Well this week saw my Edinburgh fringe debut, an event that was equally exciting and terrifying!
Plans did not get off to the best start. I have been horrifically busy lately so I had laid out my costumes in advance but not actually packed them. 9am on the wednesday, my train being at midday, I went to pack my costumes and props, it became immediately apparent that my largest suitcase was just not large enough! Frantically I text my friend most likely to have an epic suitcase, to find she was at the other end of the country. Another frantic text yielded a result. I was bailed out with the biggest suitcase in the world with just 2 hours to spare. God bless my friends! After this initial hitch the rest of the journey was without event other than me being pretty much incapable of lifting my own case, having stuffed it with 4 costumes, laptop, mic and mic stand! Wednesday evening was spent hang out with Daiquiri Dusk, watching Imodesty Blaize's Burlesque Undressed DVD and Dita von Teese live at the crazy horse, rehearsing, and generally feeling a bit sick with nerves.
Thursday was the day of my first performance at Kabarett. I had foolishly assumed that performing at the Fringe would be the same as any other event, turn up a couple of hours before, do your make up and change in a leisurely fashion, but no, the Fringe just doesn't work that way. The venues are pretty much booked solid and you get 15 mins in between shows to set up. This led to a rather hasty change and no sound check, which only added to my nerves, I'm not very good at rushing! However the front row was filled with my scottish pals which really helped calm me down.
I opened the show with a new piece I put together specially for the fringe. A sing and fling to 'lullaby' by the Cure featuring my amazing new dress from Ashmans. I haven't quite decided if my character in this routine is the spider man/woman mentioned in the song or if she's just a gold digger coming to bleed you dry but either way it's generally a bit threatening and disconcerting and I love it! The singing went well although the lack of sound check led to me a being a little taken aback by how loud my voice came out on the system, but the act went down well and the costume looks amazing on stage.
Another hasty change and I performed my 'Missed Me?' act. Having got dressed in a rush, pretty much the first item I remove, my coat, got tied in a knot, knocking me off kilter. (There's a specific way to tie a bow so that it comes undone with just one tiny pull on one tail) I ended up dropping it down and wiggling out of it. Apparently I did a good job of hiding it, although I'm not convinced. Still the audience seemed to enjoy the piece even if I did scare them a little again! Pictures of both my acts at Kabaret were kindly provided by the lovely Ioliar.
I didn't see many of the other acts but they included Piff the Magic Dragon, whose dead pan delivery really made me giggle. A lady who performed a music hall sign and fling, she was hilarious but her name escapes my nerve addled brain. Joe Black with his usual disturbing antics (made me seem far less unhinged I'm sure! Frayed Knot circus closed the show with a great whip routine, amazing! I've been wanting to catch Amelie and Ed at their circus antics for a long time and they def didn't disappoint. After the show I caught up with some friends and met some new ones, and generally found myself buoyed by the whole experience.
Friday was the day of Looks that Kill, I was way more chilled out before this one, probably because Daiquiri was a bag of nerves. Her compare for the evening was unwell so she had to take on the roll herself. The layout of the venue meant that I didn't see the other acts at all but I did hear Daiquiri and she did a sterling job as compare, managing to be a character but still connecting with the audience through telling personal anecdotes, a winning combination. I performed my 'Missed Me?' act and 'A leopard can't change Her spots?' both went pretty much without a hitch this time. Aside from getting covered in fake blood from the previous performer during the leopard. The other performers were Joe Black, Vendetta Vain, Katrina Darling, Teniah Twisted and Favourite Sin. The audience loved the show, Daiquiri was happy and the venue were happy so all in all a grand evening. Look forward to seeing the video so I can see what I missed! (Filmed by the lovely Alan and Zan, my new friends I mentioned earlier)
Sadly the Saturday meant I had to leave scottish land, annoyingly my booked straight through train decided it actually had three changes so I had to swiftly pack up to catch an earlier train with just one. All in all I had a blooming great time, was fantastic to spend some quality time with Daiquiri and to catch up with just about all of the Scottish Caberatti at once. I would like to try a proper run next year, although I'm not sure if I could deal with being 'on' every day for a couple of weeks, I feel the overdose of glamour might kill me!
Bonus of all bonuses, I came home to find my new computer (and the lovely Lukelton) at my house. So I can finally get on with all this editing I have stacked up. Shame I have absolutely no energy left! Oh well it'll take a week to set it up properly with all my soft/hard ware anyway. But at least it's here!
My diary has no events of note in September (I try to keep September relatively free in order to save energy for the gig madness that is the Oct/Nov Halloween period) so expect lots of posts about my recent photographic exploits, well when I get the computer going.
TTFN
CF
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All Images are (c) Iolair Images and must not be published or reproduced in any medium without prior written permission from the photographer
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