12 one man shows, 10 guest spots, 1000s of steps – and 1 baby
I’ve always wanted to perform at the Edinburgh fringe, making it happen this summer was a huge bucket list moment. Particularly with a baby in tow. It brought a mixture of emotions; there was a degree of panic and stress but also so much joy and wonder.
The lead up to the festival felt much like having a looming deadline for a big essay, with accompanying feelings of slight dread while hoping you feel prepared enough for the opening show.
The Edinburgh fringe festival offers roughly 1500 different shows everyday, across a wide selection of venues, from phone boxes to full sized, traditional theatres. I found the best way to avoid feeling completely overwhelmed was to have a good set of blinkers on. I kept my head down, got busy promoting and handing out flyers as much as I could (with a baby in tow), performed to the best of my abilities, and most importantly, enjoyed the experience.
I’m very happy to report that it (mostly) went very well, Magical Maestro opened to some very nice and appreciative audiences at the Fleming Theatre, at the Surgeons Hall venue which was operated and promoted by Space UK as part of the fringe.
There were 12 shows over two weeks, with midday shows for my first week then evening shows for the second, and some great reviews from both audience members and professional reviewers alike.
In between these, most days I was also included as a guest act in a few line ups such as Comedy Club 4 Kids, Underground Magic, Chortle’s Fast Fringe and Pick of the Fringe to name a few. I find that performing a 3-15 min act is a great way to try out and work in new material – and helps us performers to promote each other’s shows too.
Forget using buses, even with a baby in the pram, by far the easiest and quickest way to get around the various shows was to walk, so my daily step count was dizzyingly high.
Now, have I mentioned that my baby daughter Ophelia was there too?? Which WAS wonderful but certainly added a whole other layer of organisation to an already jam packed two weeks.
The juggle was a little intense at times, but fortunately we figured out a rhythm that worked for us and created some gorgeous memories, especially as she featured in the show in a pre-recorded video.
Plus I’ve found that she was my secret weapon when ‘helping’ hand out flyers for the show, and doing the meet and greets after the show. She may need to come back next time!
What I’ve learnt from my Edinburgh extravaganza, is that you really have to enjoy every moment, there will inevitably be good times and tough times, I can imagine it must be much harder if you’re there by yourself. I really appreciated having my family there for support, they massively helped to bring some balance to my schedule and keep me grounded.
The question I keep asking myself is would I do it again?
It’s been over two weeks since the final show, and having had time to process the experience and learnt a few lessons, I’m certain that I’ll be back – but maybe without a baby next time!
