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Yeah, it’s going to be tough without my mother-in-law. But you know, also fun. The kids are fun. If I keep telling myself that I will believe it.
Oh they get a hard time from me, but I love them more than my own useless life. No question I would stamp myself to death if it gave them a better life.
They were kind enough to sleep through til almost 6am and I thought we’d given their mum a lie-in, but it turned out she hadn’t slept as well as I had. Edinburgh is an anxious time, but so far this year I am not letting anything get to me and also not drinking means I am not having those horrible late night panics. Just day time ones as all the terrible random tragedies that could befall my own family seem to be playing out on the news.
My wife though has to drink. It’s in the title of her show.
We went to soft play in the morning, which was a longer walk from our house than it looked on the map and as it turned out, a much longer walk from my venue than I anticipated. It was a humid day in Edinburgh and I was very sweaty by the time I got to my venue, with only 10 minutes before curtain up. And I had to wear a top over my T shirt which was sodden, so it was another sweaty one.
But there were 334 people in, which is a little off capacity (and it was two for one) but the occasional gig like this will justify being in the bigger room.
I mean it wasn’t as much fun as soft play - though I was sad to see that the Commonwealth Pool no longer seems to have flumes, which were the hit of my 1994 Fringe. I guess too many people were killed and injured, but to me it was worth a small loss of life for the thrill of being shot down a tube into a pool.
Both my children proved to be bolder than me on the soft play though which was vertiginously high and wobbly. At one point Ernie managed to climb up through a hole that was too small for me and I pretty much figured that that would be the last time I saw him, but his sister looked after him and I found another way round. And we went down a big slide together. Really this stuff is way better than anything you’ll see on the Fringe.
Both phenomenal talents. You see comedians complaining that they haven't had the recognition they deserve (admittedly mainly me) but then you look at the work that everyone is doing, most of whom are not universally recognised and you realise how hard it is to break through and how much great work gets recognised only by a tiny amount of people. It's terrifying how much talent there is in this city right now.
