8276/21195
The Stand have foolishly sent me a link to my ticket sales for the Fringe, which means that I now go and check ticket sales every ten minutes and will be obsessing over it until 10th August.
I am mainly worried that someone from the Stand is monitoring how often I refresh the page and they will think I am a maniac. I have to keep my compulsions secret.
The good news is that numbers are going up. I sold about 75 tickets today across all shows, partly due to the announcement of Tim Key on 8th August. That is now the show that has sold the most, but it's only a couple of sales ahead of 2nd August which currently has no guest.
It's hard to guess how many tickets will get sold once the Fringe starts, but I'd say the last 5 shows (and 2nd August) are heading for sell-out or near enough, but you'll probably be able to make a last minute decision for the other shows (definitely for the first two).
I've sold nearly 1000 of my 2160 tickets which I am very pleased with at this stage, as I have no adverts, flyers or PR. And taking into account the amount that goes to the venue and on other Fringe expenses I think that means the accommodation is paid for! I am very pleased to be working for the enrichment of an Edinburgh landlord. I might walk away with some money myself, mainly thanks for paying nothing for PR or adverts.
I still have to pay for food, show tickets, travel and all that crap, not to mention my mortgage at home, but it's nice to know that we shouldn't be leaving the city having lost money.
If it wasn't for the £45000 I lost in 2014 I'd say I've probably broken even at Edinburgh overall. And as I mentioned yesterday, a few of the years have led to very lucrative work. I am one of the Edinburgh Fringe's winners. Though not when it comes to awards. I think I got nominated for an LWT writing award in 1999, but that's my lot.
I am unlikely to ever experience anything like that 2014 year again - a change of venue and show time meant my stand up show didn't make any money and my ambitious attempt to put on a play with a cast of six or seven, which then sold very poorly, led to this financial disaster. I remember standing backstage, ready to go on for Lord of the Dance Settee in utter misery and exhaustion, then having to go through the curtain and throw myself into an energetic and upbeat show.
Which I did amazingly well. But never had the gulf between off stage and on felt so huge.
Christian Reilly got to witness the transition from trauma to comedy every night. It must have been upsetting for him but it was good to have him there.
So I ready myself for the journey knowing things are not going to be that bad, but the last one I went to in 2022 left me feeling sad, not because of the show this time, but just because of how expensive it is for everyone. Plus I felt compressed by the 35 years of memories that the place holds for me and left fossilised.
I have a lot of unprocessed trauma, mainly professional, but sometimes personal, that I probably need to process at some point. If I process it I presume I will never go to Edinburgh again and maybe stop doing comedy (how can I stop something that I never started? ha ha, yes well done).
I can process it when I'm dead. I'll have infinity to work it all out then.
