On the board

It's been a strange week for my show. From getting pretty nice numbers every day, on Wednesday I walked out on stage to see just five people in the audience, plus a reviewer sitting at the back! It was a particular shock because I'd been told that I'd sold at least 15 that morning, so something must have gone wrong with the box office system, or someone was looking at the wrong figures. Playing to that few people is always difficult, especially in a big room in Edinburgh, but because I knew a reviewer was it was important that I just deliver the show as well as possible, and I performed with as much energy as I could muster. It actually went well, and led to a nice review. But it was odd.

The next day I had a larger, but weirdly much harder audience. Lots of older people in, who didn't seem to get some of the references or enjoy the slightly ruder material in the show. Something I've noticed over the years is that even if older people enjoy a comedy show, they often don't laugh out loud - that seems to be something that younger people do more often, so ideally you need a mix of age groups. It was definitely the case on this night. I even had a couple of friends in who said things like: "I really enjoyed it, I don't know why we weren't all laughing!" A bit frustrating. I think I had a reviewer in that night as well: in some ways I'd have preferred him to be there the previous night!

Friday was ok, although I didn't feel on top form - I think the exhaustion of doing the Festival was suddenly beginning to hit me, and at one point near the beginning of the show I felt really light-headed and spaced-out. Quite disconcerting when you know you have to do another 40 minutes of material! I was probably a bit on auto-pilot for the rest of the show, trying to get through it without literally fainting... Thankfully I got some sleep that night and felt a lot better for Saturday. That was a relief, because on Saturday I finally managed to get on the board!

It's a phrase all comics talk about at the Fringe: if you sell out your name gets chalked up on the Sell Out board. I wasn't sure that I'd ever manage it this year because I'm in quite a big room and relatively early in the evening, but yesterday was a busy day with many shows selling out, including mine!

It made such a difference playing to a large audience in that room. There was so much more energy from the start, and I really enjoyed the show again. I even added some adlibs and little bits here and there which I haven't used for a while. I felt relaxed and in control for the first time in a couple of days, and I'm now really looking forward to the final week of performances. If I can get on the board another one or two times, that would be brilliant. And hopefully I won't have to play to five again...