Too Close For Comfort.


Not only is there only one Jasper Carrot; there's also only one more show to go.

Today’s show was quite a fun one, although as I write this, I’m struggling to remember which gig it was, through overtiredness. I know there weren’t any incidents and I seem to remember laughter, but as for the detail, it’s temporarily slipped my mind; that’s what happens when you do twenty-four-plus shows in a row with only one day off.

When Dan - the act who follows me in the space – came into the room after my show, he looked genuinely jealous of me for having just one left, while I no doubt looked at my techie Fraser with a similar expression when he did his last show this evening, which I tech for him. Each and everyone of us up here are shells of the people we were when we started the month, and all of us could do with a break. That’s not to say that this year’s Fringe wasn't a rewarding and enjoyable experience – I’ve had a great time – but even the best things can feel like the worst when you’re exhausted and in the wrong mindset.

I’m not sure how I’ll feel once the run is over and done with and I’m back home. I keep equating my current emotional state to Stockholm Syndrome: while it’s been a rollercoaster of a month, I’ve forgotten what life was like before it. Will I still be able to function in normal society without feeling the need to stand at one end of a dungeon every day at midday, performing to a handful of people who may or may not be entertained by what I’m saying. I’m of course being over-dramatic; my venue isn’t really a dungeon.

Now, it’s time for me to go to bed as I need my beauty sleep. Should you be Edinburgh-way tomorrow lunchtime, drop into Just the Tonic at the Caves to catch me do my last gig of the run. I may douse myself in petrol and set myself alight as a finale; I do like to go out with a bang.

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