I have completed my Edinburgh Fringe run of 2024, which is also the first run up here in five years. As with most things in Edinburgh when it comes to time, it sometimes feels like I’ve never been away. But at other times, it feels like I’ve been gone for decades – or have slipped into that alternate Sliders universe that is now London, where the places are similar but different and almost everyone you knew has either gone or has changed in some way.
I am rambling, so will get back on track. My final show was sold out and was a good fun way to end my run. I managed to haul my body through the lurgy and deliver a respectable performance, without any pre-show nausea or extra poos required.
I can also confirm that I have just passed the threshold to receive official sold-out status for my show after selling 95% of my tickets across the entire run. This marks the first time I have achieved this accolade and qualified for the official laurels JPEGs since 2018. My run in 2019 only achieved a mere 91% in ticket sales, which ridiculously felt like a failure at the time after bucking the trend of the three consecutive years before that.
There is no question that this is harder, especially as my shows are in New Town and the majority of the Fringe is based some distance away. But I like it that way, even if the price is lower footfall.
Things didn’t go all my way this August – where would be the fun in that? My Glasgow show ended up being cancelled a couple of weeks before after I had sold no tickets at all. This underlines the fact that my show isn’t a bullet-proof ticket-selling machine, as my previews in Tunbridge Wells and Watford can attest.
I am getting the train back to London and reality in about five hours. I will write a more detailed assessment of my August and future plans when I have had a chance to rest and process the last month.