Skip to main content

Take Me Home, Country Railroads.


It’s almost worth doing the Fringe for the feeling you get as you travel away from it: ideally at speed.

At time of writing I’m on the train to Peterborough, where I’ll meet my connection to Hitchin and not a moment too soon (unless I'm early). That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the last month - although I’m not entirely sure ‘enjoy’ is the right word for it - but nevertheless, it will be a relief to be home; taking a show to Edinburgh’s always a grueling experience, so it’s best to give yourself a little distance from it (both literally and metaphorically) before you reflect over how it went for you, for good or for bad.

One thing’s for certain: I don’t ever want to do a show at midday again. My two previous solo Fringes were at the same time too, but this year, the downturn in numbers was painfully evident, which was such a shame when I think the show was my best, in the sense that it had a lot more depth.

On the plus side, I felt the people who did come were mostly on board with it and weren’t fazed by the more difficult subject matter about depression and the like. Irrespective of what my review in The List might say, there was no sense that this brought the mood down or that the songs jarred with the material; in the case of the songs I felt they brought things to life. The only times the reaction was more muted was on 2for1 days, when you could spot the people who hadn’t read the flyer and weren't prepared for the content.

The question now is what do I do next? I’d like to film the show while it’s fresh in my mind in front of a good audience so I can send it to a few industry people who didn’t see it on the Fringe (i.e. all of them). I think it’s a good showcase, particularly because the music, which is something I usually keep quiet about when doing comedy. It’s not that I intend to use it much in a stand-up setting (something The List also seemed to think, when the sad songs where only there because they made sense within the context of the show) but it’s still worth reminding people I can play, as long as I don’t end up in the background of another actor/muso show for a while, I should be okay; cut to me returning to Dreamboats & Petticoats next week.
Labels:

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...
Read more

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...
Read more

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...
Read more