Skip to main content

Good Day, Sunshine.


Today’s show was lovely, which was exactly what I needed after a day off.

I made the most of yesterday’s break by climbing Nelson’s Monument on Carlton Hill. It was perfect weather for it, with plenty of people lazing around on the hilltop, making the most of the sun. The view from the top of the Monument is impressive; Princes Street is strikingly straight, and the castle looks strangely small, considering how imposing it looks from the ground.

Princes Street from the top of the Monument.


It’s not the first time I’ve been on Carlton Hill. The last time I was there was when I went on a short break to Edinburgh with my now-wife a decade ago (in the sense that we weren’t married then; I’m planning to have another one). Somewhere amongst my collection are a handful of pictures we took that day, including one of our faces reflected in the brass plaque at the bottom of the Monument, which I tried to recreate yesterday, but couldn’t line it up right; perhaps my head’s grown too big. The writing on the wall inside the monument summed up the stage of the Fringe I'm at perfectly:




After climbing the Monument, I settled down on the hill, facing the Forth, and gave my dad a quick ring for a catch-up. He asked me if I was up Arthur’s Seat, which I wasn’t – though that could be a mission for another day.

Arthur's Seat from the top of Nelson's Monument.



In the evening, I went to see Prestwick Elvis; a play about the occasion when the King landed at Glasgow Prestwick airport briefly to change flights; the only time he stepped on UK soil. I really enjoyed it. It was well-acted by a very watchable ensemble of six,. I’d recommend checking it out, particularly if you need a break from all the stand-up, which I certainly did.

But back to today. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel after a day off, particularly when I hadn’t enjoyed my last show before it, and then watched my wife catch the train back to Hitchin afterwards, wishing I was with her. While I miss home, my morale-lowering was only brief. Today's a case in point: I could have been stung by a bad Twitter review I spotted this morning (from a person who walked in late and missed the first ten minutes), but I wasn’t. This newly-formed positivity rising from the ashes of near-defeat was bolstered by a lovely audience, who laughed throughout. It reminded me I should keep faith. Every comic gets knocked; I just sometimes feel I get more than most.
Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

Not The Bayeux One.

The Carole King album Tapestry has been my 'getting-ready-in-the-morning' soundtrack for the past few weeks.  It's been a favourite album ever since I was a student, which makes for a pleasantly gentle way to usher in the start of a day. I've always been a fan of a well-crafted song, which is something of a Carole King hallmark, ever since she started writing with her first husband in the early Sixties. Tapestry may be an unimaginative choice for a favourite LP, as it suggests I haven't delved that far into her career, but it's still an undoubted classic; anything with '(You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman', 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?' and 'You've Got A Friend' on it can't really fail; if nothing else, it proves she likes writing songs with long titles.  Next month, she's set to perform the album live in its entirety for the first time at a gig in Hyde Park, which I would have loved to have gone to, if it weren...
Read more

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

Hitchin is Mine.

As of six o’clock tonight, I take over the Hitchin is Yours Twitter account for a week; a stewardship I’m anxious to get right. I’m proud of my hometown. It’s a great place to live, with so much going for it. I've always sold it to my non-Hitchinite friends; so much so, that a lot have gone on to move here. Any town expansion plans are partly my fault. Feel free to picket outside my house. I love its history and architecture. Take St Mary’s Church, for example. The building is beautiful inside and out, and huge for a town of our size. There has been a place of worship on site since the 7 th Century. Much of the present building dates from the 1300s. You wouldn't get that in America. (Don't forget the British Schools Museum too.)  Hitchin is a hive for creative people and a hub for the arts. It boast two theatres, two comedy clubs, a couple of art galleries, a festival for world music and a thriving music scene. This drew...
Read more