Fringe history

Ghosts from Fringes Past

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Just a quickie (oo, matron)! It’s late but I feel like sharing….

The Blueswater at The Jazz Bar on Friday night were awesome, as expected. I rolled up shortly after showtime (come on, how often are these times accurate?) and was warned it was pretty busy inside – I was even given the opportunity to pop down and check out whether I wanted to commit to going in (there was a £10 entry charge), nice offer but I’d just go for it. Hell, the weather was really bad, I wasn’t going to have a wasted soaking.

It was very busy, but at least towards the back the floor is higher, allowing a better view. I could be wrong but I think there’s a grand piano on the stage, it takes up a lot of space – I was only able to see the heads and shoulders of the band (no dandruff) but I assume it’s still there, otherwise the close huddle of five of the band would just be weird. It kinda looked like they’d all ganged up against the drummer and were refusing to go anywhere near him. Okay, so that was my brain having fun, like, one scenario, Simon was letting loose some lethal gases! (Yes, that’s Simon Gibb, buccaneer and back-up crew) Haha, going along with that line, when Nicole Smit joined them for a couple of numbers, the huddle made her stand closest to him!

Plenty of classic blues was the order of the night and Felipe Schrieberg has the voice and presence to deliver them. Such a great night! Oh, and special mention for their rendition of The Wizard, wow, so, so good. And now, from a wizard to a doctor…

Oh my giddy aunt, how good was Dr Who on Saturday evening? Bloody awesomely good, that’s how good. RTD really threw everything into this episode including an old companion, a very old adversary and a Lethbridge-Stewart! Neil Patrick Harris was perfect to play the Toymaker, the man is such a great performer (apparently he was the first to play Hedwig on Boadway, god, I would love to have seen that!) With RTD back at the helm it was a great story, great script, so many digs at the state of humankind, wonderful – “the lies, the righteousness – that’s human, that’s you …… and hating each other? You’ve never needed any help with that.” He’s right, you know.

Hurrah, we met the latest incarnation of the good Doctor, and what’s this? David Tennant‘s Doctor is still among us, could he make further appearances along the line?! Who cheered with me when Donna stood up to the creepy dolls and bashed the mother doll against the wall? I’m shuddering again just thinking of her babbies; old dolls and puppets are always up to no good when they turn up on anything! The companion show Doctor Who: Unleashed had an interesting section on the filming of the puppet scenes, but I was amused that our guide seemed so unaware about how big puppetry is these days – okay so not huge, but there’s always puppetry of some ilk at every Edinburgh Fringe.

And on that note, yay! Boris and Sergey are back in Edinburgh Boris and Sergey’s Christmas Cabaret on at the Assembly Roxy until 21st December. Two hours of darkly delicious humour, macabre mayhem, oh yeah, I’m going. It’s been a while since I saw them at the Fringe, ah, not since 2016! The first time was in 2012, then 2013, those shows were both at the Pleasance Courtyard; in 2016 they had a new home, the perfect stage for them, the Omnitorium a wonderful, strange, unsettling little world on its own, set slightly away from George Square Garden. They have been back since then, but you know, so many shows to choose from!

Anyhoo, it’s very late now, I must off to bed. Sweet dreams!

An odd week

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This has been an odd week, well, a week of oddities, flashbacks, fun and not-so-much fun. It started on Monday when I got an email that Apocalypse Clown a film I had booked to see in Glasgow the following day was cancelled due to technical difficulties. Dammit! It was my only opportunity too, it only had a very limited release (yup, not a single cinema in Edinburgh was showing it!). You may be wondering what’s so special about Apocalypse Clown that I’d be prepared to trek over to Glasgow for it?

Three of the co-writers were one of my all-time favourite Fringe acts, Dead Cat Bounce, that’s Demian Fox, Shane O’Brien and James Walmsley. Sure its quite some time since they were at the Fringe but they were supertalented, very original and achingly funny; the trailer for Apocalypse Clown looks so good, they obviously haven’t lost the spark. It’s a film with clowns (obviously), vengeful human statues and a slow-motion walrus fight (so I’ve read) – what’s not to love?! A film of semi-epic proportions, I reckon.

So, I wasn’t happy at missing that, for consolation I went to see Barbie for a second time, yay. It made a good start to my evening before Nicole and the Back-up Crew in Stramash, finishing off at Whistlebinkies with The Scat Rats and a wonderful, unexpected delight – the first acoustic rendition of Heart-shaped Jacuzzi, oh my heartses!

Wednesday I decided to check what other old Fringe favourites of mine The Les Clöchards were up to these days – they only have a new album out and it’s on Spotify! Stop, Drop & Rock is a lot of fun, those hobos from a small island near Corsica have still got it – blimey Charlie, it’s ten years since they last played the Edinburgh Fringe when I bought their CD Never Don’t Not.

Interestingly there’s new versions of two songs from that previous album, Love Baby has definitely gone up a few notches but I prefer the raunchier, heavier earlier version of Girls Just Wanna Have Fun (but you will love the new version if you’ve never heard the first one, truly you will). I love what they’ve done with Material Girl a great Clöchards reworking, but my current favourite is Bunch of Assholes, delightfully lackadaisical and bouncy.

Thursday night, yay, a rare visit from over West for Baby Face and the Beltin’ Boys to Stramash. Who? Baby Face aka Julen Santamaria of Awkward Family Portraits, purveyor of Western Swing with a very distinctive voice. There was actually just one Beltin’ Boy with him on this occasion, but the two of them were more than enough for a fun time (I’ll stick a reel on Instagram later). See, this is why I pay so much attention to who’s playing where and when, to catch such gems!

Friday morning and a big downer, my throat was on fire, bloody painful. It had been threatening a while, I’d hoped nightly gargling with TCP would do the trick, nope! Nothing was going to soothe it now, it was only a matter of time before my sinuses joined in the revolt. They did and how, for about forty-eight hours and two boxes of tissues; just a few foot soldiers are left behind now, the rest have moved to my chest.

Okay, so twice I’ve missed The Scat Rats this weekend, hey, I do see them plenty, but The Buccaneers were playing The Jazz Bar after midnight on Friday and I was fully intending on going, damn. Not impressed.

Other bits of news, Logan’s Close have announced 20th October as the release date for their long-awaited debut album Heart-shaped Jacuzzi, get your order in! The loveliest man on the Fringe Aidan Goatley is writing a new show, “the show I’ve wanted to do for several years but only now feel ready for”, this will definitely be one to see next year, can’t wait. Austrian stand-up Elias Werner will be in the UK on Thursday 12th October at The Pen Theatre in London as part of their Fresh off the Fringe season; well, he did tell me he’d be back!

Well, that’s all my news, now I must go gargle some more TCP and get to my bed.

Oh, my precious!

If music be the food of love…?

bruceonthefringe 2023, a rant, Busking, Edinburgh, Fringe history, Music in Edinburgh, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , Leave a comment

It’s been a tad sunny in Edinburgh, and warm too! Summer concerts at Murrayfield are back, Harry Styles was playing the other evening, feather boas everywhere! I hadn’t been paying attention, so first thought was, oh my god, so many hen parties in one day?! The bands playing on Waverley Bridge had a fine day of it providing pre-show entertainment.

Naturally, The Kennedy’s Project were there taking turns with other buskers, they always pull a good crowd anyway, but the sunshine and Styles fans really busied things up! I had things to do, so couldn’t hang around but as I went past I thought the band were louder than usual, did they feel the crowd’s enthusiasm and cranked up the volume? It is a fairly noisy area with all the traffic and people, a few steps further on and you’d hardly be aware of any live music – unless it’s bagpipes.

There’s plenty of areas in the city centre where buskers set up and play, and since the dark days of lockdowns there have been plenty of buskers around to add a little sparkle to the day. Why, I might not have become aware of the awesomeness of Ol’Times if I hadn’t happened upon them busking. They packed out Whistlebinkies and no doubt other venues across the UK, by busking locally to promote themselves and help finance the tour.

Are you going somewhere with this, Brucie? I can hear you wondering – yes I am. See I recently became aware that the council have launched a consultation regarding busking and to help “determine if we need additional powers to manage amplification of sound in public places”, ummm. CEC (City of Edinburgh Council) are consulting the people? Not possibly with their minds already made up? – I say this, as I’ve completed their questionnaire and really felt it was trying to lead me to being down on busking (from Facebook I know I’m not the only one with this impression). My worry is that the council will go seriously OTT on this, they’re not known for being level-headed and rational.

There are already signs up in some areas to remind buskers of local guidelines of no amplification after 9pm, fair enough, though a busker without any amplification would be unlikely to be heard over the noise in the Grassmarket on Friday and Saturday nights! Buskers are asked to keep to a “considerate volume” and regularly move pitches, I reckon most do. Sure there are some bad eggs, there always will be in all things, and they’ll continue on their merry way no matter what regulations come in, they won’t give a damn. In Scotland the police already have powers to move on performers if necessary, so what additional powers are CEC wanting?

I find it quite sad that some humans seem to have lost the ability to just talk calmly, listen to each other calmly, pause to give thought out responses, accept that other points of view can be valid even if disagreeable; and whatever happened to magnanimity and grace in defeat? I get that some businesses may find it difficult to tell a busker just outside their door to turn it down, but maybe they’re just not thinking and are unaware how annoying they’re being? Maybe they are d**kheads, but maybe they’ll apologise, even be embarrassed by their lack of awareness (of course, embarrassment can also lead to an altercation if they try to defend the undefendable).

I think the problem will be with what the council consider as overamplification and their reactions. Sure there is just too loud, then there’s too loud in one place that couldn’t be heard in another. Times and places, people! Blanket rulings would be overly harsh, while overcomplicated rules will deter shy, new buskers (who should be nurtured and encouraged as possible greats of the future) and the bolshy ones won’t care. And what about bagpipers? Where will they fit in with their noise levels?

This issue has had me remembering back to the mid-nineties and one of my favourite Fringe bands Bean. They came over from Australia for three Fringes, mainly busking on the Mound, but they also managed to get a few very late night gigs in the original Gilded Balloon on the Cowgate. This was the Mound before the Half Price Hut took up residence, so a lot busier and packed with folk.

Bean only had an amp for the acoustic guitar, (the trombone and drum didn’t need anything), but no mics for voices – can you imagine that these days?! They were really quite fine without, but then the ever nearby panpipers added amps!! Really, no! Those panpipes were in-bloody-cessant at the time (I swear some tourists must have left Edinburgh thinking that panpipes were a Scottish thing!) No-one else got a look-in when they piped up, yes, problems with overamplification are not anything new!!

I’m guessing final song of the set, Moondance 🧡
Bean and gone

I’ll leave you with a great comment I saw on Facebook on the subject of how the council will deal with buskers, “You’ll no doubt find a way to charge them by the decibel, and then the louder the better!!!”

Toodle pip!

A red beret, a megaphone, Action!

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Am I right? Belly nicely full, strong coffee beside me, air scented with essential oil vapours, yes I’m right, time to write something. Oh, today’s oils are grapefruit for levity and clarity, frankincense to ease my still ailing body and fennel, just because it’s been in my oils box for ages and needs using up. Since I last wrote I’ve been lurgied, losing my voice for three days, it’s come back very grudgingly accompanied by a body-shaking cough, bah.

So, I was about to head back to Yorkshireland for Mothering Sunday and Logan’s Close were about to release the video to Babestation ….. didn’t manage to hit the road until the crack of noon, did manage a first look at the video before I left. Haha, watching the video reminded me of a bit from my review of the single release “… a seedy wedding band playing unnoticed …” inspired by a song by Fringe favourites Dead Cat Bounce; I grabbed the CD for my journey.

Dead Cat Bounce were a bunch of talented Irish lads who combined their musical and comedic skills to produce witty, bitingly funny, un-PC songs (this was back 2008 to 2012). The scenario DCB painted in Christians In Love was what sprung to my mind while listening to Babestation. From being a song about a young couple on their wedding night, a sudden twist reveals it’s actually being played in the couple’s room by the wedding band who don’t plan to leave until they’ve been paid (the young newlyweds are “possibly deaf or just incredibly focused”). I’d envisaged Logan’s Close in a back corner of the room, not quite, they’re on a different tv channel.

Once down in Yorkshireland it was all go, ’til I was laid low and silent on the Monday; at least I finally had some time to check out Babestation again. That was a week ago, I’ve watched it a few times since. Wow, there’s a lot packed into those five minutes and twelve seconds!! (short, intense, bizarre, like you’ve just been Tango’d) Love it, the eye is in the right place on this duck, LC‘s go-to film guy James Gilhooly is so in tune with their vibe, so many exquisite little niblets (yes, okay, I’ve watched it plenty times).

A few of those niblets to tantalise your tastebuds – the retro television, also seen in the Heart-shaped Jacuzzi video, is sooo cool. Greenscreen guy, ha, a nice touch! Hats, wigs, fake moustaches, perve it up with a nod to 60s looks. Lots of closeup shots, very closeup, eyes, fingers, mouths, and a nipple shot!! That’s a nipple belonging to Gareth Mutch a local comic and actor who plays the Babe brilliantly, going through a whole gamut of emotions within five minutes (I told you it’s intense). The punch-ups look great but Gavin Lamont takes first prize for violence – and he seems so quiet! And the potentials waiting to do Babestation auditions, haha!

The tempo of the action beautifully mirrors the changes in mood and tempo of the music. I like the mixing up of eras, the modern with retro 60s, mirroring the Close‘s sound; even the modern isn’t that modern, apart from maybe the caller’s nails? This “midnight observer” is gorgeous, feisty, sexy – from the glimpses we get to see of her (erm, I’ve no idea of what sorts phone up these channels, yes, I’m that naive, but I’m guessing she’s not what a female equivalent to the usual caller would look like). I had wondered about this particular video, but yay, they pulled it off – how else to film Babestation but by subverting the whole scenario? A highly entertaining fast-paced, fist-flying film, Edgar Wright-like glimmers in there.

Do give it a watch, as Kenny Everett would say, it’s all done in the best possible taste! The next single is already being lined up and it is another beaut, well, all the songs are, but it’s another that The Scat Rats occasionally sing which always adds a little extra sparkle for me. They’ll hopefully do it at Whistlebinkies on Saturday afternoon, some time after four.

Toodle pip!

The clock is ticking…

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….2021 is nearly over, just enough time for one more little drama – a fire came up from the bowels of the earth in Holyrood Road, just outside what was the Apple shop many, many years ago (back when Apple was a sweet little thing). Okay, maybe not from the bowels of the earth, just a few feet down, dramatic enough to close the road for five hours or so, anyway.

Meanwhile in Chez Bruce I was polishing off the rest of last night’s Chinese takeaway for brunch. My, it was good after a hard day travelling back up in rather dreich weather, don’t reckon I’ve ever have a duff dish from Silver Bowl on Leith Walk in, oo, thirty or so years. They do their own deliveries rather than allowing the delivery companies to pick up from them, I like that.

The evening’s entertainment? Well, after playing Hedwig and the Angry Inch up and down the country (on looking properly it’s the Stage Musical Cast CD not the film soundtrack – I have both) what else could I watch?! There was time to unpack, warm up the old cave and sort some drinks before the delivery guy buzzed up. OMG! It really is as good as I thought it was. But, woah, it’s now twenty years old! What? Yes, it came out in 2001 when it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, winning the Dramatic Directing Award and the Dramatic Audience Award. Also, a quick check on Rotten Tomatoes shows 92% and 93% scores – so it’s not just me!

John Cameron Sinclair is incredible as Hedwig, a point really underlined when I watched the dvd extra Whether You Like It Or Not: The Story of Hedwig (you can find it on YouTube). This documentary tells how John Cameron Sinclair (director, writer, Hedwig) and Stephen Trask (music, Skszp) met and went on to develop the idea of Hedwig as a character in a stage musical and then the movie; it was some process, these guys were on a mission, definitely worth a watch especially if you’ve seen Hedwig, the movie or a stage production.

I saw the stage musical at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2004 at Greenside Church on Royal Terrace. It was so, so good and just to carry on the party a little longer the band would do a few more numbers at the end for everyone to get and dance to, the likes of Suffragette City and The Jean Genie. Utterly awesome! There have been other productions of it on the Fringe since but I”ve not seen them, not sure they could measure up to the one I saw. Mind, I would have loved a chance to have seen Neil Patrick Harris or Michael C Hall when they played Hedwig, oh my!

Hedwig and the Angry Inch – funny, uplifting, wickedly delicious, heartbreaking, a revelation. A great film for the end of a year ❤

Please, it’s the last night, don’t be s**t

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Like watching a fish flopping around, slowly dying out of the water on a boat’s deck, the last vestiges of the Edinburgh Fringe are a sad, pathetic sight; especially this year, what little there’s been is being dismantled and packed up in double quick time! It’s not even officially over yet! The Scottish Comedy Festival @ The Beehive Inn and Laughing Horse @ The Free Sisters seem to be almost the last ones going. I’m going to wander along for Darius Davies:Don’t Be Shit at nine o’clock, if it’s already full, well, so be it. I haven’t been to any shows at the Free (three) Sisters, its not a place I’m keen on to be honest.

After the double delight of shows by Tim Fitzhigham and Rob Kemp yesterday, it may be wise to end my Fringe on those peaks, but I’m going to take a gamble on one more show. An unknown to me, so I checked out a couple of reviews and they seemed sound. Why do I need to Fringe to the bitter end? Why? I think the Fringe committee or whoever’s in charge should look at making the Sunday the final day so that more shows will be ending on it, and maybe some of the early Friday closures would then add on a day or two.

Last night’s show Rob Kemp: The Elvis Dead was a brilliant show to end a Fringe on, and actually, thinking about it, it did go on past midnight so technically I have seen a show on the last day of the Fringe. Oh, he’s good, the show is wickedly funny and creative; basically it’s Evil Dead 2 with the story told through the medium of rewritten Elvis songs, sung as Bruce Campbell doing Elvis; yes, Rob Kemp does look quite like Bruce Campbell (I reckon there’s a likeness to Cillian Murphy too) and has a great voice. A screen at the side of the stage shows parts of the film, a great idea that works in well, especially while Rob turns away to spray more blood on himself!

There’s so many Elvis tunes used that it’s hard to remember them all but probably my favourites are Are You Lonesome Tonight and Suspicious Minds; all the songs are very clever and funny and delivered perfectly. I especially remembered Are you Lonesome Tonight from the first time I saw The Elvis Dead, it’s at the point of the film after the mirror bit when Ash is freaking out and everything in the cabin is laughing, the song becomes Are You Losing Your Mind, pure genius.

So when did I see it previously? Ah, the first preview night of 2018 in the Pleasance Above. He’d won a number of awards for it the previous year, no doubt why the Pleasance snatched him away from the Monkey Barrel. Looking back at my blog post about it, oo, spooky, it’s called A Work In Progress (see the title and topic of my last blog post). I barely mentioned anything other than I’d seen the show and it came second place that evening to Russell Howard; I had intended to say more when I had time, I put “more on this show later”. Okay, so it’s three years and twenty seven days later but hey, better late than never!

Toodle pip!

Let’s talk about Bill

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Last post I mentioned Bill Bailey and the place he holds in my Happy box, which got me remembering all the other great stuff I’ve seen him do. Really, he’s popped up more times than I would have guessed off the cuff. So here’s a potted history of me and Mr Bailey……..

Apparently he first came up to the Fringe in 1994 as part of a two man show, going solo the following year, then, third time lucky he was nominated for a Perrier 1996 (not so lucky that he won but hey). This was around the time I began to really embrace the Fringe, I didn’t see him perform but I was aware of him. Oh yeah, by 1999 Bud and I were fans, we were yelping with delight when he turned up in the tv comedy sitcom Spaced as the owner of a comic book store!

2000 saw Bill on the telly again as Manny Bianco in the totally and utterly brilliant Black Books. Not for everyone, mind, but my fancy was well tickled by it. Bill, Tamsin Greig and Dylan Moran were great together, usually stuck bickering in Bernard Black’s (Moran) bookshop (in three series very little took place outside of the shop and it’s living space behind). Mind you, I don’t think Dylan Moran was stretching himself much – from what I’ve heard from friends (have I ever mentioned our Fringe game, Meringue, and its origin?).

In 2002 Bill became one of the team captains of my favourite tv panel show at the time Never Mind the Buzzcocks battling against Phil Jupitus’ team, presided over by quiz master Mark Lamarr. Oh, that was great entertainment, if at times a tad cruel to some of the guest panellists. Lamarr actually became less caustic with his humour as time went on, his teddy boy solid as a board quiff soften too. Then Lamarr left and after a series with guest presenters youngster Simon Amstell took over the chair; it was like the humour of early NMTB again but meaner, Amstell obviously wanted to make his mark but his needling and determination to get a rise out of his victims just got annoying at times. In 2008 after a second series with the new chair and with eleven series under his belt, Bill took his leave of the show; I’ve read that Bill revised his attitudes to comedy around this time, “cruel” comedy was shown the door.

Meanwhile, when not filming series of NMTB, Bill was back at the Fringe. In 2003 he brought us not only his new show Part Troll but he also acted in Guy Masterson’s all-star cast production of 12 Angry Men. Bud and I saw and thoroughly enjoyed both (mind, that “all-star” thing seemed to mean stand-up comedians). To our delight two years later he trod the boards again in The Odd Couple with Alan Davies as the other half (another Guy Masterson production). That was, of course, the first time we saw Bill’s band, not listed in the Fringe programme just on the Gilded Balloon’s own.

Those are my stand out BB moments, since then he’s acted on the big and small screen (oo yeah, the Dr Who Christmas Special in 2011); there’s the guesting on panel shows and he’s presented various programmes on topics from baboons to orchestras; tours around the world, books, radio shows, and a load other stuff!! A man of many talents, indeed. Just last month he published a new book Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to Happiness, that’s so on my Christmas list! Oh, and last month he also joined this year’s Strictly Come Dancing!! Oh yay, another excuse to talk about Strictly. I suspect my UK readers knew that was coming 😊.

Toodle oo, chaps.

Happy?!

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In 2019 the loveliest man to grace a Fringe stage was back again with his new show Aidan Goatley: Happy Britain Part I, naturally I went along. Happy Britain? He told how he came up with an idea of going to the centre of every county in the UK and asking the first person he met, “What makes you happy?” Part I? Well, you know, life, best laid plans, et al, there was to be a Part II this year, and a book too! God only knows when that’s gonna happen now!! Mind you, his wife is a vicar so she could make enquiries!

The show was as good as expected – that being an engaging, charming, thoroughly entertaining hour that went by way too quickly for my liking. I could have happily sat another hour in that state of warm, fuzzy cheeriness (oh and the room did have good air conditioning – a bonus). The pic is from Mr Goatley’s bit in the Fringe programme. I think his attire may be a reference to Arthur Dent in HHGTTG, I seem to vaguely remember something, but I could have dreamt it.

Some time later I found myself musing on Aidan’s question, indeed, what made me happy, really happy? Where was my happy place? Could I answer that without resorting to flippancy? You see, though I always do my best to present myself as a jovial and happy-go-lucky chap, I am no stranger to melancholy; I knew I’d been slowly sinking into the doldrums for some time, my spark wasn’t very sparky anymore, more like an ember. Oh sure, Edinburgh in August (when there’s a Fringe on!) but what about the rest of it? I mulled over it for some time, if I could figure out the true honest answer could I use it as a compass to lead myself out of the doldrums on to firmer ground?

Actually, it’s the reason why I like the Fringe so much, it’s that blissed out fuzziness of witnessing a great feelgood show (usually accompanied by a goofy smile). It’s sitting listening to Aidan’s stories, it’s watching an hour of surreal sketches about three sperm, it’s the fun of watching a troup of actors allowing themselves to be dictated to by a roulette wheel of absurd scenarios.

And it’s being at a Logan’s Close gig, any time of the year. Oh yeah, there’s my Happy. No wonder this year’s been hard – I haven’t seen them since January! And on bands, one of my most memorable happy times was at the Fringe in 2005, late night in the Debating Hall at Teviot watching Bill Bailey’s band Beergut 100. The sheer exuberance of the band and the crowd was intoxicating, and when Kevin Eldon sang a seriously punked up The sun’ll come out tomorrow oh my heartses! The room was a big sweaty blob of happy!

As a young moose I used to daydream, as so many do, about being a great performer, acting or singing, both, I’d be amazing!! Once we get past the time of when our dreams were meant to somehow be happening (with no effort from ourselves), it’s woulda, coulda, shoulda. Then, one night, I don’t remember when, who or where, but I do remember having an epiphany, I was Audience – being a great audience is important, without an audience what is a show? I shouldn’t be looking up wishing I was the one on the stage, that’s not me; I’m the one giving my undivided attention, watching, listening, absorbing the atmosphere; I’m the one whooping and cheering and clapping, showing my appreciation to the performers.

Oo, that got a bit profound there! Thinking on it, I know it changed my perspective and my being. Would recognising my Happy bring on another change? Then 2020 came along and the whole world has been spun off kilter. Will Aidan ever get to do his Part Deux? Will hugging ever come back? There’s a great deal of Happy in hugging.

Bonne nuit, mes amis 💛

241 – Nice but no 42!

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The thunder storm just couldn’t hold back any longer! The rain hammered down, the thunder and lightening went on for hours. Don’t reckon I’ve ever seen such a thunder storm over Edinburgh before. On an average 241 Tuesday night there would be plenty of folk about, plenty having to stand in queues in the torrential rain waiting for their next show! They hope it’ll be worth it, well, at least it was a cheap ticket – some shows won’t even be worth it at half price! They’ll sit listening to the rapturous applause at the end thinking, Huh? What? with soaked-through footwear, a still soggy jacket, knowing they’re about to go back out and get even soggier, all for something that barely raised a chuckle.

Okay, so I painted a pretty crappy picture there, but such can be the luck of the Fringe. Take, for example, the first two 241 shows Bud and I went to see. Two by Jim Cartwright, hmmm, remember my cautionary tale about April in Paris? Well, this was like the second time I saw that, all vitriol and plain meanness (I do intend to see One again one year, hopefully as it’s meant to be done). Later that same Sunday we went to see Rich Hall and Mike Wilmot – Pretzel Logic, hmmm, this came across as a self-indulgent wheeze, dreamt up late night in a bar and written on the back of a cigarette packet. Sorry but that’s how we both felt walking out of the Assembly Rooms at one in the morning. How could the brilliant Rich Hall do that to us? Oh yes, he was the bee’s knees to us, sure the show had it’s moments, all his, but not many. We decided it must all be Mike Wilmot’s fault for leading our hero astray!

The Monday was way better with five great shows through the day, faith restored! Since that year 241 Monday was usually a day off work to see five acts, until the year Bud was leaving Edinburgh when we made it six – well, we had to shift up Shakespeare For Breakfast from it’s usual slot. Oo, that was the day we saw Thom Tuck perform Scaramouche Jones (epic), there was an Aussie sponge called Bruce (gritty antipodean epic), yay, Sleeping Trees: Western (possibly my favourite of all their shows), Tom Neenan: Andromeda Paradox was fine (but not one of his best), ending appropriately with Max & Ivan: The End.

Some wonder how one can see and actually take in five shows in one day, well, sometimes the show after lunch may not totally recalled (Tip, don’t have a big, heavy lunch or you WILL doze in the next warm dark room you enter!). Looking back at all the 241 shows that I saw between 2002 and 2015 there are only six that I have absolutely no recall of whatsoever (I’m surprised there’s not a flicker for Opening Night of the Living Dead at C Cubed in 2009, hmmm, nope). I’m quite pleased with that, after all, it’s not necessarily all my fault I don’t recall them!

There are seven shows I would love to be able to unsee, nevermind not being worth half price! Two, I mentioned above, another two God, Inc and The Story of Funk I have spoken of before. They are my Top Four worst 241 shows, fifth place goes to Carnival of Souls a multi-media arty thing performed in the Cameo cinema 1. It was so not our thing, Bud would have happily left early but I wanted to stick it out hoping to find something to like about it, I didn’t.

See, I feel good because I could easily spot the few I have not enjoyed, the vast majority have been good to bloody excellent. There’s so much variety I would be hard pressed to shortlist my favourites. It would take a lot of thought and right now the sun is beckoning me out. Indeed, it’s a beautiful day oot there.

Where’s my sunglasses?

Toodle oo.

 

241 anyone?

bruceonthefringe 2020, 241 shows, Coming out of Lockdown, Edinburgh Fringe, Fringe history, Two for One shows, Uncategorized Tags: , , Leave a comment

Wow, it’s muggy out there today! We were promised thundery showers all through today, but now today’s here they’re not gonna happen ’til the early hours tomorrow. It’s so muggy that Arthur’s Seat has vanished in the haze, or someone nicked it….

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Today would be Two For One (hence forth 241) Tuesday if it wasn’t 2020. Yesterday should have been 241 Monday, not that I have bothered about it much since Bud left town. Oh boy, we were happy bunnies when they introduced 241 days; three days of previews (well, evenings), a rest or maybe a trip to Tarquair Fair on the Saturday, then back into the fray!

Ah yes, originally when the 241 days were introduced they were the first Sunday and Monday of the Fringe, that was in 2002. It wasn’t until 2010 that someone realised that there would actually be plenty of bums on seats on the Sunday without inducement, Tuesday on the other hand – so the day was switched. I know these dates because last night I had a scout back over my Fringe bits and pieces, well, it started off with “I should do something about the 241 days”…. a few hours later I realised it was almost time for Buffy, no time left to blog (and last night’s episodes were particularly fine, especially Hush). So many memories, a few winces and a couple of “that means absolutely nothing to me”.

Oo, the heavens have now opened, and there goes a good low rumble of thunder. We may not have a Fringe this year but we still have monsoon showers, er, yay?! There was a brief but dramatic downpour yesterday evening as I strolled round town past many Not Fringe Venues, it started at six just as I approached Teviot Square. This year it’s a bunch of skateboarders getting soaked; there’s quite a community of them gather in the Square most days, quite happy at the Fringelessness of it.

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You know what? I’m feeling rather peckish . I’m going to have some tea …….

To be continued.