Pre-fringe thoughts

Our Edinburgh Fringe run starts on Saturday. The fact that I'm driving up there on Saturday is clearly an example of just how daft things have got; leave Cambridge at 5am, on stage in Edinburgh with the solo show at 4.15pm, on stage with Kimberley at 7.30pm. And then check into the accommodation, and sleep, lots. I get the sense it may take a couple days before I feel human and really hit my stride at the festival this year, which is a shame because reviewers typically turn up early on. As I'm writing this, I feel tired thinking about it all...but I know as soon as I get to Edinburgh, as soon as I see the Royal Mile in all it's glory for the first time, I'll feel excited - the kind of excitement that will last for my whole 36-performance stay up there.

Last week I tried out the third production, 'The Moments of Madness that Make Us.' Having three shows at the fringe can be done, but with this one being confirmed at really short notice you could see the panic in my eyes. Still - it's working, better than it probably should. Two lounge shows and a bit of tweaking later and it feels like a proper show already, and baring in mind this one doesn't open till week 3...yeah, I'll be fine. I'm annoyed with myself though; it was supposed to be a drama. With comic moments. But it hasn't turned out that way...because of the darker moments, it just highlights the comic glimpses even more and they get a huge laugh - more than my so-called 'comedy' shows have ever done. It has death in it - three people die, it has an attempted murder, it has some really tender moments about falling out of love and never being sure of what a 'home' is. But yep, it's hilarious, apparently. Mustn't grumble though, it feels like a strong show already and I'm only just finding my feet with it; it's effectively a duo show with myself and a pre-recorded CD. And the ending has surprised everyone, and perhaps makes them feel a bit awkward about the fact they've been laughing throughout all of it. I performed it publicly for the first time on Sunday at CB2 in Cambridge, on a double bill with 'Getting Lost In My Hometown' - which is now really slick (and so it should be, I've had it all year, it's been rubbish for a while before I found my feet with it - it's only the last month or so it's really come good). Somebody in the audience kindly reviewed both shows and described me as a being a "genius" - which is nice. I'm not, but I was on good form that night.

So the other show I need to get my head around is 'The Paul Richards Disasters' which is - as I've realised, an absolute bastard to learn. And it's a show in which I'm on stage with somebody else, Kim, which is a nice change after all this solo stuff but also puts a little pressure on me to actually learn my lines properly (rather than my usual routine of learning them vaguely and then saying whatever I want judging by the audience whilst making sure I make all the points I need to make) because if I don't that buggers up her cues. The show opens locally tomorrow night for a 2 night run before Edinburgh. The rehearsal on Sunday was a bit worrying because we were clearly quite far off, but last night there was a sense that it's coming together now, and hopefully tonight will see further progress. The preview performances this week may be shaky, but we can pull it off, I think. And Kim is a very quick thinker and is good at bailing me out on stage...

The whole fringe thing is naturally very much taking up my time at the moment, which is why it was so nice to be doing music stuff a lot last week. On Tuesday I played a storming gig with Claudia at the Portland, on Wednesday I recorded percussion parts for The Prisoner of Mars, on Thursday had a lovely dinner with the Dowsing band, on Friday played at the incredibly friendly IF Festival in Milton Keynes with Fred's House and then on Saturday evening we spent some valuable time in the rehearsal studio working on new stuff (Griff and Vix have written some absolute crackers). It occurred to me then; I won't be drumming for a whole month now. What if I forget how to drum?

Three weeks at the fringe is just days away though; I'm reasonably prepared. Some admin stuff to do, but we should be okay to hit the ground running I think. I'm expecting three weeks of jubilation, disasters, magical moments, frustration, unrivalled pleasure. And lots of friends, and lots of beer.