Fringe Family.

I saw my parents off this afternoon, as they caught the train back to Hertfordshire, following a whistle-stop tour to Edinburgh that lasted a little shy of twenty-six hours.

Thankfully, both the weather and the show they came to were good; I would have hated for them to have come all this way for either to be disappointing. We met for dinner last night on Grassmarket, which we ate outdoors on the square; something we could never have done the last time they visited, the year when Glyn and I were just doing Mostly Comedy, when it rained as it’s wont to do. Yesterday, you could have been fooled for thinking we were in Spain or Italy. 

This morning’s show was a good one for me, despite the small audience, of which a large percentage were my parents. I had an industry person in, and was concerned at one point that it would end up being just my mum, my dad and him. This would have made him piggy-in-the-middle to a very strange family arrangement, where one of the three relatives has a mic. Thankfully, a few other people turned up to stop this from being the case.

While my show was fun, it wasn’t until I did a guest spot tonight at ‘The Cult of Comedy Presents…’ that I was reminded of how much more vocal an audience can be when there are more than just a handful, who are relaxed and comfortable in an air-conditioned room. Before the gig, I’d been feeling a little down, but the loveliness of the crowd cheered me up. I’m back there next week, so that’s something to look forward to – and while I wouldn’t say this positive feeling will last for long, it’s good when it comes. Doing the Fringe is an emotional rollercoaster; of that there’s no doubt.