Pre-fringe thoughts

Tomorrow we make the first bit of our journey up to the Edinburgh Fringe. I say 'first bit', but that's because of the accommodation issues - and it's these little bits of admin that have really been niggling me for a couple of weeks now. Accommodation-wise I should really take the blame, although apparently we live in a world where sending an email saying, 'yeah sounds cool :-)' isn't considered to be a confirmation - madness. Anyway, we've found somewhere new to stay, but have to pick up the keys by 2pm on Sunday and leaving at 5am on Sunday morning wasn't really an option anybody was keen on so Grace, Izzy and I are staying in a Travel Lodge half way up the country tomorrow night before making the short trip up to magical fringe land the next morning. Our actual accommodation in Edinburgh is tiny (but within my equally tiny budget), it's a little bit concerning because we will be in each others pockets a lot for the next week or so. We're all really good friends (Michelle is joining us from Sunday - Tuesday too) and it shouldn't be a problem, but it's a bit different to touring with the band because, you know, Aidy, Dave and myself are all sweaty blokes, we drink lots of beer and every now and then break wind. Don't think I can really do that with Izzy, Grace and Michelle because they're ladies. Not that I'm that kind of person anyway, really, I guess, but you know what I mean. I just have to be on my best behaviour.

Accommodation aside, it's hard work taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe, and it's a bit harder taking two - although to be honest when you're doing the work for one production you might as well go the extra mile and do it for two anyway. Let's do three next year? Maybe that's pushing it a bit. But once you've chosen your venue, agreed a run, fee and contract, hassled one of your best mates to design a masterpiece of a flyer (Matt never lets us down, he's totally excelled himself this year), sorted accommodation, lost your accommodation, found more accommodation, got confused by PRS licensing for the shows, spent agonising days writing your 40-word entry for the fringe programme and the longer one for the official website, get stressed because your image didn't make it into the programme before giving up because nobody f*cking answers their phones in that office, filled out what feels like endless risk assessments, written the press releases, dealt with the PR team at your venue, insured both plays, printed the flyers...once you've done all this, it's easy to forget you actually have a show or two to do. Luckily, my little team here of Izzy, Grace, Michelle and Alan are worth their weight in gold and are so focussed, so whilst I ponce around getting flustered with the admin they never lose track of the actual productions themselves.

The shows are looking good, the previews were worthwhile (Bristol - messy but fun, Cambridge 1 - really worked, London - not our finest, Cambridge 2 - a bit flat I thought but everyone else thinks it was the best performance so far), in Edinburgh after a couple of days we'll find some consistency and really make ourselves proud. Haven't heard from our venue in a while, hope everything is okay - there's absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be, but I just worry sometimes. Still not sure if we should have gone for a free venue or a paid one - we went for a paid one in the end. It's a tricky one to judge having done both, 40% of the fringe is now free - that means 40% of the shows are free entry, ours is £7 to get in (still very reasonable, I think). The reason why I actively chose to go for a paid venue this year is control - you know that you're getting a proper venue, with fixed seating, a proper tech run, marketing team behind you, a sense of organisation about it. There's so much at the fringe you can't control, quality of performance space counts for a lot. Although an audience would be nice.

Who knows what my blog post will say when I get back? Anything can happen at the fringe. This is my sixth year up there, and there's a realistic approach to it all now. It's a bit like being in a band - you start off wanting to be 'spotted', to be on the front cover of the NME, then you grow up a bit and realise the ambition is often just to have your talents recognised, to network, to see what might happen. Was chatting to Izzy about this earlier in the week - whilst we're up there we're gonna try and do everything, film bits, write stuff - be inspired by it all, make things happen. And enjoy it, of course, because basically the Edinburgh Fringe is right up there with Christmas as far as I'm concerned. And just as magical, and as expensive.