I had a bit too much to do today, just at the point where Edinburgh exhaustion was already kicking in hard.
I was up early with Collings to go on the Fred Macauley radio show. This went OK, though Collings did insist on using up a whole minute of our valuable seven minute slot talking about Ron Mael from Spark's collection of Nike shoes. My podcast colleague (he is not my friend) is a liability. But he is an old man and thus inclined to drift off at tangents to the conversation.
Then we got a cab to the Underbelly where we sat and read the papers and had a coffee and "prepped" for the first live podcast show. There really is little in the way of prep. Though I did write a few subject ideas down on a piece of cardboard. As always if we discussed anything beforehand it tends to fuck it up when we actually do it, so we kept our ideas to ourselves.
The show was a sell out despite the early hour (12.20 start - though the next show wasn't on til 3, so I don't know why we have to go so early) and it zinged along very nicely. We have been sponsored for the week by
appygolucky's profanity application, which actually suited the show quite well. It throws up various random insults, some extremely course, but others almost polite enough to be used by your gran and others a mixture of the two. It was very funny. I recommend you buy it immediately and not only because we get 20p from every sale made this week (I am doubtful this is going to make us millionaires - in fact I suspect that we'll get less per podcast than we usually do from teenagers pushing coins into our hand in the street, but that's OK).
I think it was the best live podcast we've done and you can hear it
here, along with the other four that will be up pretty much as soon as we've done them.
Then we took about a fifth of the audience up Cowgate to "The Tempting Tattie" for lunch. It is quite a long walk, but that didn't deter about 20 potato craving souls. It is great that we are giving the place more business, but I really want to overwhelm them, so do come along at about 1.45 every day (not Sunday) even if you're not at the show and remember Saturday is the day that we are aiming to
Break the Tattie, so please spread the word about that one.
People were asking for "The Richard Herring" which confused the staff who had no idea what that was. Once again the guy who runs the place tried to put pineapple (or "Andrew Collings" as we decided it should be called on the podcast) on my potato, but I put him right. The Richard Herring has no Andrew Collings on it, thank you very much. Even a child knows that. I am glad that the people who work in the establishment have no idea what was going on though. Do come on Saturday and try and queue so the line goes down the hill. We'll be there. Rain or shine. Bring an umbrella.
Andrew and me took our tatties home as he had to work and I had hoped to sleep, but I only managed a little snooze before heading out again for Frank Skinner's Credit Crunch Cabaret at the Assembly Rooms. I was headlining which meant going on at about 7.55 and finishing at 8.15, even though my own show began at 8.40 and I needed to be there by 8.20 to set up. It made me tense and worried and I didn't do a brilliant set, though in any case my rude stuff was too rude for the mixed audience and my political stuff was too confusing. I jumped in a cab, but it got stuck in traffic on the Mound, so I had to run up the last bit of the hill anyway. I was in a bit of a state and didn't need this hassle on this difficult day. Luckily I calmed myself enough to do a competent show, probably the best of the week so far.
I would have loved to go to sleep after that, but I had booked tickets to see Daniel Kitson do stand up at midnight. I was very weary, which made it actually seem like a disappointment when I learned that the show was one hour forty minutes long. I didn't know if I'd be able to keep my eyes open that long.
Luckily Kitson was in masterful form and I stayed awake through all of it, even if I was resting my eyes for short periods. I think he could comfortably lose ten minutes from the show, but I was probably influenced in that thought by my own tiredness. It's amazing that he is giving so much of himself this Edinburgh, dashing here from his Traverse show which is another 90 minutes. So if anyone should be tired, it should be him.
I was glad to get to my bed tonight though.
Apparently I was on the Culture Show tonight, though I haven't seen it yet. You can watch it
here.
