Chris Tavner
Edinburgh 24/08/19 – Look out of the window
August 25, 2019 BlogChris Tavner, comedian, Edinburgh, Fringe, Shit Socialist, stand upChris Tavner
My alarm went off at 10.15am this morning. Looking at my phone for the first time, I saw that I had a missed call from Sally.
I rang her back and she said "are you up?"
I said something along the lines of "mmhhmmh… yeah…"
"Ok. Look out of the window."
I looked out of the window, and yep, there she was. Grinning and waving up at me. We had planned for her to come today, but I wasn't expecting that she would have driven all the way up from Manchester before I'd even got up!
Running down in my fetching all grey (with black trim) pyjamas, we hugged in the street. I had my playmate back.
The penultimate show
An award winner… and Chris Tavner (how far away is he?)
After having a breakfast of an 'all day breakfast' scotch egg that Sally had purchased for me from Tebay, we set out to do the early Rib Ticklers show at The Counting House.
It was only a dozen people, but hey, this is what I'd had to play to in the early 'pick of the Fringe' shows. The difference being that this was in the Loft room (adjacent to, and identical to, my room the Attic) instead of the ballroom downstairs.
Playing to a dozen people in a 30 seater is a lot easier than playing to a dozen in a 150 seater!
After, Sally and I ate, and I began my flyering. During which, Sally took various pictures of me, reportage style. The outcome of this will produce an excellent compendium of photos of me for a fly on the wall report in to flyering at the Fringe, that no one has commissioned.
It was a pleasure to welcome my first audience member, my wife, to her seat. The room was full, as is to be expected on a Saturday.
Aside from being full though, the energy level form the crowd was fantastic. I don't know about my best show of the Fringe so far, but it was certainly up there.
Even then, I did have a couple walk out after 40 minutes. A South-East Asian couple, who had not laughed once between them up to that point.
You do seem to get a mix of an international crowd who come to shows, and you wonder what on earth they were expecting. It was certainly no problem that they left. If anything, I should salute them for staying so long for something that they did not enjoy, or potentially even understand!
The Dinosaur Show
I got tickets to Harriet Dyer: The Dinosaur Show. Having worked with her numerous times over the years, Sally has met Harriet a number of times, and loves her company.
She is a hilarious person on stage, and pretty much exactly the same off stage as well.
The Dinosaur Show is as absolutely nuts as anyone who knows Harriet and her material would expect. It's half an hour of chat and general Harrietness, before moving in to the 'show' itself.
Through a mix of out there and surreal songs, ditties, character pieces, and videos, she explains the real reasons why the dinosaurs were wiped out. Don't worry, I won't reveal any spoilers. Mostly because I can't, because I still have no idea!
I loved this. It's Harriet doing whatever the fuck she wants, and you are invited along for the ride.
After, we decided to see if anything else was on, and found that Stephen Carlin was doing a late night show on Cowgate.
This was great to stumble upon, because Stephen is a superb comic. This was essentially a 'best of' show, and you could tell. Absolutely top notch stuff.
From both shows, the lines "what a great USP" and "Nazi fuck farms" will stay in my head for some time.
Now, it's time to pack. Throw away the random flyers received, document tickets bought then destroy them, fold my clean clothes Marie Kondo style (yes, I'm one of them), and lay out my clothes for my final day.
My final day.
This has been my life for 24 days in a row. The one thing missing has been Sally, and even she's here now.
I like my routine. I've seen people battered by the Fringe in the various ways it can torture you. Sure, It's been hard at times, but for me it's gone really well.
Some shows have been hard, but the good days have been certainly more plentiful. If the demand was there, I could happily do this forever.
But no, I instead have to take all that I've learned, and take that as a foundation on which to build to improve in the future.
Tomorrow is my final day.
My show, Shit Socialist, is on at 3.15pm, 1-25 Aug, at The Counting House (Attic). Free entry, PWYW.
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Edinburgh diary 25/08/19 – finale
Edinburgh diary 23/08/19 – All that jazz
Edinburgh 22/08/19 – the end is in sight
Edinburgh 21/08/19 – Tory approved!
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