Today’s audience
was tiny, relatively speaking, with just four in, but they were on board from
the beginning - thank God - so the low numbers didn’t matter.
Like I said
yesterday, the size of an audience doesn’t necessarily correlate with the
success of the gig, as some of the smallest crowds can be the most responsive, though this depends on how self conscious that small crowd is; today’s were there to
have a good time, fortunately, and kept joining in, which can turn to anarchy
if not kept subtly in check, but thankfully it didn’t get too messy, though my
diction was a little sloppy due to tiredness.
Tomorrow’s my
day off, which couldn’t come at more opportune time as I’m starting to feel the
strain of the relentlessness of it all; the last few days have seen me wake up
later, and today particularly found me struggling to get my brain in gear; I
felt shattered while setting up and hoped I wouldn’t have to be on my
toes too much for the show, as I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get my vocabulary
together, though thankfully Doctor Theatre kicked into gear just in time (to
put it poncily). Tomorrow isn’t a day off entirely in actuality as I’m
doing a radio interview at the Pleasance in the afternoon and have to return
the projector stand I hired earlier this week in the morning, but it will be nice
to have a break from performing, not least as this means I can
finally wash my ‘show jeans’ (and not a moment too soon).
The hardest part
of today was saying goodbye to my wife, who caught the train home this
afternoon. It’s a long time to be away from her, particularly now I’ve grown
tired of the touring life. At least when I do the Edinburgh Fringe I have the same
base for the month, rather than constantly travelling, but it’s still an exercise
in physical and emotional stamina; more so than touring, in many ways. I am
enjoying myself here, but I’ll be happy when I’m home too; I'll resist
counting the days remaining for the moment though, as I’m not sure how that tally would make me feel.