Yesterday was our final full-day at this year's Fringe, and luckily for us, it was a blinder. It wasn't all good news though; our first gig of the day was, shall we say, a little disappointing?
I'll preface this bit by admitting that Gill chose our first gig, and I had no part in it.
So, first up was Damion Larkin, a guy who successfully bantered with us in Wednesday's queue to the point where Gill thought it was ok to get a couple of tickets to see the man. Oh how we would later rue that decision.
Damion Larkin's show was called Cuddly Loser, and it addressed what he, and many of us, think about when we consider someone a winner or a loser. Damion talked about body image, about people's attractive and unattractive traits, as well as his own shortcomings.
Firstly, there was only about 30 people in the venue, so I think even he best comedian would find it difficult to create a decent atmosphere with such a lack of willing audience members actually, forget that, Stewart Lee or Russell Kane
Posted Fri, August 20th, 2010 by  Mat 
Yesterday was our final full-day at this year’s Fringe, and luckily for us, it was a blinder. It wasn’t all good news though; our first gig of the day was, shall we say, a little disappointing?
I’ll preface this bit by admitting that Gill chose our first gig, and I had no part in it.
So, first [...]
Still thinking about utterly brilliant Russell Kane was the night before, we made our way over to Bannerman's for our first gig of the day at just after 12pm. Andrew Collin's Secret Dancing (and other urban survival techniques) was our first gig at Bannerman's and also Andrew's first Fringe show. It's weird, I sort of feel like I've watched Andrew grow from being someone I just kind of recognised from popular shows like 'I love 1982' and '50 Best Comedy Characters' to Richard Herring's co-host on their podcast, and now to Fringe performer.
When Collings and Herrin do their podcasts Richard usually does 10 minutes of stand-up before the show, and over the last year or so, Andrew has started doing his own 10 minutes of material. Not so much a gig as much as a public information service, Andrew's 10 minutes consisted of him explaining how, after years of walking around and using public transport, there's just no sane way of dancing without looking a bit strange.
Because of this he's created a new,
Posted Thu, August 19th, 2010 by Mat
Still thinking about utterly brilliant Russell Kane was the night before, we made our way over to Bannerman’s for our first gig of the day at just after 12pm. Andrew Collin’s Secret Dancing (and other urban survival techniques) was our first gig at Bannerman’s and also Andrew’s first Fringe show. It’s weird, I sort of [...]
Day two proper of Edinburgh Fringe and the sun has finally come out. It's always been quite warm when we've come up here for one week in August, but it still rains pretty much every day. Although the temperature never drops to a point when we're actually feeling cold as we walk from gig to gig, it still has an almost constant state of being overcast, so the rain never feels far away.
Yesterday though, we had blue skies and beautiful, warm, sunny weather. Most unlike Edinburgh, but very much appreciated.
We had two gigs pre-booked for yesterday, but after going through the PBH Free Fringe and the Five Pound Fringe programmes, we had found some others which we wanted to see, which meant we had to walk over to the Fringe Box Office in town and queue up.
Unlike Monday's joyous 90 seconds of putting our card in and collecting our tickets, yesterday we had to actually stop and stand in a big, slow moving queue with the rest of the mere mortals.
As well as a feeling that your wasting your preci
Posted Wed, August 18th, 2010 by Mat
Day two proper of Edinburgh Fringe and the sun has finally come out. It’s always been quite warm when we’ve come up here for one week in August, but it still rains pretty much every day. Although the temperature never drops to a point when we’re actually feeling cold as we walk from gig to [...]
Last night we kicked off our Edinbrugh Fringe proper when we saw our first show of the week. DILDON’T! was our opening gig, written and directed by fellow rllmuker James Hamilton, and member of the Casual Violence! collective based in London and Brighton.
Set in a sex shop for new and second-hand sex toys, DILDON’T! plays [...]
At the Edinburgh Fringe festival!
After having such an awesome time last year, we decided to go again, and so here we are. Last year's visit was my first time at the #edfringe after years of longing, and we enjoyed ourselves so much last August that coming again this was a forgone conclusion.
The journey from Leeds to Edinburgh Waverley takes just over three hours, and we set off like we always do; ridiculously early. We got the 07:10 train, which on a regular work day is nothing, but I was up late after recording this week's Big Bother, so this morning's early wake-up call hit me a little harder than usual.
We arrived in Edinburgh around 10:20, and our first task was to drop off our bags at our apartment which we've got for the week.
Well, not the apartment as such, more the company providing the apartment - we weren't able to check-in until 3pm but we really didn't want to lug our suitcase on wheels and a Morrison's bag full of apple turnovers all round Edinburgh, so thankfully Ed Apar
Posted Mon, August 16th, 2010 by Mat
At the Edinburgh Fringe festival!
After having such an awesome time last year, we decided to go again, and so here we are. Last year’s visit was my first time at the #edfringe after years of longing, and we enjoyed ourselves so much last August that coming again this was a forgone conclusion.
The journey from [...]
Gill didn't go to Lucie's garden party in the end as her hangover got the better of her.
Not really good enough and we've had to have some upsetting conversations and I've told her the wedding is off until she can handle her drink. It's simply not on, and I won't stand for it.
So yesterday I went to the garden party on my own and met up with my close friends from uni and plenty more besides and had a good time even though I was without my Gill.
I had a great time, but as is typically the case at these sorts of events, I may have gone a little over the top on the old alcohol front. Which is silly, especially considering yesterday's blog, but there you go.
But you know how it is; you have a nice time, you're enjoying great conversation with friends and before you know it you're jumping around and trying to do UFC moves in your mate once you're back from the club (or 'Clubland', as literally none of my mates call it)
The only trouble is, I felt really ridiculously hungover this morning. W
Posted Sun, August 15th, 2010 by Mat
Gill didn’t go to Lucie’s garden party in the end as her hangover got the better of her.
Not really good enough and we’ve had to have some upsetting conversations and I’ve told her the wedding is off until she can handle her drink. It’s simply not on, and I won’t stand for it.
So yesterday [...]
It's particularly hard to write a blog based on the last day or so when you've not done much.
Besides watching football, playing Crackdown, drinking beer and looking after my hungover girlfriend, I haven't done much. Hungover girlfriend I hear you ask? Yeah, Gill went out to a friend's wedding reception last night and even though she came in at a decent hour - think it was just after 12 when she came crawling in - she still managed to have an absolute banger of a hangover this morning. Well, this afternoon really. And it's still going on now.
By right now I mean 15:32 on Saturday afternoon. By now both Gill and I should be in the car on the way to the annual garden party that my friend Lucie has, but are we in the car? No. Am I still in my pants and Palace top writing this blog? Yes. Is Gill still in bed feeling dizzy even though she's currently horizontal? Yes. Yes she is.
I do this all the time actually, I'm rarely on time when I'm meeting friends. It's a bad trait, I know, but I just can
Posted Sat, August 14th, 2010 by Mat
It’s particularly hard to write a blog based on the last day or so when you’ve not done much.
Besides watching football, playing Crackdown, drinking beer and looking after my hungover girlfriend, I haven’t done much. Hungover girlfriend I hear you ask? Yeah, Gill went out to a friend’s wedding reception last night and even [...]
Wedding websites; what's the point? I went out for a few drinks with a couple of my ex-work colleagues Jo and Clare and they naturally after a couple of drinks the subject turned towards weddings, and wedding websites. Apparently they're all the rage, and every almost-married couple needs one.
But do we really need one? I don't think so to be honest. I mean what would we really use it for? Would it be just to advertise the wedding? It's not like we're running short on guests, and it's not a "let's advertise the party on Myspace because my parents are away for the weekend" type of affair either.
I mean sure, a wedding website would be ace were my family and every guest fully into the internet and they could comment on wedding blog posts and pictures of us, and read the site daily, desperate for the latest update, but that's just not gonna happen.
Also, we're busy enough trying to ACTUALLY ORGANISE THE THING to be spending time blogging about it (I write a daily blog anyway, so I really don't h
Posted Fri, August 13th, 2010 by Mat
Wedding websites; what’s the point? I went out for a few drinks with a couple of my ex-work colleagues Jo and Clare and they naturally after a couple of drinks the subject turned towards weddings, and wedding websites. Apparently they’re all the rage, and every almost-married couple needs one.
But do we really need one? I [...]
Today was my last day driving around Yorkshire for work, and I've really enjoyed it.
I came across some beautiful scenery today, much like yesterday in fact, but today's scenery actually made me stand back in awe.
It wasn't one particular village, hillside, or picturesque town hall, it was the whole overwhelming beauty of England.
I've always loved the hustle and bustle of city life. I think it comes from living in Bognor Regis Town until I was 19. A lovely, if a bit one-horse of a town, but one that I had grown out of before I had even grown up.
I was desperate to leave the seaside town and see the city. Admittedly the first place I went was uni in Middlesbrough, but although not an improvement on the pretty seaside location of Bognor Regis, it had some hustle and bustle, instead of just the bustle.
But as I was driving round the countryside today I wondered why I had always stayed away from places like this. I used to get a bit freaked out being away from a busy city, I felt suffoc
Posted Thu, August 12th, 2010 by Mat
Today was my last day driving around Yorkshire for work, and I’ve really enjoyed it.
I came across some beautiful scenery today, much like yesterday in fact, but today’s scenery actually made me stand back in awe.
It wasn’t one particular village, hillside, or picturesque town hall, it was the whole overwhelming beauty of England.
I’ve [...]
They say you should never meet your heroes.
The reasoning behind this is because you'll only be disappointed that they're not as amazing as you thought you were, and I guess it'll leave you questioning what a 'hero' really is, and why we look up to them.
I had an experience today that would definitely come up that famous phrase, but when an opportunity comes to meet such an idol, such a legend, such a guiding light, you can't help but want to say hello, and see how they are.
You want to see whether they really are as good as you think they are. Whether they're as nice as you hoped, and whether they'll be courteous and friendly as you are to them.
My chance meeting didn't happen in the most obvious of places, of course not; It was 3pm, and I was in McDonald's.
After another long day of driving round Yorkshire meeting people and getting them to sign little bits of paper, I stopped for a bite to eat. And as is usually the case after a long, hard drive, healthy eating and water usually mak
Posted Wed, August 11th, 2010 by Mat
They say you should never meet your heroes.
The reasoning behind this is because you’ll only be disappointed that they’re not as amazing as you thought you were, and I guess it’ll leave you questioning what a ‘hero’ really is, and why we look up to them.
I had an experience today that would definitely come up [...]
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