GIve Up and Carry on

Since my last blog I've been punched in the stomach by a few things - reviews, alcohol and a little anxiety over the show.  But I'm still here.  There have been some amazing moments.

During a recent taxi journey to Waverley Satation I was wearing a black t-shirt with an illustration of a Darth Vader headed Michael Jackson the driver asked me. “Is that a t-shirt of Michael Jackson with a Darth Vader head? Coz I nanny agree with that?”  Assuming he was a fundamentalist Michael Jackson fan I reluctantly asked why? He said, “You can say what you like about Darth Vader but he never touched the kids.”

Two weeks into the festival and the advice Simon Munnery gave me two years ago has never been more apt.  “Give up and carry on,” he told me in 2007 when I made a documentary of the process of taking a show to the Fringe.  I don’t think it was directed specifically at me the piece of shite show I had that year.  I think you really start to enjoy the festival when you give up all the nonsense ideas you have coming over here and just get stuck into doing your own thing.  I saw Tim Key’s show this week and if ever there was a man doing his own thing it’s Tim.  I think he can get more funny from the raising of an eye-brow than most can from an hour of polished material.

At the Melbourne Festival this year I had helped to organise a regular basketball game between comedians.  The hopes of doing the same thing in Edinburgh are fading faster than Chippendales enthusiasm for the Fringe.  The best sporting experiences I’ve had since I arrived have been Nintendo Wii related.  I’ve been trying to introduce my flatmate Shane Langan (Not Also But Only, 2pm @ Gilded Balloon) to the concept of trash talking while playing Mario Kart.  It's been the highlight of the festival.