So Hi anyone looking at this. Never done anything like this before but have been musing on doing a fringe blog for, oo, the last four years. So finally I’m taking the plunge! The first fringe show I saw was way back in 1985, The Bald Prima Donna at Buster Browns on Thursday 22nd August for £2. That Prima Donna keeps coming back every year, still bald as a coot. So if you fancy a stroll along the byways and alley ways of my Fringe experiences, feel free to drop in.
Like I said, I’m new to this so there’s gonna be plenty mistakes (though at least my typing seems ok for a moose) as I’m not really up with this modern technology stuff. So wish me luck and do check in again!
Thursday evening, six shows in, and it’s just occurred to me that I haven’t had a ganders round Teviot yet (Gilded Balloon) despite going past at least twice, I don’t think my head has properly registered that it’s open again. Past years I would definitely have been in by now, even without shows to be seen, a first drink in the Library Bar, oh, I do hope they haven’t ruined it with their refurbishments. I’ve not bought one preview ticket for anything in there, but then previews have generally been cut down to just Wednesday and Thursday; time was when many previews ran right up to Saturday (no wonder I crammed in so many shows). Mind, the 241 days were originally the first Sunday and Monday, the Sunday was a very busy day! Fun times.
Safety warning for The Dark Room
On fun times, John Robertson’s The Dark Room was an excellent end to my first day, love his energy and wild glee as he interacts with the crowd. Last night’s audience was ready to have fun, the Darrens were all great, funny how things can go with these shows, but Robertson is a master of his art, he just wears it lightly, teasing the potential chaos. Now I’m a relative newcomer to The DarkRoom but the folk behind me, ha, they were joining in Robertson’s retorts to players’ option choices; he has quite a number of loyal fans, the shows will sell out. Of course he’s doing a free Fringe show too, Excitable Boy! He most certainly is.
Time to head for a late night show; I’ll do a round-up tomorrow of shows seen so far. I’ll leave you with a pic of my first badge this Fringe, I say first, I do hope more shows will have badges to hand out. Toodle pip!
I’ll be going out shortly but first a quick post. Where? I got me a ticket to see W.I.T.C.H. at La Belle Angele,support by some local band called Logan’s Close. There’s going to be some serious rhythms and grooves going on! I suspect it won’t be the only hot sweaty room I’ll be in this month, even with improvements over the years, some Fringe venues still get incredibly warm and stifling. I wonder which room will take the max oven setting prize this year, hmmm. If anyone thinks they’ve sat in the winner, do let me know!
I was back at the cinema last night to see Toy Story 5 on the big screen, I think i may well go see it again, at least once more. Yes, another excellent film, one of the very few film franchises that has always delivered, for me, anyway. Oh, there’s so much that makes this movie an absolute joy. Of course, the main themes are around new tech toys replacing old toys, but I was touched by the little note that you shouldn’t change and be less of who you are in order to fit in with the popular crowd; really, there’s no point, one slip up and they will turn on you, they don’t generally like different. Oh, that got dark! Hey, it’s a cracking film, way more than a kids movie.
Up close with the Close
Okay, so at that point I left to go the gig, the lads were awesome!! After starting with Babestation, the rest of the set was new stuff on the upcoming second album. They went down well with the crowd, hopefully picking up a few new fans. I was at the front so managed to get some good vids, best ones I’ll put on Instagram; I just took one vid of the headliners W.I.T.C.H, but as I was much further back it’s not the best visually. For me, they were a mixed bag, from just okay to some really intoxicating grooves. Overall a fine evening, including a wee chat with Mr Marah about LC‘s time recording in London and what’s comes next.
Ha, another late night, despite all my best intentions. Thankfully my first show isn’t until midafternoon, the first of four tomorrow. Oh yay, one more sleep, then its Fringe ’til September!
As the Fringe gets ever closer, the rain gods are once again perfecting their sudden deluge from nowhere techniques, so don’t forget to bring a brolly (a sturdy one, it can get very windy here). Oh, and don’t forget to bring some commonsense too, honestly, you would not believe the number of people wandering around Edinburgh who clearly leave theirs at home (we have enough local numpties, and, well, it looks bad when the headline says “tourist in Edinburgh….”, okay?); but that’s a rant I’ll save for another time.
The town is noticeable more bustly now, not what I’d consider busy yet just bustlier (not bustier as spellchecker tried to insist). Heck, there were even people drinking after ten in George IV Bar on Friday evening – it’s busy through the day while people are coming in to eat, but it does seem be very quiet once the kitchen close. Oh yeah, that reminds me! A bugbear. Pubs that have that sign “Please Wait To Be Seated” just inside the door and don’t remove it after dining is over? Sure, some of us know when to ignore it, but some hover, glancing around, trying to appear nonchalant but we can all see the embarrassment in their eyes. A quick timely removal of that sign wouldn’t take a minute, well, maybe two or three.
I’d been to the cinema to see Minions & Monsters, wow, such bloody good fun and so many cheeky wee film references, had me grinning and guffawing right the way through it. The voice cast was perfect with Christopher Waltz and Jeff Bridges in there, and of course, Pierre Coffin (the man is a genius); the story skips and trips along, aided by hilariously wonderful montages. There’s been plenty of films about the beginnings of Hollywood, honestly, this could be my new favourite (Friday evening was the second time I’d seen it, so ).
Feel that passion, yeah!
Anyhoo. It made sense to head to George IV Bar – bluesman Louis Crosland was playing there before heading to Whistlebinkies for the midnight slot (plus band), total sense. How good to hear acoustic then electric versions of All Along the Watchtower, brand new to Louis’s setlist and an old favourite of mine (I do incline towards the Hendrix version). I’ve put a reel that incorporates both on my Instagram, please do check it out. I was also treated to Gilbert O’Sullivan’s Alone Again Naturally, another new one on the setlist, nice, I liked Louis’s take on it. FYI, Louis will be playing the Canons’ Gait at nine o’clock on Wednesday nights through August.
The Canons’ Gait and Whistlebinkies are once again venues for PBH’s Free Fringe along with plenty other pubs in the city, the rest are part of the Laughing Horse stable, nah not really, but it can feel like every pub in Edinburgh becomes a Fringe venue! Of course, it helps if there’s an actual separate room available and plenty of the old pubs have weird and wonderful spaces!
Time I was creeping off to bed. Back to Fringe nuggets tomorrow.
Just a week to go now! The poster boards are going up everywhere and this afternoon I was handed a flyer! Yes, the earliest ever. To be fair I was dawdling as I passed the Pleasance Courtyard as they have boards outside listing all the shows in all of their venues, a lady was obviously making some content with her phone by one of the boards….I was nosey, she was lovely, A Better Memory has been added to my pile of possibilities. But what of my certainties?
Hooray, the ridiculously talented Voloz Collective are back again, another double bill, REDACTED: The Cover-up of a Cover-up of a Cover-up and the brilliant The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much. I’ll be kicking off my Fringe with REDACTED, yay, and ending my first day yelling “Ya die, ya die, ya die!” at someone called Darren (if you know you know). My second day starts with another promising production The Crimes of Pete and finishes with Hudson Hughes: At Your Service which I’m confident will bookend the day very nicely. Friday will start with the return of Tom Neenan, it’s so important to start your Fringe well, you know. At least, I’m pretty damned certain these will all be great, not sure about the others, time to see if my Fringe-dar is still in working.
How to start your Fringe well
Wonderfully silly and totally Fringe Will BF is back with space epic Moon Team IIIV again, no doubt he’s most likely made a few changes since last August (I wonder how Swimothy is getting on). There’s also new show Will & Noah: Dinner Dinner ChickenWinner with Noah Geelan, oh yes, I’ll be seeing that for sure, loved them together last year. Ironing Board Man is back for a third year, an 80’s action movie homage with an excellent soundtrack and more ironing boards than you’d ever ordinarily see at once; but I’ve seen it twice already, so it’s the new show Jody Kamali: This Is My Dad that I quite fancy seeing, hmmm.
My Fringe-dar favours these
One return that I can’t decide whether to see is Jeremy Lion, some things are best left as memories. He was achingly funny the first couple of times I saw him, but the third time was not as good, that was, oh, fifteen or so years ago! To go or not to go? [Edit. Turns out its cancelled, debate over!] No such question about ThomTuck’s latest theatrical outing The Wolf of Poyais, and, of course, the Tuck has two more shows (and maybe the odd other thing, too), a WIP stand-up show and a chat show, huh, if he announces who the guests will be each day, maybe.
I’ve been away to Yorkshireland again, got back Sunday evening, a very drizzly drive up, but hey, the rain was needed, and looking at the forecast, the rain gods are getting some practice in ready for August! If you’re coming to Edinburgh for the Fringe don’t forget your brolly, and don’t go leaving it in a pub like I almost did Sunday evening; well, after that long drive I needed a drink and it just so happened that Louis Crosland was playing in George IV Bar. It’s a nice enough bar but it’s very much a place folk eat then head off elsewhere, few stay longer. Louis will be back there on Friday evening, then, contrary to any websites, he’ll be playing in Whistlebinkies with whoever he can round-up at short notice. That’s my Friday evening sorted.
Yes, very nice, moose, but what about Comedy? Well, there’s a lot of it, and it does seem like prices have increased plenty. Yes, I know there’s plenty of good reasons, I get it, but I also want to see shows, whittling them down to even fewer is really hard. And all the lovely flyerers, what to say to them? Yes, that sounds great but which other show should I drop from my list in order to afford it? Actually, that could be quite interesting, kinda mean but a fun experiment, hmmm.
Surprisingly, I have only Free Fringe show cut-outs from Comedy, unsurprisingly one is John Robertson’s latest stand-up show; and there’s another magic show by David Alnwick, like why? Why isn’t that one also listed in Cabaretand Variety with the other two? Any logic there?! Oh yeah, on C&V, I missed mentioning (overlooked, it was a double-sided cut-out) Bad Clowns and Good Friends, their late night show with various guest comedians is back at Eve, I might get round to popping in this time round, I kept saying I would last year but,!? (it’s in the Cowgate, not exactly a tricky location)
The majority of my Comedy possibilities are the hybrid PWYC and PWYW, take a gamble that you’ll get in without a ticket and pay when you leave. Two shows I won’t just chance are Ed Byrne: Work In Progress and Luke Rollason: Alas! (WIP), both short runs and no doubt will sell out. John-Luke Roberts and Nish Kumar have full Fringe runs at Monkey Barrel so I reckon I’ll be fine seeing them early on. Then there’s the ticketed shows I’d like to see, well, some only if they get listed on the Half Price Hut. Unfortunately way too many of my choices clashed timewise, so they wouldn’t all fit during the preview period (oh, a mini rant about that at some point).
I haven’t been the forthcoming with my choices in this post, so I’ll put in some pics of my possibilities. Next time, more on the Comedy section, the shows I’m definitely going to see.
Later than I intended (it’s been another gorgeous day outside) but here’s a few musings on what’s caught my eye in the Theatre section of the Edinburgh Fringe 2026 programme. Oh crikey, there’s a lot of cuttings, the majority will be bin bound (especially once I’ve taken my scissors to Comedy), but I prefer having groupings of faint possibilities that can be discarded than wondering if I should have another look through the programme, if it’s not been cut out, tough (besides, there’s always more chances of consideration once the Fringe is underway).
The classics, kinda. Five hovering around Shakespeare, I’ve often enjoyed these sorts of productions; two have puppetry as a keyword, the whimsy in me is a sucker for that stuff; and 11½ Angry Men, just because I saw Guy Masterton’s 2003 comedians production of 12 Angry Men, mind, only a preview ticket. Prices are certainly going up now, but that’s partly because the booking fee is now included in the ticket price, so no getting annoyed at the extra fee, but hey, if you buy more than six tickets at a time then you’ll pay slightly less as there’s still a cap of £9 booking fee on a single order (slight whoop there). Still, at £25.00 within a bunch of tickets, nope, that’s two other shows I can see.
I always have a pile of Half Price Hut hopefuls to keep an eye out for once the Hut is up and running. Some of the pile will be potential previews too, but as the preview prices are generally just the first Wednesday and Thursday (Friday was a preview day until very recently, damn them), I can’t see as many as I used to. The Half Price Hut is once again operating from the Fringe Box Office and so shuts at six in the evening, still bloody stupid, I say (I’ve done a full blown rant on this before, it irks me).
The vast majority of tickets in the Theatre section are set prices, checking through I’ve no Free Fringe possibles, oops, one! It jumps between categories a lot, this is a Theatre year, that perennial A Young Man Dressed as a Gorilla….17, as usual, one performance only, on Tuesday 18th. Could this be the year I see it?! I have just two Pay What You Want and two Pay What You Can in my possibilities. Quick recap, PWYW gives one ticket price to buy in advance to guarantee entry while PWYC gives four price options to pay in advance. A word of advice/warning, if you’ve bought a ticket in advance to one of these shows you’ll probably find yourself apologetically bleating “honest, I bought a ticket” as you exit past the bucket.
There’ll always a few shows that aren’t on until the final week, that’s a separate pile of it’s own. No need to think about them just yet, and a lot can happen before the last week of Fringe. There are some possibilities that don’t fit any where particular in my head, they’re probably looking at each other thinking, how did I get stuck in a pile beside you?! And I seem to have created a pile of best publicity pictures, when I’ve reached for the scissors at first glance; yeah, Film Noir Frog is very appealing (come on, it’s a frog, they’re always great).
Yeah, these six shows all have a high chance of getting on my calendar; and then there’s five absolute definites, oo, I’m looking forward to these…
REDACTED: The Cover-up of a Cover-up of a Cover-up is the new show from the brilliant Voloz Collective, physical theatre at its very best. Their previous Fringe shows were among the best of all Fringes for me, really (and they’re performing The Man Who Thought He Knew Too Much again this year, honestly, I could be tempted to see it again, I love it’s style and sass). That most august of Fringe institutions Thom Tuck is playing The Wolf of Poyais, nuff said, I’m going. The Crimes of Pete is the latest play by Hughie Shepherd-Cross, I thoroughly enjoyed his previous three plays, don’t let me down Hughie! The creepy, unnerving Flabbergast Theatre are back again, this time with Endgame by Samuel Beckett, always a mesmeric watch this theatre company. And Top Gunchained because Yippee Ki Yay was so damned awesome, both years (different actors) I saw it.
No picture of all my other possibilities in the Theatre section, too many will have to go unseen, and after all, there’s no science to how I picked them, just my Fringe-dar twitching. Next time the Comedy section of the Edinburgh Fringe 2026 programme. You have been warned.
It’s after midnight, so it’s just less than three weeks to the start of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, oops, I may need to get my skates on, if I could just remember where I put them! I’ve been distracted by glorious sunny days and evenings fulled with the sweetest sounds (well, nine out of the last fourteen evenings). Yes, I most certainly had to see the Scat Rats three times, and I had to see Louis Crosland playing solo, with his band and with the Moanin’ Bones. Jed Potts was on the early Saturday afternoon slot with that queen of soulful sass Nicole Smit, then he turned up the following Sunday evening, not quite as the poster advertised, playing blues with Jonny Christie on drums and the long not seen Ewan Gibson on bass! A welcome surprise (well, he needs the practice with the Blueswater Fringe gigs coming up, haha).
Another string goneand another one gone
It’s a regular occurrence for Scott to snap strings but it’s much rarer to see an electric guitar string go!
I also saw Mr Marah twice more – with band at McChuills in Glasgow and solo as first support in Sneaky Pete’s on Friday (picking up my copy of his new EP Me, Myself and I). Unfortunately, due to tardiness and an accident on the motorway slowing traffic, I missed some of the Niche Family set. I did want to see it all as the singer/guitarist is Stuart Neil, that’s Big Stu, bassist and harmonies in Logan’s Close. Did I mention I’d caught them a few weeks earlier in Binkies and thoroughly enjoyed them? Their support slot for Carl was going to be the band’s last gig together, the Glasgow crowd gave them a good send-off, the poignancy of the moment was palpable. Second support were the Black Denims, more country sounds (there does seem to be more honkytonk, americano sounds over West!)
It was a very warm evening, thank god for the AC in the venue room, a shame there wasn’t any in the bar itself, the wall of heat hit hard and the temperature outside wasn’t much cooler. I just grabbed another drink and headed back in to stand in the sweet spot to get maximum benefit from the AC until it was time for the main act. I did move right up near the front but soon moved back as it was way too loud for me, I did try the earplugs available at the bar but they were rubbish and really dunted Carl’s vocals and guitar, a lesson to remember to have my good earplugs with me, just in case. After a couple of songs I went closer again, this time making use of all the lanky beanpoles as shields between me and the speakers, while at the same time being in a reasonable position to see through the gaps.
《It’s very late now, I’m away to my bed, will finish this in the morning》
I’m back, thinking how much more was I going to say, except for it was another brilliant gig. Cat’s Eyes just gets better and better with each live performance and Roll the Dice was an absolute treat for the soul, Me, Myself and I exquisite! The sparse chill of World Keeps Turning especially the keyboards and Carl’s guitar sound had me thinking of Tom Waits; watching the bit that I filmed, yup, I still hear it (in fact, yeah, it’s going up on Instagram, why not). On drums for the evening it was Carl’s other drummer, Ryan Bradley (previously seen on Mam Talent with Carl), a snug fit. The EP is a thing of beauty but live is when Carl’s music really shines. If anyone knows how do a decent bootleg recording …!
On recordings, Logan’s Close are currently down in London town for a couple of weeks recording their second album, yay, whoop!! (see now why I was getting my fill before the dynamic duo disappeared south!) Then at the start of August, in fact on Fringemas Eve (Tuesday 4th August) Logan’s Close are playing support in LaBelle Angele for Zambian band W.I.T.C.H. (We Intend To Cause Havoc), I’ve checked them out on Spotify, African rhythms meet psychedelic rock, and boy, sounds like a great way to kick off my Fringe!
That’s all for now. Next time I’ll be musing on the Theatre offerings in the Fringe programme. Toodle pip!
The Edinburgh Fringe programme has a section Spoken Word, it makes me smile, I mean, duh, yeah, unless it’s mime (probably in Dance, Physical theatre and Circus) or sung (covered in Music and Musicals and Opera). It seems to be a grey area, when are words just spoken?… monologues just seem to be placed wherever the performer best thinks the title will catch the eye, does Spoken Word sound a trifle too dry to them? Comedy and Theatre take in performances alluding to being more, even Cabaret (I would expect a certain pazzazz there), but those are big categories to compete for attention. A good title may actually stand out better in this smaller category filled with interview shows and talks/lectures; the lists of these go on a fair bit – there’s just short of a hundred, nope, not for me. Only three shows piqued my interest…
Call me old-fashioned, I like large paper maps, I still have all the Official Tourist Maps that I bought for various holidays back over the years. X marks the spots of various campsites and pubs, well, you never know, I might still make it back that way some day! So when I saw Mistakes on Maps I immediately reached for the scissors, a show about historical maps each with a fascinating flaw? I could go for that. Let People Like You had me at “expect saucy ostriches”, Free Fringe too, a definite possibility. The third I’ll admit is just a vague possibility but I think worth cutting out so that I’ll remember it’s on. Adorable Comedians Performing Funny Poetry and Telling Lovely Stories has the potential to be a warm fuzzy hug of a show or somewhat cringey, depending on the line-up, a foremention on who’s on each day might entice me (or not).
I don’t really expect to see anything much in Dance, Physical Theatre and Circus but I’ll always check through it (well, my fomo makes me). The blurb for Final Queen mentions “blood-soaked hula hooping”, horror and it’s antipodean (always a bonus point); it’s a full run so I can watch out for reviews before deciding. There’s only three performances of The Masquerade, I have no idea what the picture is about, a masquerade deity lives in someone’s stomach?! Hmmm, but I found myself cutting it out, okay.
Now was the time to go to the beginning, Cabaret and Variety. I just got curious there, when did this section appear? I was sure it didn’t use to be there, hmm. A quick dive into the shelves behind me and indeed, Cabaret first got it’s own section in the programme in 2011, Variety was added to it in 2015 (were there meetings debating whether such nuances should be recognised? handbags and hissy fits thrown?!) I wonder, will Magic and Burlesque be next? There’s an awful lot of magic in C&V, plenty of which appears under PBH’s Free Fringe, yay (please remember while these shows are free entry, only a real schmuck would leave without giving anything, don’t be that person). The busiest magician on the Fringe is back with two shows, full runs not a single day off, David Alnwick always puts on a great show. The blurb shows that one goes for humour, while the other, as Alnwick likes to do, is more theatrical, that one’s in the Speakeasy at the Voodoo Rooms (a great setting for a spooky show).
Another magician who’s played the Fringe plenty is Charlie Caper, I’ve never gotten round to seeing him before; his key words are magic and variety, maybe this year? The Cult of Astaroth promises magic and horror at the Banshee Labyrinth, a fitting venue! A title that immediately held my gaze was DanBastianelli: The Boy Who Drew Doors, magic with storytelling, I get an impression of whimsiness, no bad thing, as is the venue theSpace@Surgeons’ Hall (a place that I’ve seen plenty of great shows). One more magic show cut-out, this one illustrates my earlier point as The Man With the Golden Hands – Stuart Lightbody was listed under Theatre in 2024; it tells a true story of a magician recruited by the CIA, yeah, a possibility.
There’s plenty and allsorts of musical choices in C&V, of course. Fingers Piano Bar is the place for ABBA singalongs, and for two nights only Alice Cooper – Welcome To My Cabaret Nightmare, that could be excellent fun (or really naff). I do quite fancy the tribute to Tom Waits in the Voodoo Rooms, will it be a dip into everything, or the more accessible? (some of his stuff I really can’t get). Last but definitely not least, that grande dame of fruit is back, the incomparable Dame GrannySmith is once again in The Wee Coo in George Square Gardens. No doubt there’ll be a song or two from her, let’s hope her voice holds out as she’s on from the first preview day right through until the (real) final day, Monday 31st, with only one day off.
So far so good, my pile of possibilities isn’t ridiculously large, yet. Just the big two, Theatre and Comedy are left; the Theatre section alone is thicker than the whole of the 2001 Fringe programme, yikes. How’s anyone supposed to choose these days?
I didn’t start at the very beginning, instead I decided that Music was a very good place to start, it’s the dark orange edged segment in the middle of the Edinburgh Fringe 2026 programme. Starting the cutting up possibilities stage is similar to initially figuring out scoring levels watching the Eurovision Song Contest. It would be easy to go silly and cut out every remote possibility, some years I’ve started quite harshly and had to go back through with a less critical eye. There is a balance, and once the Fringe gets under way there’s always going to be shows previously skipped over that bubble up to the surface; I just have to trust my Fringe-dar to point me right.
Of course, The Blueswater are back for just five late night shows at The Jazz Bar, while Nicole Smit and Jed Potts are in there for five midafternoon shows. I notice that two bands playing Stramash are listed, these are appreciation shows for the music of the Allman Brothers and of JJ Cale; yeah, I get why they’re in the programme. Just down the road at The Caves with a full Fringe run is Bad Santa and the Angry Elves, I’m amused and intrigued! It says musical theatre and rock, maybe I’ll wait to see some reviews.
Across the road in Bannermans Fringe stalwarts Attila theStockbroker and John Otway are reviving a show they did together back in 1991, Cheryl – A Rock Opera (I didn’t see it myself but I can think of a few old acquaintances who I’ll bet did) it’s a PBH’s Free Fringe show, I’d say its a fair possibility I’ll rock up one afternoon. Meanwhile back at The Jazz Bar on drums, guitar and electric trombone (!!) there’s Soundbone plays Led Zep, just two shows, but hey, electric trombone, I’m tempted.
I’ve cut it out, I love the name, Dancing Mice – The Truth are playing in the sweatbox that is Leith Depot. See, that’s a lesser possibility but worth cutting out, the blurb says “irresistibly weird pop, crooked grooves….full of joy”, further investigation required. Trotting back up Leith Walk to Valvona & Crolla, incredible year round Deli and each August a Fringe music venue, has Sekoya (Carl’s incredibly talented backing band) for two shows at the end of the Fringe.
Next section in the programme is Musicals and opera, it’s a short one, just two caught my eye long enough to warrant the scissors. The Bloody Ballad of Bette Davis, ha, love the title, it’s down as physical theatre and horror, it’s at Assembly Roxy, usually a good bet and it’s a full Fringe run, nice. Lastly, labeled as dark comedy and hilariously bleak is The Spy Who Came in From the Park, I liked the picture, my Fringe-dar says yay.
Of course, these are all just possibilities, but hey, not a ridiculous number. Next time, a flick through three more categories. You know, I think I’m starting to feel that Fringe buzz 😊
The first of July (though not much of it left) and I haven’t made any mention yet of this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I know a bit different to previous years. Have you seen the programme this year?! It’s huge. Lug that around in your bag? Probably not. When I popped into the Fringe shop to pick up a couple, I was actually taken aback by the size, the assistant enthusiastically told me how many shows there are this year, I just meekly smiled back.
What I really wanted to do was point out that quantity itself is not impressive; and unfortunately too much quantity makes finding the quality (that is, whatever a person considers quality) that much more difficult. Now I’m a seasoned Fringer, I have my methods for wading through and finding the nuggets, but this year’s programme is intimidating for me, how’s the novice Fringer gonna feel?. I can’t imagine trying to randomly find shows online, there’s no algorithms for a moose mind (oh, they probably think they’re getting it right, haha, really, no), that why I prefer a printed version, but jeez, it’s been a trawl.
I’m sure that once I commit to plunging in proper, cutting out, finding the precious previews, I’ll be fine, and that starts tomorrow! Oh, I have made one sweep through, plenty queried mark-ups. I’ve noticed that this year there’s a lot in the Theatre section that aren’t even up for a full week, oh crikey, oh well, as long as they get something out of the experience besides an overdraft, I suppose. Sorry, I’m being quite a negative Nancy, aren’t I? But while I’ve felt for a while that the Fringe was getting a tad too big, this is the first time I thought, oh jeez, at seeing the size of the programme.
And on that note I will leave you for some other more uplifting notes in Whistlebinkies. The Hollow aka Louis Crosland and band (whoever that may be tonight) are playing in about ten minutes time. Toodle pip!
Bruce on the Fringe 