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I didn't sleep too well last night and so it was a tricky day looking after the kids, but nonetheless we managed to have lots of fun, whilst trying to exert as little energy as possible. We watched a cartoon called Bluey which the kids loved and which was very funny and is about a family of dogs and about how they play with each other. I realised that this cartoon dog is a better dad than I am, really committing to all the games and giving his time to his kids without indulging them. In the afternoon like the cartoon dog, I pretended to be a Robot Daddy for a good half hour or so, obeying the commands of the kids, but getting them slightly wrong and occasionally going berserk and trying to kill them. They could stop me by pressing my nose to turn me off and then if they pressed my nose again I'd reboot and become a good Robot Daddy for a bit. But they kept commanding me to go berserk so I could chase them round the room.
They both talked about it all day and wanted to play again, but the 40 mins of being a robot had been enough for me and I needed a lie down. I suspect Bluey has been entirely created to shame parents and teach them how to do their job better. And it works.
We are starting to plan for a time after Covid (and after surgery recovery) and are going to try to have a couple of proper holiday weeks in August. One of those will be combined with a visit home to see my folks (if that's the first time we see them, it will be getting on for two years since our last meet up, which is insane). But basically we have ruled out a return to the Fringe this year. It's far from certain that the Fringe will be happening (I hope it does, but it's going to have to be scaled back and I still think people will be wary about crowding into small Fringe venues even if they are allowed to. But even if it's up and running, from a performer's point of view, I think the Fringe will feel too much like going back into lockdown. It's got that Groundhog Day feel to it anyway and I tend to end up just spending most of the day in my accommodation when I am there, but even if we could get out a bit, I just don't think it would be fair on the kids or on our own mental health to find ourselves stuck indoors so much. I am very keen to get outdoors and do activities and enjoy life again.
There are some live RHLSTPs planned for May, June and July, where we will hopefully be able to have a socially distanced audience. More info as to when and where as soon as that's confirmed.
It's been a tough year for us all and the last couple of months have given me a nice little extra kick in the balls. I wonder how it's going to be when we are allowed out again. I hope we'll see an explosion of joy, celebration, depravity and positivity, but I am not holding my breath.
A few days ago, even though I was recovering from surgery, I recorded
this very fun podcast with Joan and Jericha (aka Julia Davis and Vicki Pepperdine) for Comic Relief. It was an absolute privilege to see these two geniuses at work. Annoyingly we were asked to cut some of the conversation on taste grounds (which seemed to be a misunderstanding of what the pair are doing with these characters ) and lost some really funny segments, but we might put the whole thing up somewhere at some point and the 30 minutes that are left are still top drawer.
There's a great season of mashup shows, so check them all out.
