To not to Fringe

The Edinburgh Fringe early bird deadline has passed and I have not put in a show application or even made any provisional enquiries. For those not in the know, the early bird deadline means you can get your listing in the main Fringe brochure for a discounted rate. But even that still costs about £300.

I’ve been looking at some of the shows that are on sale on the EdFringe site, mainly my venues of Fringes past out of curiosity. Even looking at the website evokes feelings of terror that were an annual occurrence during the entire 2010s decade.

But it is fair to say that Edinburgh Fringe is what kept me doing comedy for as long as I have. Particularly after I moved to Manchester, I would be ready to quit out of the frustration caused by not doing enough gigs, or not doing well enough at the gigs I was doing. I could be on a poor run of gigs when living in London, but the efforts to get to and from gigs were significantly less and I never had to worry about keeping my eyes open on the trip home afterwards. I also wouldn’t have to worry about what time I got back and if I would get enough sleep to function effectively at work the next day. The tube took away a lot of stress from gigging, even if it did have its downsides.

Anyway, in my hour of need, August would roll around and remind me of exactly why I did comedy. This is largely due to the intense daily release of endorphins and dopamine caused by performing. And if I did have a bad gig, then I just get back up the next day and aim to do better. And it almost always was.

So, the odds are now that I won’t be up performing there in August this year. I am refusing to formally use the phrase “never say never”, which is flawed as it includes two mentions of the word you’re saying you won’t say. I may yet receive an offer that is hard to refuse, but I probably won’t. I am not expecting one to come through. And that’s fine. I was toying with going up for a week to try out some new material, but I would then need to do gigs to prepare for that.

I actually do have a comedy gig booked in a few weeks. So far, it is the only one I have booked for the year. I don’t have any urge to leap back into it, although if my gig goes well then those endorphins and dopamine may cause a rethink.

I probably won’t get back into gigging regularly until I’m back in London and a September move remains on the cards. Although don’t ever say a word that sounds like ever but starts with an N.

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