Skip to main content

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.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...

Comedy That's Worth a Letch.

Today, I nipped to Letchworth to meet with illustrator (and one-time - two-time - comedy poet) Mushybees, to discuss an event Mostly Comedy will act as surrogate parents to as part of Letchworth’s Arts Takeover in a couple of weeks. Months ago he got into contact to see if we’d be up for co-organising a comedy stage as part of Letchworth’s weekend of arts-based attractions in July; something I’d provisionally said yes to, before things got hectic in the lead-up to Edinburgh and we didn’t take it any further. Despite not getting down to the nitty-gritty straight away, we managed to pull a line-up together in a back-and-forth of emails yesterday, leading to me getting Glyn’s blessing and us deciding we’d officially go ahead with it (whatever ‘officially’ means in this context). In reality, it’s not complicated: from 12pm until 6pm-ish on the 22 nd July, Glyn, Mushybees and I will host four Edinburgh previews from four acts (including me), before Nor...