Day 3 Edinblog: Consolidate

Today I woke up earlier than was entirely wise, and went to meet my friend Alana Zivanovic, who is a jazz singer I met when I did that TEDx Talk. She contacted me after that particular weird gig and asked if I would talk her through some techniques for on-stage comedy banter as she was about to head off for a Lounge Singer gig in a Hotel in a Factory City in the middle of mainland China. 

I had breakfast with her, and then we did a podcast in my room with the window overlooking the garden (delightful Edinburgh showing its sunny face) and then I fielded a bunch of weird feedback from my SBS Comedy Article about Atheists and Islamists (can't believe I was surprised at the amount of comment this occasioned) 

Then I went off to do a spot at Jen Carnovale, Kyle Legacy and Sam Kissajukian's lineup show at my old venue, the Free Sisters down on Cowgate. 

Then I met up with Larry Dean for a cuppa and to talk jokes, and then I worked on my newly rewritten opening song before heading out to Flyer and then get in the head game for my show. 

The lack of sleep slightly slurred my delivery in a few places, and the crispness of parts of the show slid a bit to the side, but I was delighted to discover that even with the show at less than perfect, I didn't lose the thing I got back yesterday. I feel like I have the show. I have the audience. Difficult to describe but almost entirely tangible, from my end of the experience. Even typing this, my hands are clutching at the air. 

The feeling is like the difference between my previews and the show I got back last night and tonight is that the previews were a chat with someone when you're on your phone, and they are also on their phone. Last night and tonight were like having my fist in someone's collar. Being right up in their faces. Metaphorically. That's what it feels like to have the audience - you feel like you're seizing their attention in an intimate and inescapable way. 

In a nice friendly way that involves them laughing a lot. Look, the metaphor is a rough one, what do you want from me?

Then I met up with my old friend Simon, who I grew up with as a kid, and Alana, and we went out to watch Randy Writes A Novel. 

Apparently tomorrow I have Festival Judges and Reviewers in, so let's hope third time is the charm, rather than brutal Saturday Audiences being the curse. Superstitions playing off against one another. 

Fingers crossed? Coins tossed? Nah. F-ck Luck, I like my show. 

(actually, I should talk another day about how I don't like when people pull the vowels out of swearwords. My editor did it to me the other day with a slur that was already in quote marks. We'll discuss it another day. For now, I'm going to go hit my face with a pillow by diving onto the pillow with my face. You should see the other guy. He's a pillow.)

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Alice is doing two shows at The Edinburgh Fringe in the month of August:

The Resistance, 8.15 at The Gilded Balloon every night from 3 - 29 August

and 

Savage at The City Cafe, Midday every day from 22-28 August

You should go and send friends.