years! They promise to find out where my card has actually ended up, seeing as they sent it to a branch that doesn't exist... nearly late for the play with all this hoo-ha.
Luckily, by this point in the run everyone knows where the props go so the guys have organised everything and all I have to do is check that everything's there. Manage to leave my bottle of ice tea on the coffee table and suddenly remember once the house opens - Caroline runs out and gets it just before anyone comes in!
Seems a little ironic to me that I'm sitting watching a fake birthday party on my own birthday - and when, after the show, the cast reprise "Happy Birthday to You" for my benefit I counter with an excerpt from Jenny's birthday speech from the play... nice box of posh chocs and a card signed by everyone, which will make a nice memento of the play.
I'm in the Sitcom Trials again this afternoon, but before that work out how much I can spend on nibbles for my birthday party and still manage to eat for the rest of the month. I think £2.50 a day should do it.. enough for a packet of chips and a drink anyway.
Noel and Steve are doing some excerpts from Death by Sketches in the Sitcom Trials tonight - not technically a sitcom and much more surreal than the rest of the show, but seems to go down well. Noel and Steve's usual mad stuff!
Then to Sainsbury's for the food for tonight. I end up spending 30 quid - more than I wanted to really but I kept seeing nice looking food! I've catered for parties before - all you have to do really is buy nice, pre-prepared stuff and lay it out nicely and people think you have got proper caterers in.
Take it back to the Cafe Royal and lay it all out. So my party begins - all the people I was expecting and some surprises as well - some nice presents including flowers, a Scotland colouring book with a sketch of me in it (!) and a Tiger's Eye stone, which is nice as I like crystals and things. Turns into a nice little soiree - everyone enjoys the food and it's nice for me to see all my theatre friends, all my music friends and all my comedy friends all meeting up and chatting. Introduce Nick Pynn and Rainer Hersch who sort of know of each other but haven't met before I don't think - interesting to hear that Rainer did some orchestrations of some of the Otis songs for his Club Mozart night in London, which I didn't know.
Toddle off to Silky's gig at the Crowne Plaza Hotel - very quiet for some reason. No-one's quite sure why. Christian did it last night apparently and it was relatively busy, but tonight it's full of Silky's mates. Fun show though - everyone trying out new material. Silky got told off for smoking however - a no smoking venue of all things.
Finish the evening with Late and Live again - with a bunch of flowers in hand which gets me some funny looks! Spent most of it sat in the Library Bar but I then spot the tell-tale black tent on stage which means Men in Coats are on, so I take Harriet's friend Lou in with me and we watch the tail end of the show. They end up leaving one of their shoes on stage, which Dan Kitson then nicks and shoves up his shirt. I presume they got it back in the end...
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14th August - Everything's Gone a Bit Fuzzy
Spinning Jenny and the Sitcom Trials both go fine. What sticks in my mind about today, however, is that in a short break from flyering for Year of the Palindrome I managed to knock my glasses off outside the Fringe Green Room and broke one of the lenses...Now, I am so myopic I was allowed to keep my glasses on for school eye tests, and haven't got my lenses handy - I honestly can't remember ever being out of doors with uncorrected sight. Makes me realise how useless I'd have been before they invented glasses!
I can't even read the numberplates of parked cars I'm passing and am feeling very vulnerable... am trying to find friends by the colour of their clothes and the sound of their voice - actually annoy some people by peering at them to see if I know them. If I get an eye infection I'll be in real trouble as I won't even be able to wear my lenses then...
Go to the Palindrome show and help out as best I can. They ask if I can hand out programmes to the people coming in and one of the shapes wonders why I'm blanking him - it is of course Christian who has come to see Nick's show as the Scotsman are reviewing it tonight - I should know the shape of him by now and the guitar case should have been a bit of a giveaway! Explain the problem and show him the shattered specs.
We sit and watch - I have a bit of a coughing fit from the dust requiring two doses of the inhaler and apparently the Scotsman reviewer gave me a bit of a look. She must have enjoyed the show though - apparently she bought a CD - good sign!
The others are living in totally the opposite direction and I need to get home - strike off in the vague direction of home and with a combination of a good sense of direction and a bit of luck I spot my first recognisable landmark - Gilded Balloon Teviot is thankfully unmistakable, even in my current state, as they shine coloured lights up the outside at night. Gothic kitsch. I know the way from here, so make my way home. Was going to go to Late and Live again but feel I deserve an early night.
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