It's hard to write a blog during the Fringe - especially given that I am trying not to double up between Warming Up and RHEFP - but by this stage very little different is going on. I am sleeping as long as I can in the morning, heading down to the Stand for the podcast, coming home to upload the file, trying to sign and envelope up 262 programmes for the kind sponsors, eating my dinner, heading to the Cow Barn for What is Love, Anyway? and then after a drink or two heading home for an earlyish night.
I quite like the routine, even though I am being fairly boring and I am getting through this whole thing a day at a time, not yet wishing that it was all over. In fact the time has flown by and I can't believe there are only 7 stand up shows and 8 podcasts to do. I might just get through this alive. Might.
Probably the key to survival this year has been to spend the first two weeks with the misery and pain of a Radio 4 script to write hanging over my head. Because now that that is no longer there my days feel like my own and doing two shows a day seems easy. I have tricked myself into thinking I have escaped a prison of my own making, whereas I have just burrowed through to a slightly less harsh prison. But to a man in a sewer, the rainwater that washes the streets and pours down the gutter is the sweetest nectar.
In the past the Fringe would be a source of almost perpetual angst to me as I worried about money and reviews and dwindling audiences, but now none of this matters too much. People are by and large coming to the shows and most of them are enjoying it and the reviews are generally good. So the odd slightly emptier room or disgruntled looking punter (there were another 3 on the front row tonight, but apart from that it was one of the most enjoyable shows of the run) or disparaging crit from a pompous student aren't able to cause me anything but a fleck of annoyance.
I am in a happy place and more than happy to be away from the madness of the early hours of the morning. Today I had a few drinks with my girlfriend's parents (which is possibly the least rock and roll thing possible) who had luckily enjoyed the show (though they had to say that) and seemed happy for me to continue courting their daughter.
But as you can see, absolutely nothing amusing happened me today - I just enjoyed my shows. I will do my best to go out and cause some mischief tomorrow.
