This morning it was confirmed that Bear Jokes could
have the next two Fridays at the Southsider from 8:15-9:15pm. A prime spot by
anyone’s reckoning and one I set about maximizing by putting together a flyer
by midday and getting printed for Tuesday soon after. Given there are no less
than five performers in the flat all keen to get as much stage time as possible
this left just two guest spots per show. By the end of the day the award
winning Yuriko Kotani, Jon Long and Rosie Holt had nabbed three of them. I
await responses from those other Bear Jokes regulars I messaged to see who gets
the last one. If you're reading this and want it feel free to write.
Before Mirthquake I thought I’d drop into our venue
and support some of the acts earlier on in the day. The 1pm show was shambolic
with touches of promise and I’m sure that by the end of the run it’ll be really
tight. Granted, the audience consisted of myself, a disabled man in a
wheelchair and his carer so it wasn’t the easiest of shows. Let alone taking
into account that, due to the venue layout, the two audience members who
weren’t me had to sit right at the back as the corridor to the side of the
chairs was too narrow for a wheelchair.
In contrast “Fuss” (pictured) at 2:05 was brilliant
and well attended. Rosie and Phillipa are pretty much straight out of university
but are well versed in the conventions
of comedy and its history that informed their sketch double act. Quite
how they ended up with one particular (hilarious) sketch based on the song,
“Three Lions”, is completely beyond me though. Clearly this soundtrack to
people in their thirties is more enduring than I’d given it credit for. See
them now.
After some flyering in the rain it was Mirthquake
time and to an expectedly smaller Monday audience we had a great show. I opened
for the first time and the crowd joined in with the actions and words pretty
much instantly. James and Nick did similarly well and three people left with
copies of “Straight Outta Leyton”.
From here I met my first guest of the fringe, Welsh
Richard, who I’ve known since my fanzine writing days. Dropping off his bag we
then acquired an air bed from a local store and subsequently hoofed it around
the city for the next four hours as we went from The Street, where I performed
“Chilling” to a single figure audience of Edinburgh’s loveliest arts community,
to Moriarty’s for LJ Da Funk’s excellent show and then the Pear Tree for a pint
before grabbing Britain’s most expensive donner kebab (£6.50!) and heading back
to the flat.
Three shows tomorrow.
Shows Performed: 2 (8)
Bums on seats at Mirthquake: 11 (76)
Money in the Mirthquake bucket: £20.76 (£83.97)
Steps walked according to my pedometer: 14,737 (118,347)
Steps walked according to my pedometer: 14,737 (118,347)
CDs Remaining: 95
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