As I've said, I've never been to the Edinburgh Festival before, but was ecstatic when I saw the number of options, variety of performances and sheer volume of people in the city....everyone was buzzing with energy whether they were promoting shows, going in to shows, coming out of shows or even queuing up for tickets!
First up was @Doug_Segal with his Mind-Reading act. A full crowd in an upstairs bar at The Three Sisters, some technical problems, a lot of laughs, along with some pretty good mind-reading tricks allowed a good easing in for the night - we were all suitably impressed/amused...so we headed up to the Pleasance Courtyard to continue the night!
The Pleasance Courtyard is awesome - such a great venue....and that night it was the perfect place to go to escape the rain...which hadn't stopped for several hours now. We were recommended a show called "Peacock & Gamble: Emergency Broadcast" so bought some tickets and headed into the Jack Room....oh look - all the seats at the front are free....we should totally sit there.....
Immediately I regretted this - I was staring at Ed Gamble, thinking I'd seen him somewhere before (and I had...he compered a Sunday Times Comedy Show I had the joy of seeing with @anglikebang back in May) when he asked my name and called for me to join the two of them on stage to help turn the lights back on with the aid of their "Mucky Thoughts Helmet"...chaos ensued....if anyone reading this is friends with me on Facebook, the vid is online here.
We walked home in drowning rain that night, but spirits were not dampened...
The following day we hit up Ghillie Dhu for some brekkie before getting back out to see some shows at The Playhouse, E4's Udderbelly and The Bedlam Theatre.
Frisky and Mannish were brilliant with their classical take on some pretty hardcore hip-hop and a critical lyrical analysis of Katy Perry's "Firework" - turns out she's talking about recycling! Who knew...
Achieved a dream watching Michael Winslow do his thing - very funny man...can't say anymore than that really...
Other highlights that afternoon were definitely:
- Paul Daniels - you can tell he's been an entertainer for a while, audience loved him...
- Free Run - gripping aerobic abilities, dangerous stuff too!
- Shlomo - brilliant beatboxing, culminating in an amazing version of "Seven Nation Army"
- Idiots of Ants - hilarious sketches, split the audience attitudes, but everyone was laughing...
- Josie Long - very funny girl & I think I might love her a little bit...
Lowlight that afternoon was definitely:
- Neil and Christine Hamilton - in a word....cringeworthy....
Then we hit up E4's "Udderbelly" for Tom Green -
He was great - I remember his TV show where he painted "sluts" on the hood of his Dad's car and then built a statue of his parents having sex, then erected it (hur hur) outside their house - but it's almost like he's grown-up now (he is 40) and his comedy has become a little more topical, but still kept its edge....after the performance he stuck around to talk and shake hand with the 30-40 people who had attended that night...he was a gent and had an eerie way of looking deep into your eyes when he shook your hand....
So, it was now Midnight...prime time for some Late Night Fringe, so off to the Bedlam Theatre for The Improverts
Very, very good improv skits from the 5 guys on stage that night....brilliant level of (very blue) audience participation...and it reminded me how much I love improv...nothing like the pressure of maintaining a scene to get your heart racing!
A quick drink at The Gilded Balloon (the oldest Students' Union Bar in Europe, donchaknow...) rounded off a perfect EdFringe experience...I shall go back....for sure...
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