Saturdays are often the busiest and most intense days of the Fringe. The rooms are full, but they are not always the best gigs of the run.
And so it proved, I didn’t feel at the top of my game yesterday. The timing was a little off for my entrance, which had knock-on effects. There were also latecomers walking in just as I’d started. So, I had to do my own front-of-house admin and show them to their seats. This isn’t anything unusual in the history of this show, as I was dealing with everything on my own in those early days – and again, more recently at my previews.
I am very pleased to be back at The Place, which is my favourite venue I’ve performed in for full Fringe runs. Having fresh air and the terrace out the back rather than a stuffy meeting room backstage is a vast improvement Thankfully, the air-conditioning was working much better yesterday.
But while it’s the same room I performed at in 2016 and 2017, it is a totally different layout from when I last performed there. The stage used to be at the far end of the rectangle, furthest away from the door. But now, it’s at the middle edge of the rectangle, facing the door in a more cabaret-style seating. It’s a decent set-up, but the original arrangement of theatre-style seating will always be my preferred calibration. Where I know exactly how many teams are going to be in each row and the audience don’t have to walk past or over the stage if they are entering the room or need a toilet break.
The material wasn’t landing quite how I’d like yesterday. I’m going to look and see what I can add or change to make it better. The show was decent though and certainly picked up when the quiz started, as often happens. Let’s see how it goes today.
Tomorrow, I will attempt to balance working mornings and evenings in the day job with performing in the afternoons. I only have to do it for seven days – for the first week and a couple of days into the next. But it could be a tiring next week or so. In fact, it almost certainly will be.