Oops! Hello, I kinda dropped out there. It’s been a whole week since the Fringe fizzled out for another year and even longer since I last tapped out any musings (oh, I’ve mused plenty but failed miserably to get anything done, bad moose). Ha, even just now I manage to distract myself thinking, I’m sure it didn’t used to fizzle out so pathetically, I should look back through all my Fringe planner calendars and see if there’s anything obvious …. much time later, maybe I should get back to writing about the end of this Fringe?! (the fizzle factor can wait for another time)

Ah yes, last thing it was Friday night, start of the final weekend and I was going to see Bad Santa and the Angry Elves and then the Moanin’ Bones; such a fine evening, but so glad I remembered my earplugs, Bannermans is LOUD, kinda to the detriment of the music for me, but that’s the way they like it in there. The second time I saw the show there’d be a few changes, this time the band was purely rocking out sans storyline (hmm, did I mention that I’d seen the show again? well, I did), oh boy, was that fun! Certainly hope they make it back again sometime. Whistlebinkies wasn’t mentally busy, the Bones were great as per usual, but I headed home before the final set, left the loons to it (it was a full moon to be fair).

From having a number of magic shows in my pile of possibilities I only saw one, picked as I’ve never seen him before though he’s been playing the Fringe for years, Charlie Caper, obviously very popular as he’s in the Liquid Room Warehouse (it’s BIG); mind, that really doesn’t equate to whether I’ll enjoy an act. Reader, I loved it, I liked the vibe from him and he’s so good you can’t help but wonder if it really is magic!

I also hadn’t seen much in the way of absurd theatre, or anything at theSpace@Surgeons Hall (which is unusual for me) both remedied with Don’t Flush Me Yet. Gent goes to the toilet (an enormous one onstage) and poos a large sentient poo. Why? How? Who’s that chasing after the man and his poo? A silly, surreal, madcap, absurd caper, I thoroughly enjoyed it, though probably not for everyone.

One show that appeared on the Half Price Hut list most days was Louise: The Last Dance, I started looking out for it, oh, go on then. Wow, what a fascinating show! A one woman show telling the life story of Louise Weber, more famously known as La Goulue the original cancan girl at the Moulin Rouge (and a muse to Lautrec and Renoir), she led a full life from rags to riches and back again. A great asset to the show was the screening throughout of portraits and photographs of her and the area she lived and worked in; and to cap it all, there’s old film footage from 1928 when, at 62 and destitute living in an old caravan in Montmartre, she danced for a documentary filmmaker. A story worth telling and well told; I do quite like shows on interesting historical characters (you may have noticed).

I have mentioned in the past that compilation comedy shows are not always all they make themselves out to be (especially those with titles beginning “Best of …”). I’m a tad wary these days, but I’ll always get to Stand-up Science at some point, it’s fine, there’s Matt Hobs hosting, Alex Farrow as permanent guest and one more science-nerdy type stand-up, yup, guaranteed laughs and the occasional interesting fact. Did I mention seeing Stand-up Philosophy earlier? Well, I did. The lovely Mr Farrow hosts, two other stand-ups, and some philosophy in the mix.

On the last Sunday night I didn’t stay up late enough for the ACMS Awards but earlier in the evening I did attend The Spookies: Horror Awards, it was mentioned in the Wee Blue Book (PBH’s Free Fringe programme, a must). I’d not heard of it before, ah, just in it’s third year, awards to recognise and support horror theatre, and why not? As a niche, it can get lost in the hugeness of Fringe, I’ll admit I didn’t know most of the nominees but had great fun cheering on those who attended in the hope of winning.

As I said, not a late late night for me, just late enough to end the weekend with a right couple of clowns, that would be the very talented, sublimely funny Dan Lees and Tom Curzon: The Sonic Joy Orchestra. Anything can happen and probably will with these two, but it will be ridiculously, wonderfully silly (honestly, you’d have to have a heart of granite not to warm to the pure joy and playfulness here). A fitting finale for my Free Fringe this year, it really doesn’t get fringier than than this pair.

What could possibly follow that on Monday?! Let’s see, the last day of August, hmm, august, a Thom Tuck double bill! How To Fringe: a chat show with Thom Tuck (for a second time), then a quick snack on the way to Hoots’ other Yurt at the Potterow Underpass for Heartwarming Animal Content (WIP). A most convivial way to finish a Fringe, and so interesting to hear anecdotes about past Fringes that I would never have otherwise heard (fifty pence pieces from a door bucket lined up on a pool table so that folk could play for free, yes! a true gent); and hey, I’ve been fringing for so long I could place each reminiscence within my own fringeframe.

And time to finish this post, methinks, it’s very late and a mouse just ran past me, nope, not caring right now. I’ll think of a title with a fresh head in the morning.

Toodle pip!