Sunday 6 August 2017

Edinburgh: Day 2

Sundays at the Fringe always have the capacity to surprise and today was no exception. After a quick appearance at Camden Comedy's lunchtime show I was down at Black Market preparing the room for Clash of the Tight Tens. People were trying to get in fifteen minutes in advance so when I did eventually open the door I wasn't quite as surprised as I might have been by the vast numbers that poured in. Once all the seats had gone they sat on the floor at the front. Once that space was taken then stood along the side. 42 real audience in the room we closed the door and started the show.

Matt Duwell, now an Edinburgh resident, followed my welcome and slightly wonky rendition of Two Shots. Calm and self assured he eased through some of his classic material and passed the baton to Tuson - a man I'd never seen before but had popped in at the last minute to replace a no-show. He was pretty good with a very likeable manner and when Sonia Aste stepped up next a really good vibe had been achieved across the room. All that was left was for Alex Kealy to smash it out the park and for me to do the bucket speech. I'm sure all the acts will be getting people from this show at theirs tomorrow.

My performance of Craft Fair at Comedy Shorts an hour later continued to the good vibes with a warm crowd who enjoyed me opening the show after some sterling work by MC Tom Short. My solo show was nearly upon us.

It took all of 3 minutes for my projector to break down as Anna and I prepared the room. The £40 Ebay bargain not looking quite so much like one any longer. But there was still the disco light - and Anna of course, now sporting a baseball cap to go with her shades. The audience duly arrived and we had twenty people in the room ready to go; including long-time fanzine friend Dee (of All About Dee and Friends fanzine for you 90s indie kids), her husband and their friends. There were also a family of three with a fourteen year old son who were looking very keen on the front row.

The show went well even without the projector. Cutting the chart rundown down from 8 to 7 songs felt better and made it all a little more relaxed - still coming in at a respectable 45 minutes. Afterwards there were photos with Dee, a selfie with a young Serbian couple and very warm words from the mother in the family who came back to the room whilst we were packing down. I quote, "Your show is the best one we've seen at the Fringe - our son really loved it."

After a very late one last night, this evening will be spent eating bolognaise and watching old films on ITV4. I'm bracing myself for the inevitable Monday slump but with so much going on a Black Market it's possible we won't be hit as hard as could be the case for more remote one-room venues.

THE STATS:
Clash of the Tight Tens: Citizens / Donations: 42 / £50
Andy Quirk's Got First World Problems: Crew Members / Donations: 20 / £38.50
Selfies and photos taken with me at the end: 2

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