For the past five minutes, I have been trying to work out what days this combined entry is meant to cover.
It doesn’t help that I write for the previous day and am pretty sure I’ve already messed it up. I think it should be days nine, ten and 11. Yeah, we’ll go with that.
This is an obvious sign that the Fringe has properly gotten to my mind. Time passes differently up here, it both goes very quickly but seems like to lasts for years. It’s similar to Narnia, just with fewer religious connotations.
With Megan’s scornful words fresh in my mind, I set about putting on the best show I could. I know this show is much better than she gave it credit for, my bucket takings are proof of this. People tend not to put very much money in for shows that aren’t very good. I should know, I’ve done plenty of these.
My faith/delusion was proved correct with a really lovely gig, with another full room and lots of nice comments afterwards. I made £78 in the bucket, so not a bad haul for a Monday. I’ve also had a really positive audience review added that is quite a contrast from Megan’s. Thanks to Ellis for this.
Wednesday marked the midway point for the Fringe. At the exact midway point last year, I had my worst show of the entire run. In 2014, there were 15 people in and the overwhelming theme was apathy. I made £8 in my bucket, with a few small packets of Refreshers someone had thrown in.
So it was quite a surprise yesterday when not only did I have a full to capacity room, but I also made my record bucket takings with £99. It was agonisingly close to the triple figure target I have set myself to achieve in at least one show before the end of the run, but I’ve still got time.
For both Mondays and Wednesdays gigs, I had some really vocal middle-aged people sitting at the front who wanted to get involved. I had a lot of fun and Wednesday’s sketch between two panto performers was both the weirdest and most enjoyable I have had so far.
This show does rest and fall on the audience I have in. If they want to get involved and give me something to riff off, then it tends to go amazingly. If they’re reluctant to engage, then things don’t go so well. And for the most part, I have been really lucky with my audiences. I’ve also covered my rent for my flat and am getting very close to being in the black for the first time ever at the Fringe. If the second half of my run goes as well as the first, then I will be delighted.
I am now officially on holiday from work, so can put more energy into my show. I am also going to make an effort to see as many shows as I can.