It’s oot!

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It’s out and I’ve just finished my first trawl through the Edinburgh Fringe Programme. Immediate thoughts – it’s looking quite good, I’ve already earmarked about 60-70 possibilities, this will be whittled down later and more will be added with each trawling. A few definite must-sees for me are Goodbear, Sleeping Trees, Aidan Goatley, the wonderful Thom Tuck and Shakespeare for Breakfast. Oh, and after a year off, I’m delighted to see that once again This Arthur’s Seat Belongs to Lionel Ritchie at 2pm on Saturday 19th August. Well worth walking up the hill for, and the show will go on in almost any weather!

One omission from this year’s programme are the Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre, regulars at the Fringe for the last ten years or so. I’ll miss those little chaps, think Abbott and Costello as socks and a tad ruder! They have plenty of stuff on YouTube worth a look, including a duet with Dean Friedman of his classic Lucky Stars (if you’re old enough to remember it from 1978 check it out).

Ah such is the Fringe, shows come and shows go.

 

One sleep to go

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Where has the time gone already? Tomorrow the full Edinburgh Fringe Programme for 2017 is released. Ooo, I’m looking forward to hours of trawling through it, really it is fun.

I’ve just been going through the Edinburgh Film Festival programme but not a lot is leaping out at me so far. As I save all my spare pennies for the Fringe I don’t have a lot to spend on the Film Festival, and if you think cinema is pricey generally, Film Festival prices are higher still, though the difference is not as much as it was a few years ago. I do like going to the cinema and have an unlimited card for a nearby multiplex, so any film that will get a general release later is not worth paying to see (with some noteable exceptions like Hunt for the Wilder People and Serenity). Then there are the films that will obviously make it back to the local arthouse cinemas, also usually discarded.

The one film that I do intend to go see so far, is in one of the retrospective selections, Repo Man from 1984 directed by Alex Cox, haven’t seen it in the cinema but had it for years on video recorded from moviedrome on BBC2 with an intro from Cox himself. Man, that is one odd film, but like anything with the great Harry Dean Stanton in it, well worth watching.

I ❤ Manchester

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Just thought I should say a few words about the terrible atrocity earlier this week. My heart goes out to all the people affected by this, all those for whom this was their first concert, all the parents who will now worry even more. So many will be hit by the emotional shrapnel of this bomb.

Manchester is a great city, full of lovely friendly people, who will not be cowed by this and, as has been seen in the press, will rally round with that defiant, bolshy northern spirit that will always prevail. Adam Hills was spot on, as usual, on The Last Leg, maybe as an Aussie he can view how the British react with a slight distance.

When something like this happens I wonder how many will subconsciously become wary of crowded areas, how many may always be wary of attending events? Edinburgh in August will be packed with peoples of many nations and religions celebrating the arts in all forms. I hope people will feel able to come and enjoy themselves, though we may all have a slight wariness. After all, if a pop concert full of young people is not offlimits, then ??? I shudder to think.

I ❤ Manchester,  I ❤ life.

Veni, vidi, venues

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Fringe venues – there are rather a lot but not as many as at first glance! If you’d look at the map of last year’s venues they were numbered up to 464, but hang on some numbers are missing!?

So I pondered on the missing numbers and dug out my old Fringe progs. Ah, my very first Fringe in 1985, there were venues numbered 1-148 with just 123, 124 and 125 not there, so 145 venues in total. After a few years away, my next Fringe was 1990. In those five years nine more venues had appeared, but now eighteen were gone. By 2000 there were venues numbered up to 198, but by now thirty one had fallen by the wayside. But then I noticed some numbers were later being reused for other venues. I take it that a venue keeps it’s designated number, which it holds on to even if for a year or two it isn’t used, but if a venue is definitely gone, turned into student flats, demolished, made into a carpark, then the number will be reused, which means even more venues have come and gone.

By 2010, the number was up to 389 with almost a third unused, probably at least a few hit by Health & Safety problems (which sadly means some of the quirkier more eccentric, rickety venues disappearing) and many of the new venues form part of the ever more popular Free Fringe, often in pubs. As I mentioned at the start, last year saw number 464, but again, almost a third are unused.

So are some venues better than others, luckier than others, or just plain crap? Well, tune in again and join me for a moose eye tour of the best and worst Fringe venues.

Why, oh why?

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Why ever did I start this nonsense? The WordPress University course said, check out other blogs, see what you like, be inspired! Or see them and run back into your cave, defeated by fear of looking ridiculous and amateurish in comparison with all the wonderful blogs on display.

Even as I just wrote that, I had a realisation, hang on, what about all those small shows that make up the Fringe? All the inexperienced, the first-timers, the folk who put every last penny into their show knowing they’ll leave Edinburgh totally broke, the little show in an out-of-the-way venue competing for audiences with thousands of other shows, do they give up and run away? No! They come to Edinburgh and perform their hearts out, they give it all they’ve got, faint heart never won rapturous applause!

So I shall prevail. Moose, like some bears, may have very little brains, but I shall rise to the challenge and blog on!

 

Rules are made to be broken

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Last post I mentioned that I wait for the full Fringe programme to come out before taking a peek through, but last year I had to check out Susan Calman’s show (yes, had to). Well I’m tempted again thanks to my Saturday paper, which has a “best 40 shows to book in Edinburgh” feature. After a few years of doing his thang in the wilds of the Free Fringe (very successfully with no advertising other than the Fringe programme and in an obscure, tricky to find venue), Brendon Burns is back in a pay-to-enter venue, and he’s bringing his chum Craig Quatermaine with him.

This, for me, will be a great show, I say for me as Brendon is definitely not for everyone. For those unfamiliar with him, think of Adam Hills, well Burnsy is the antithesis of him. He’s uncouth, fairly unkempt and not for those of delicate dispositions. Love him! Though it wasn’t quite love at first sight, that first time was a preview show around 17 years ago at what is now the Roxy. My, I thought I was prepared for anything, not quite anything. I’ve always smirked at the word tramlines ever since.

And Craig Quartermaine? Great bloke, an indigenous Aussie, journalist turned comedian I think. Last year he turned up to be part of Brendon’s show and found himself with a Free Fringe show slot of his own. His quickly put together flyer was a pic of his face when he first heard there was a slot he could take due to a cancellation, he was a very happy man, big cheesy grin.

So, do I book a preview ticket early or wait? Nah, it’s fine, the fringe gods won’t let me miss out on this beaut.

 

 

Twenty eight days to go!

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That is, twenty eight days til the Fringe programme comes through the letterbox. Yes I know plenty of tickets are already on sale, but I like to do it the old way. I liked it when the programme came out then you had two weeks to work through it before the tickets went on sale. Mind, at least there isn’t the almighty queue on the first day of sales anymore, don’t miss that.

I did sneak a quick early look last year, it was for a good cause – to check where the ever delightful Susan Calman was performing and more importantly, was she doing any cheap previews?

So will she be back this year? Will Nicholas Parsons return for a few more minutes? Will Marcus Brigstock do a topical daytime show? Will Pip Utton be back as Maggie or Adolf?  I don’t know, but I will come 7th June.

Who are you?

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Day four suggests I identity my audience. Moose lovers! Edinburgh fringe-goers past, present and future, be you a fringer or fringee (though I’m not sure which are the performers and which the audience). If you like quirky, dark, slightly surreal, humorous, then I’m your moose. If you want gritty, social commentary, worthiness, sorry, but the Fringe is my escape from all that. I have been known to dip my toe in occasionally, like Henry Naylor’s last three works, all three were riveting and discomforting and I’m glad I went off piste for them.

As the time draws nearer I shall offer advice on how to sift your way through the programme and find those nuggets of gold. And maybe I might figure out how to show you some of my old fringe pics! Ho hum.

 

Please do not read this rubbish

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Back in 1997 I went to an Edinburgh Fringe show called Marvin Hanglider -The Power of Negative Advertising. The blurb in the programme warned people not to see the show, not to waste their money on a ticket, it was rubbish. Needless to say he did pretty well, thanks to the contrariness of Fringe-goers.

I furnish you with this fact just to practice my blogging, indeed, you’ll hopefully get to see a photo of yours truly if I can follow the instructions right. A wee pic of me in a favourite spot, Dr Neil’s Garden by the side of Duddingston Loch. A peaceful bolthole about a half hour walk from the Pleasance Courtyard.

Ok, so no picture yet, apparently I have no media, but there is a photo there, honest, I just saved it like forty minutes ago when I started this post. Ho hum. It will be a pleasure for another time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First blog post

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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!

Bruce

 

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