For Your Consideration.


As I hid from the Edinburgh rain in my digs tonight with just two shows left to go, I found myself pondering whether it's all been worth it.

I mean this pragmatically. I’m not likely to lose sleep over it as I know the way it goes, but it’s at this stage that I can’t help but wonder whether putting so much energy and focus into the Fringe ever pays off. It’s genuinely been my priority all year - as it was in many ways in the two or three years that proceeded it, and to a lesser extent the years that passed since Doggett & Ephgrave were up here too - and yet, unless you have a top production team actively promoting you, it doesn’t matter how much good work you do, you’re still likely to sink without a trace.

One thing’s for certain, I tried something very different to my previous output this year and tackled some difficult subjects along the way, and I’d like to think I came out with a more rounded show than the other three as a result. Strangely, this made for a much more relaxed low-key performance than usual, which also felt right. I think the songs were key as they softened the edges, while also giving the material more depth.

Having said that, it was definitely my most difficult show to date to write, though this was largely due to my state of mind; that and having to come up with something new for the fourth year running when I wasn't firing on all cylinders.

The sticking point is that from a business point of view, it doesn’t matter how good your show is, if the right people don’t come to see it (and the right people only come to see it if you have an agent or production company fighting your corner) you may as well be somewhere else. Even my punter numbers were down this year, though I always knew I’d be slightly scuppered by the bad time slot, though this was the best I could get in any venue of note.

I’ve already written about how press attention is too taken up with the shows already likely to sell out from acts more likely to drive clickbait. Every day I walk past posters covered in star-rating review slips, and yet I only had a single review, which completely missed the point while also stating things as fact that were incorrect or I just didn’t do.

At least I had my inclusion in a couple of best jokes lists, which was encouraging, though I would have also loved a nice four-star rating too, even though I know it’s ultimately all arbitrary. Thank God it’s all nearly over. The question is whether next year I'm likely to come back.


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