I am now properly back at Edinburgh Fringe after five long years away. An astonishing amount has changed in the half a decade since I last wandered these streets in a constant state of fatigue. But it’s also still so familiar.
In my last entry, I wrote how excited I was about getting the sleeper train to Edinburgh for the first time and having my own cabin.
After having experienced it, I would dispute the name – as I didn’t get much sleep at all. The beds were cramped, as well as constantly vibrating and tilting throughout the night. That said, I would consider using it again, as the trip to get the train was the least stressful experience I’ve ever had of getting to Edinburgh. You have more than an hour available to board the train before departure, which is a big improvement on the stress-fuelled nightmares of trips to the station to get on trains in the Fringes of the past.
I left the train bleary-eyed around 7.30am, ideally prepared for an exhausting month ahead by a lack of sleep. I bumped into a couple of acts I’ve known for years, and we agreed that if you’re not feeling constantly tired here, it doesn’t feel right. Autopilot is the default setting. I had a whole day to settle in, which made a big difference compared with the few hours I normally have.
Yesterday, I did my first show of the run. A couple of months ago, The Stand contacted me to say that a law firm wanted to do a group booking to see my show. There would be 21 of them, making up almost half of my audience. I agreed to it, as I thought it would be a nice reversal to take money from lawyers for a change. What could possibly go wrong?
They were a lively bunch, but all good fun. The material mostly all worked and the order is in a much better state now than it was a month ago. I’ve also figured everything out a bit better.
Today, there will be more of the same. It is only the second day of my Fringe and already, many dates are close to selling out and I am in discussions for extra shows due to the volume of people wanting to see my show. It’s not a bad position to be in at all.