Hello one and all, and welcome to my Edinburgh Festival blog.
I have decided to write an account of the daily happenings that occur at the festival this year because….well…..I just feel like it.
I am back writing for the Evening News this year and as a result I have been armed with a press badge. I am therefore aiming to take advantage of this pass and break my own personal record for the amount of shows I see. Last year it was 50. It’s going to take vast amounts of energy/caffeine/alcohol/out-of-body experiences to achieve this feat. Ideally, I want to see 60 shows to mark the 60th Edinburgh Festival. As well as beating personal records, I have come to Edinburgh hoping to see an eclectic mix of comedy, theatre and music. Eclectic is perhaps one of the best ways to describe the Fringe festival. I say this because, judging from my own past experiences, you could be watching an inspired performance of Japanese street theatre then, immediately after, you could be in the presence of a bloke dressed up as a nun, singing about suicide in a show entitled ‘The Singing Nun’. The festival has a tendency to be a bit like that whether you like it or not.
A quick flick through the 215 page fringe programme confirms that, once again, there will be no shortage of quality shows on offer, but the less said about ‘Lunch with the Hamiltons’ the better.
World renowned for its comedy scene, the fringe’s stand-up shows this year look as strong as ever. Heavy hitters such as Bill Bailey, Adam Hills, Stephen K Amos, Sarah Kendall, Perrier Award Winner Tim Minchin and Richard Herring will all be performing one hour shows. The excellent Simon Munnery will also be doing his usual stint at The Stand, where he has the great idea of carrying on his 1 hour show in the pub afterwards, with the audience all invited. Brilliant!
The fresh faced comedy talent this year comes in the form of Mark Kirshen, Ruth Pickett, The Dutch Elm Conservatoire, Mark Watson and the Sony Award nominated and, quite frankly, scary looking, Andrew Lawrence – his show is entitled ‘How To Butcher Your Loved Ones’ – no wonder he’s bloody scary looking. I am hoping to see them all at some point, plus countless of other shows.
Amidst the unpredictability of the Fringe a few certainties will always be present:
1) Batting away the over eager leaflet distributors on the Royal Mile with a rolled up newspaper
2) My bank account will read - £0.000.00 at the end of the festival
3) I’ll be propped up on my chair inside a dust-filled church-hall trying to figure out the plot of a student revue.
4) Asking for directions to one of the more obscure venues and getting a reply from someone with the thickest Scottish accent imaginable. As a result, I believe Venue 6,008 is in the vicinity of “Aye! Achmanooon! Cannatakeaturnatthelights if ye dinna nae hae in May. Ha Ha Ha”
5) Seeing a really poor show, and realising that all I’ve got to show for my written notes is the sentence: ‘God Help Me!’
With that in mind, I’m off to begin packing for the journey!
I have decided to write an account of the daily happenings that occur at the festival this year because….well…..I just feel like it.
I am back writing for the Evening News this year and as a result I have been armed with a press badge. I am therefore aiming to take advantage of this pass and break my own personal record for the amount of shows I see. Last year it was 50. It’s going to take vast amounts of energy/caffeine/alcohol/out-of-body experiences to achieve this feat. Ideally, I want to see 60 shows to mark the 60th Edinburgh Festival. As well as beating personal records, I have come to Edinburgh hoping to see an eclectic mix of comedy, theatre and music. Eclectic is perhaps one of the best ways to describe the Fringe festival. I say this because, judging from my own past experiences, you could be watching an inspired performance of Japanese street theatre then, immediately after, you could be in the presence of a bloke dressed up as a nun, singing about suicide in a show entitled ‘The Singing Nun’. The festival has a tendency to be a bit like that whether you like it or not.
A quick flick through the 215 page fringe programme confirms that, once again, there will be no shortage of quality shows on offer, but the less said about ‘Lunch with the Hamiltons’ the better.
World renowned for its comedy scene, the fringe’s stand-up shows this year look as strong as ever. Heavy hitters such as Bill Bailey, Adam Hills, Stephen K Amos, Sarah Kendall, Perrier Award Winner Tim Minchin and Richard Herring will all be performing one hour shows. The excellent Simon Munnery will also be doing his usual stint at The Stand, where he has the great idea of carrying on his 1 hour show in the pub afterwards, with the audience all invited. Brilliant!
The fresh faced comedy talent this year comes in the form of Mark Kirshen, Ruth Pickett, The Dutch Elm Conservatoire, Mark Watson and the Sony Award nominated and, quite frankly, scary looking, Andrew Lawrence – his show is entitled ‘How To Butcher Your Loved Ones’ – no wonder he’s bloody scary looking. I am hoping to see them all at some point, plus countless of other shows.
Amidst the unpredictability of the Fringe a few certainties will always be present:
1) Batting away the over eager leaflet distributors on the Royal Mile with a rolled up newspaper
2) My bank account will read - £0.000.00 at the end of the festival
3) I’ll be propped up on my chair inside a dust-filled church-hall trying to figure out the plot of a student revue.
4) Asking for directions to one of the more obscure venues and getting a reply from someone with the thickest Scottish accent imaginable. As a result, I believe Venue 6,008 is in the vicinity of “Aye! Achmanooon! Cannatakeaturnatthelights if ye dinna nae hae in May. Ha Ha Ha”
5) Seeing a really poor show, and realising that all I’ve got to show for my written notes is the sentence: ‘God Help Me!’
With that in mind, I’m off to begin packing for the journey!
posted by Sam Holtmon at 1:01 PM
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