Edinburgh Fringe 2019: Day 2

My second show of the Fringe ended up being two people short of officially selling-out.

However, when the room is full, some poor sucker needs to be wedged into a corner next to the air-conditioner unit. So it is probably just as well for that person.

The show was a good one, most of the material landed; although it is currently my bit about the film Bohemian Rhapsody that is furthest from where it needs to be. I will try and rework it over the next couple of shows.

My main regret of the show was being a little too mean to a family sitting at the front who were suffering from the heat of the room. At the moment, the main issue with the show is ventilation in the room. Two shows in and that’s not a bad place to be, albeit a sweaty place.

It is the first Edinburgh Fringe run I have done of the show that doesn’t feature any references to giant squid. Previous years’ shows have also regularly featured The Darkness and the Smurfs, but I have now also weaned myself off these staples. As fond as I am of giant squid and The Darkness, it’s nice for shows to go well that don’t rely heavily on the old guard.

I will admit to being indifferent to the Smurfs. Things have changed from my obsession of 1996.

My biggest concern at the moment is sales of the late-night show. The room is more than double the size of my midday show capacity, yet total sales are on average half that of my earlier show. As I’ve never done late-night shows before, I don’t know if this is normal or if people are more likely to wait to buy a ticket until shortly before show time.

I’ve been out doing some flyering. I will do another stint tomorrow and am going to pay to use the team available to hand out more of them. That way, if audience numbers are low, I’ll at least know that it wasn’t though lack of trying.

Apparently, the Edinburgh Military Tattoo has also sold significantly fewer tickets than in previous years. It appears to be a trend throughout Edinburgh this August. I will do some digging when I get a chance. I’m sensing a story. Although we are only two days in and this could yet change, this year certainly feels different to others.

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