My God, it’s been
an epic, yet satisfying week.
It’s Day Five of our first week-long Mostly Comedy Festival and it’s been so hectic - what with running the Festival and keeping
up-to-speed with my Edinburgh prep - it's pushed me horrendously behind with my blog posts; the God of
Social Media will be livid, if such a thing exists.
It’s fair to say
both halves of Doggett & Ephgrave are now running on empty, though the fatigue is a
sign of time well spent. The Festival's been a resounding success with three of the five nights sold out, and the other two were well-attended too. What’s particularly pleasing is how many punters have taken advantage
of our special Gold & Silver Ticket deals, with a handful of people attending every gig; that, ladies and
gentleman, is a festival defined - and let’s not forget last week’s gig at
Hitchin Town Hall with Harry Hill and Simon Munnery too; we’ve had a stream of exceptional line-ups.
We were
delighted with how the Market Theatre dates went. We were in the theatre itself
(rather than the Studio where the club used to based) which, as a 60-seater, is
perfect for previews. Yesterday, we moved back to the Sun for Tony Law’s first
visit to the club which was a metaphorical shot-in-the-arm of energy. Hattie
Hayridge was also on great form, despite having to deal with a group of extremely
drunk women at the front, who became more incoherent (and therefore irritating) as the show progressed.
 |
| Me during Wednesday's preview. |
Tonight’s the "big
one" with perhaps the best overall line-up we’ve presented on the same night in
ten years, spearheaded by Rory Bremner & Jan Ravens, with Bec Hill and Simon
Brodkin also set to do their stuff. Once tonight’s done though, we’re back to
square one for booking acts for the autumn; running a comedy club’s like painting the Forth Bridge. Actually, scrap that simile, as it only
underlines the Fringe's proximity.