Tonight saw the final performance of last year’s Edinburgh show in London,
or at all, outside of my date at the Leicester Comedy Festival in February.
The venue was the
Etcetera Theatre, which is one of my favourites to work in, both for what it feels like to play and for its tech set-up. It’s a home from home really, as
I’ve been there so many times on my own and with Glyn that I know
just what to expect, which is helpful when your get-in is likely to be a little
rushed. There’s a projector and screen rigged too, which is great as that’s two
less things to take, plus they’re both good quality, which is something of a
rarity in Fringe venues; two spaces instantly spring to mind with projectors
with lamps so old they barely reach the wall they’re meant to hit. The Etcetera
screen’s also huge, which makes my stuff work so much better.
Another thing the
Etcetera is great for is its support. They constantly retweet and promote your
show and are very helpful on and around the day. It was heartening to arrive to
find the posters I’d ordered were displayed as planned, it was fairly obvious I was at the right venue.
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| Never heard of him. |
The downside to
doing sporadic date here and there is it makes you feel rusty. This,
combined with a slightly frenetic half an hour before the show, made for a
slightly stressed me; so much so, I purposely went up ten minutes late, to
allow time to wolf down a salad (do wolves eat salad?) and quickly
reset my addled brain.
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| View from the lighting box (30.01.17) |
The show went
well despite the rush. The audience were nice and fairly vocal; particularly two women who arrived a little late, who were a godsend, in that they were
chatty in a good way and gave me plenty to work with. One kept
responding to my jokes with punchlines of her own, which made me suggest we
form a double act. She told me she was coming up to Edinburgh this year and was going
to suggest it herself. Her friend asked if I’d give them free tickets if they
looked me up, to which I said resounding yes; if they happen to read this, my
offer still stands; see you there.
Now my last
London Mostly David Ephgrave show's done and dusted, I plan to get on with
piecing together newer material to be ahead for my first work in progress dates
in April; it would be nice to approach my Leicester Festival MDE gig knowing I have the skeleton makings of my next show in my bony, bony hand.