Edinburgh Fringe Round-Up 2008
Having just looked at my journal, I realise I have a few things which I need to say about life before getting on with the fringe round-up. Jem is fine, the pain in her side was nothing to worry about and it's eased up recently. We're not moving now, we're going to stay where we are for (hopefully) another 12 months while we save up more of a deposit for a house.
2008 has been a weird year for me, we lost a house we'd almost successfully bought after I lost two contracts in a day (both companies have major money problems). It was looking increasingly like I was going to have to pull out of doing Edinburgh Fringe completely and then a company I worked for a little while ago got in touch as they had a couple of months of work for me to do. So it was that I found myself driving up to Edinburgh for my yearly pilgrimage.
It’s been a good year with very little press attention (compared to last year’s bad year with plenty of press attention). I got a really nice review from Three Weeks (see http://www.owenniblock.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=45) and some good ratings on the edfringe website (although I didn’t polarise people as much as when we did Bitter & Twisted) and most importantly I had lots of fun. I had a couple of rough shows but only 3 out of 19 which I would call bad. At least 4 were wonderful and many were weird. My favourite moments of Edinburgh this year include a man heckling me with the random phrase ‘what about a Kinder Surprise egg?’ finding the most random trainers in the world and making some new friends. I also held a competition for the best picture of a thing with Robin Hood’s hat on, which a small group of people returned for at the end of the run. Tredders won with a beautiful construction which turned round changing the image underneath the hat. I felt so proud!
I feel like I’ve proved to myself that I can stand onstage for 50 minutes and be consistently funny and I also feel like I’ve put a few skeletons in the closet to bed (what a lovely mixed metaphor). Next year we’re having a year off although we’ve already decided to come up for a week and see some shows and do a 1-off B&T music show. The year after I hope to do another solo show, at the moment I’m torn between working on another mishmash of weird-geek-music-stuff or attempting to write a show about being a geek and having a computer judge the show based on how many laughs I get.
I will definitely do the Free Fringe again, the concept is sound, I didn’t make as much money as some but I certainly didn't lose as much money as the smaller acts playing the bigger venues. I had some people who saw my show last year return to see it again this year and if I can continue to build on that I’ll have better and better years in Edinburgh. Viva la geek-army.
I've seen some really really good shows this year (mostly free shows and comps as we're trying to save money). Notably, James Hazelden's show 'Freeloader', Robin Ince's show 'Bleeding Heart Liberal' and Andrew O'Neill's free stand-up show stick out in my mind. Also went to see Stan Stanley's show which was brilliant - we got in free but went and paid at the end because it was so good we felt cheeky for getting comps.
We’ve socialised more toward the end of Edinburgh than I usually do. It’s been nice, I normally shy away from too much social interaction but I’m starting to work out who on the circuit I like and trust (after 5 years) so it’s been good to go out drinking and chatting with nice people. We went out to the loft bar the other night (tad wanky as it’s an exclusive bar) and ended up getting in at 7am. Eek!
And then we come to the awards. This year I (along with every other comedian at the festival) have been awarded the If.Comedy Panel prize. So what did they do with the prize money? They put it behind the bar at the Spiegel Tent on Monday night for a free knees-up. What a ludicrous idea. We went along and had a couple of drinks, the whole thing lasted about an hour and a half and at its peak there were about 200 people in. It completely devalues the award and it’s such a shame because the winners of the main and newcomer award this year thoroughly deserve it. I’m fairly sure we couldn’t have got through the £4000 prize money in an hour and a half (despite the fact that a glass of wine in the Speigel Tent is £4! So what happens to the remainder of the money? No-one knows.
I’m taking Jem out to the cinema and for a nice meal tonight to say thanks for all she’s done in the last month. For putting up with the stress and pain involved in doing an Edinburgh show and for not telling me how ridiculous it is to relocate for an entire month for what is essentially a vanity project. Then tomorrow it’s off to Derby for a small festival over the weekend and then rushing around for a bit sorting out some work stuff back at my parents’, going to see the cats and take them home from Jem’s parents’ and going out for Dan’s birthday. Then home. Then sleep.
I’ve had to put the PhD on the back burner due to not knowing if I have a steady job, but I’m starting to freelance more and so hopefully I’ll be able to pick that up in the future. In the meantime we have plans to work on some music, a sitcom idea we have and I need to write 50 mins of good new stuff over the next 23 months.
2008 has been a weird year for me, we lost a house we'd almost successfully bought after I lost two contracts in a day (both companies have major money problems). It was looking increasingly like I was going to have to pull out of doing Edinburgh Fringe completely and then a company I worked for a little while ago got in touch as they had a couple of months of work for me to do. So it was that I found myself driving up to Edinburgh for my yearly pilgrimage.
It’s been a good year with very little press attention (compared to last year’s bad year with plenty of press attention). I got a really nice review from Three Weeks (see http://www.owenniblock.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=62&Itemid=45) and some good ratings on the edfringe website (although I didn’t polarise people as much as when we did Bitter & Twisted) and most importantly I had lots of fun. I had a couple of rough shows but only 3 out of 19 which I would call bad. At least 4 were wonderful and many were weird. My favourite moments of Edinburgh this year include a man heckling me with the random phrase ‘what about a Kinder Surprise egg?’ finding the most random trainers in the world and making some new friends. I also held a competition for the best picture of a thing with Robin Hood’s hat on, which a small group of people returned for at the end of the run. Tredders won with a beautiful construction which turned round changing the image underneath the hat. I felt so proud!
I feel like I’ve proved to myself that I can stand onstage for 50 minutes and be consistently funny and I also feel like I’ve put a few skeletons in the closet to bed (what a lovely mixed metaphor). Next year we’re having a year off although we’ve already decided to come up for a week and see some shows and do a 1-off B&T music show. The year after I hope to do another solo show, at the moment I’m torn between working on another mishmash of weird-geek-music-stuff or attempting to write a show about being a geek and having a computer judge the show based on how many laughs I get.
I will definitely do the Free Fringe again, the concept is sound, I didn’t make as much money as some but I certainly didn't lose as much money as the smaller acts playing the bigger venues. I had some people who saw my show last year return to see it again this year and if I can continue to build on that I’ll have better and better years in Edinburgh. Viva la geek-army.
I've seen some really really good shows this year (mostly free shows and comps as we're trying to save money). Notably, James Hazelden's show 'Freeloader', Robin Ince's show 'Bleeding Heart Liberal' and Andrew O'Neill's free stand-up show stick out in my mind. Also went to see Stan Stanley's show which was brilliant - we got in free but went and paid at the end because it was so good we felt cheeky for getting comps.
We’ve socialised more toward the end of Edinburgh than I usually do. It’s been nice, I normally shy away from too much social interaction but I’m starting to work out who on the circuit I like and trust (after 5 years) so it’s been good to go out drinking and chatting with nice people. We went out to the loft bar the other night (tad wanky as it’s an exclusive bar) and ended up getting in at 7am. Eek!
And then we come to the awards. This year I (along with every other comedian at the festival) have been awarded the If.Comedy Panel prize. So what did they do with the prize money? They put it behind the bar at the Spiegel Tent on Monday night for a free knees-up. What a ludicrous idea. We went along and had a couple of drinks, the whole thing lasted about an hour and a half and at its peak there were about 200 people in. It completely devalues the award and it’s such a shame because the winners of the main and newcomer award this year thoroughly deserve it. I’m fairly sure we couldn’t have got through the £4000 prize money in an hour and a half (despite the fact that a glass of wine in the Speigel Tent is £4! So what happens to the remainder of the money? No-one knows.
I’m taking Jem out to the cinema and for a nice meal tonight to say thanks for all she’s done in the last month. For putting up with the stress and pain involved in doing an Edinburgh show and for not telling me how ridiculous it is to relocate for an entire month for what is essentially a vanity project. Then tomorrow it’s off to Derby for a small festival over the weekend and then rushing around for a bit sorting out some work stuff back at my parents’, going to see the cats and take them home from Jem’s parents’ and going out for Dan’s birthday. Then home. Then sleep.
I’ve had to put the PhD on the back burner due to not knowing if I have a steady job, but I’m starting to freelance more and so hopefully I’ll be able to pick that up in the future. In the meantime we have plans to work on some music, a sitcom idea we have and I need to write 50 mins of good new stuff over the next 23 months.