The Edinburgh Fringe 2012 that was

Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year and I am now acclimatising to the real word.

In past experience, the end of the Fringe is always a bit of an anti-climax. I always want to go out and celebrate, but when the time comes I am exhausted and in need of sleep.

My final night in the Scottish capital consisted of helping someone worse off than me, in this case Paul Langton, drink beer and smoke for the night. We had a few drinks with the staff from the Kilderkin, during which I learned that I had gathered something of a cult following among the bar staff. Every night, they would hear me start my set by getting the audience to shout ‘D’, but had no idea why or what the joke was. They even had a picture of me from my flyer behind the bar, with a speech bubble saying: “Give me a ‘D’.”

At the staff party, I was asked to perform the joke impromptu, which I did and then it all became clear. I said they should have come and seen my show; and I will not reveal on here what the joke is, because to find that out you will also have to come and see me perform. The manager of the pub said it was his joke of the fringe, an accolade I will gladly accept.

Me and Langton then ventured on a tour of our old haunts, during which we had a Rocky-style race up the steep steps off Cowgate. Langton had a 4ft head-start, but I clawed it back and it was a photo-finish that I’m glad there were no photographers around to take a picture of. Why we did this I do not know.

I went to bed at 2am, successfully woke up a few hours later and made it on my 6.55am train back to London.

Overall, it was a much more enjoyable experience than last year and didn’t feel like I had been kicked in the face several times a day without the physical pain. We had a better venue, a better show, better audiences, better weather and I had a better diet. In short, it was better.

In the two previous years I have attended the Fringe, I have tried to do as many gigs as possible. This year, I only did one guest spot and I was poor at that. I had another one supposedly booked in, but it never materialised. In hindsight, booking hardly any guest spots was a good decision as I had to do at least two hours of flyering every night without fail in order to get an audience. Working remotely also limited the amount of time I could do additional gigs, but it has meant that I have received my monthly wage and I am not in any debt.

I enjoyed remaining off the radar and don’t think being in the main programme is that much of a bonus. Most of the people who came to see our show enjoyed it and had ventured down to the venue specifically to see it after speaking to us.

I was hoping to avoid getting a review, as at this stage in my comedy journey I see the festival not as a place to get noticed, but as a place to improve. But it turns out that I did get one after all:

“The Free Fringe hides the hidden gems… It is what Edinburgh Festival is all about and these people work very hard for very little. Paul & Alex’s show consists of shared stand up comedy tales of off key moments, relationships, wee and the odd wank. A right good giggle.”

Thank you, Susie.

I will return to the Fringe next year and have ideas for the show(s) already. One is another Love and Langton show, provisionally entitled ‘Rage’. The second is an idea for a possible solo show. Now, I am not going to pretend that I am anywhere near ready to do the full hour show. But I have an idea for a theme and between now and the end of the year, I will write as if I am preparing for an hour. Then, come January, I will see what I have created and assess whether or not it is actually any good.

In the meantime, I am going to be settling back into the real world and taking a week or so away from comedy as I recover from Edinburgh. When I am back performing, you shall read about it here.