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An extra special RHLSTP today with Richard Osman for the full hour. It’s always terrific fun to spend time in his company and luckily I have a thick skin, as he got a few good shots in at my expense. And he managed to turn the hour into yet another quiz show for me to potentially lose. A massive midweek crowd of 359 - I think this was the best chance to sell the venue out, but there was room for a couple of dozen more, but it makes a huge impact on my average crowd and I am still on course for 200 a day overall.
We finally hired a baby sitter tonight so we could go out for a meal and to see a show. We were both very excited to see Jena Friedman who has been a guest on both our podcasts and is a comedian who sparkles with wit and intelligence, as depressed and furious as she is about the world.
We’d already been to see a kids’ show earlier (Captain Flynn and the Pirate Dinosaurs which Ernie loved, but Phoebe was a bit scared of - Morris Mitchener) and I’d had all my tickets for the day printed up, but one of the Jena Friedman ones hadn’t printed properly and they told me I’d have to go to the Assembly Rooms to pick it up. This put it into my head that Jena was on at the Assembly Rooms venue on George St, so I was anticipating the walk across town for a second time in the day. But the tickets said George Square, which my tired brain assumed was the square at the end of George Street. I have been at the Fringe 25 times and should know where stuff is. Catie was keen for me to check that I knew exactly where we were going, so I brought George Square up on my Google maps, but so convinced was I that I knew where I was going, that I looked at the map and read it as confirming the location.
We were both bone tired, but Catie in particular. She’d walked 20,000 steps today (I had only done 15,000) and she wanted me to be sure that I was going to the right place. We’d had dinner just near Bristo Square, so it was a long walk, but we enjoyed our first evening trip into the city together. It was almost romantic. Until we got to what I thought was George Square and was surprised to see there was no venue in the gardens. And more surprised to see that the square was called St Andrews Square. I had to laugh at my mistake. Catie didn’t have to. And she didn’t. Even though I didn’t give her a hard time about the burglar alarm. I couldn’t claim I was drunk.
If we had missed the show then I think my marriage might be over. But luckily we’d left plenty of time and we got a cab back up the hill. I said to the driver, “George Square Theatre please”, which wasn’t where we were going, but the name tripped off my tongue because in 2014 both my shows had been at that venue. So I should really know where George Square is. This was the kind of mistake that would be embarrassing for a Fringe newbie, but was simply ridiculous for someone who had already been to see loads of shows in George Square this year and also done shows in George Square.
What an idiot. It makes me worry that I have a terrible brain disease. But it’s just tiredness I am almost sure.
The show was great (and so close to where we’d had dinner) and we could walk back home with ease. Go and see it. But check where George Square is first and don’t let your preconceptions cause you to not be able to believe facts.
