Interesting show tonight because I think I let some of my Edinburgh frustrations out and so slightly spoiled the show. I came on and as I started my first sentence three girls got up and walked out. This even beat the previous record in Aldershot. I assumed they had suddenly realised they were in the wrong venue, but later found out that they had simply decided to choose this moment to go to the bar and they later returned carrying three pints each and rejoined the audience. Why they hadn't bought their drink before, I can't say and why they felt they needed so much booze to get through my show is another question. But it made for an odd start.
I have had a lot of latecomers throughout the festival and it is extremely distracting as they enter stage right and you can see the attention of the audience wanders every time. Tonight after the fifth such interruption I made a slightly cross and gloating joke about the fact that having missed the CNPS explantion these people would never understand the show. It just came out slightly more angry than I meant it to and possibly made me look too grumpy which doesn't work with this show.
People were going in and out to the toilet quite a lot (they were an unusually boozy crowd and I think the atmosphere was weird before I got annoyed), but about 40 minutes in a couple of guys got up and walked out together. I don't think I've had any other walk-outs this festival (maybe a couple when I have over-run which I have ascribed to them having another show to get to). A few minutes later these men came back in again and I assumed that they'd bizarrely decided to go to the toilet together. But apparently one of them had left his bag behind and so they left again. I made a joke about them finding the show so bad that they wanted to walk out of it twice. But the audience weren't quite behind me enough to find this all that funny and the constant restlessness and distraction was possibly getting to them. Three girls then left (maybe the three pint girls) and I thought maybe I was in danger of losing the whole crowd. But this time they were all just going to the toilet (maybe because of all that beer sloshing around in them) and they shortly returned.
It was a confusing show and I wasn't on top form and annoyingly my manager was in for the second time, having seen the worst performance of 0th week too.
Edinburgh is a strange place and no two shows are the same. Today my ad libs were too wooly and emotional. It's a very fine line between adequate and good.
