6083/19012
Feeling slightly better today, but still a bit dizzy and snotty. Managed a trip to the supermarket, but it felt like a bit of an out of body experience. Hopefully be nearer to being well tomorrow, but the show must go on in any case. I can’t disappoint over 70 people. My Fringe and mental health has been more or less destroyed this year as I’ve been given access to the website that tells me exactly how many tickets I have sold - I check it every half an hour and then have a little cry! I am approaching having sold roughly a quarter of my tickets, which is OK, but still have 6000 to sell which feels less OK. I am not sure how much walk up and casual purchase there will be for a 1.30pm show and am trying to work out if these numbers are roughly equal to how things usually go. It’s a bigger venue than I will need most days, but hopefully there will be a few days where I can get over 300 in and make it worthwhile. As it stands I do not think I will be selling out on any day and I have no flyerers or other PR going, so word of mouth is my only hope. My average audience is currently 95 which is pretty good going for the Fringe (but maybe not for someone on their 25th one) so maybe I am on course for my goal of an average audience of 200. But only one show has sold over 200 tickets so far (2 for 1 day obvs) so maybe that’s optimistic,.
On the plus side if you’re in town and want to make a last minute dash to see a RHLSTP you are pretty much certain to gain admission! Hooray.
Although I am obsessed and fascinated with this, I am also not too bothered about how many people come (just checked it again - I have sold no tickets in the last 15 minutes) If I sold out completely I would make enough money to put a good dent in the losses I made in 2014, but I don’t think I am going to lose anything this year (though to be honest I have no idea what my deal is and whether it’s based on percentage of venue capacity or just on how many people show up) and I am not going to let it ruin my time here. I am here to do good shows and to hang out with my family and I think I am unlikely to do much else. I want to take my daughter to see some shows, but I might not go to any myself and I am still not drinking and have to look after the kids so I don’t think there will be much socialising going on. And I am cool with that. Oh man, those Fringes of the past where I drifted around feeling depressed and alone and wondering what everyone else was doing and what I was missing out on were the worst. I am going to get value out of my expensive accommodation and spend as much time as possible here.
Talking of the house I had noticed on day one a little drawing on the wall that I had to do a bit of a double take over as it seemed to be of me. My wife guffawed today and I asked her about what and she pointed at the same picture and she’d clearly noticed it too. It looks like a slightly evil version of me, especially from a little distance. Is it possible that the person who owns this house is an obsessed fan of mine who is secretly videoing everything I do? And if so why didn’t he let me stay here for free?
I don’t know what I am holding in that vial and I don’t think any of us want to know. But maybe that’s like my portrait of Dorian Grey, but the me in the picture has all the hedonistic fun possible at the Fringe, whilst the real me stays at home having supermarket brand night nurse. I’d rather be me than him, I think.
