Be sure your dreams will find you out
Another night on the road. Last night I made Newcastle to Edinburgh in about 2 and a half hours, which isn't bad, considering I had to make a couple of stops. In one case, I had to stop for a comfort break after a particularly funny programme on the radio exacerbated my need for a room with running water. The return leg was a record in about 105 minutes, which for the roads in question is pretty good going - not insanity, just promptness.
The experience of going to do the gig was mixed. At the end of the day, it's my desire to zoom off to various cities in the country and perform to whoever turns up. That is what I certainly achieved last night. The audience mainly comprised the other acts, along with about 3 regular audience and 3 germans who did their best to understand the humour and language, but were often looking intense, rather than amused. Nice guys, though. When I offered to do the gig I had higher hopes for my own personal level of entertainment for the evening.
I did get to have a wander around Edinburgh, which was strangely surreal, given that it was just over a week ago that it looked like a remarkably different city, with all the Fringe apparatus in place. I also bumped into some people I knew, which gave me something to do between arriving and getting to the gig. So, in many ways, it was a positive experience. However, the reality of being a solo stand-up act is that a lot of time is spent in isolation. It's important. Without the isolation, there can't be the act.
Oh, and I got to try out some new stuff, which seemed to work pretty well. I had to draw the line at a more surreal routine, which the germans would really not have understood. Plus, we got the germans to tell us a joke - translated from German to English. Bizarrely, it's a joke I heard in English about 24 years ago... it was old then. The teller spoiled it somewhat by asking for help translating one of the key words of the punchline before telling the joke. Still, it was a nice moment of cross-cultural sympathy.
Another night on the road. Last night I made Newcastle to Edinburgh in about 2 and a half hours, which isn't bad, considering I had to make a couple of stops. In one case, I had to stop for a comfort break after a particularly funny programme on the radio exacerbated my need for a room with running water. The return leg was a record in about 105 minutes, which for the roads in question is pretty good going - not insanity, just promptness.
The experience of going to do the gig was mixed. At the end of the day, it's my desire to zoom off to various cities in the country and perform to whoever turns up. That is what I certainly achieved last night. The audience mainly comprised the other acts, along with about 3 regular audience and 3 germans who did their best to understand the humour and language, but were often looking intense, rather than amused. Nice guys, though. When I offered to do the gig I had higher hopes for my own personal level of entertainment for the evening.
I did get to have a wander around Edinburgh, which was strangely surreal, given that it was just over a week ago that it looked like a remarkably different city, with all the Fringe apparatus in place. I also bumped into some people I knew, which gave me something to do between arriving and getting to the gig. So, in many ways, it was a positive experience. However, the reality of being a solo stand-up act is that a lot of time is spent in isolation. It's important. Without the isolation, there can't be the act.
Oh, and I got to try out some new stuff, which seemed to work pretty well. I had to draw the line at a more surreal routine, which the germans would really not have understood. Plus, we got the germans to tell us a joke - translated from German to English. Bizarrely, it's a joke I heard in English about 24 years ago... it was old then. The teller spoiled it somewhat by asking for help translating one of the key words of the punchline before telling the joke. Still, it was a nice moment of cross-cultural sympathy.
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