4th trip - Edinburgh Fringe

Maple Stapelgun

Sorry for delay in following up on the 4th trip in 13 days.  It took me this long to edit and sort all my photos.  We had SO MUCH FUN!!!!  Not only is it just a feast for the eyes to walk along the Royal Mile and observe all the craziness. But the shows are also fun, if you are lucky enough to pick good ones, even bad ones give you something to talk about for a year - until the next Fringe.

There was also the added bonus of seeing our son for a few days.  We had made all arrangements before learning he also had his own show, well, sharing with another friend from London.  They had an hour on the PBH Free Fringe.  Both had 30 minutes and were completely different from each other.  What fun to actually know someone performing and being able to attend his show.  Sounding  like a true mother, our son was great too!

Last year, he got us tickets to Foil, Arms and Hog and we have been fans ever since.  So this year he did it again!  They sell out fast so he got tickets very early and they were in the part of the audience that is very close to the stage, and, guess what?  I got picked at the very beginning to do a little bit to welcome them on stage and then, at the end, Hog ran off the stage, grabbed me and - after a very long run around to the stage wings, I came back on for the Grand Finale.  It all happened so fast, I never had a chance to get nervous.  What fun!  But next year I hope we get tickets a bit further back!

We saw 4 shows in theatre settings and were treated to many more on the street.  Two of the shows required tickets and were well worth the price, that would be Foil, Arms and Hog, as mentioned earlier and Cally Beaton.  I heard her being interviewed on the radio when I was driving back from Netherurd. Loved her! She left her very well paying job at the age of 45 and began doing stand up.  I contacted my son very proudly stating I found someone we could go see, my turn to buy tickets for her show - Invisible and introduce him to a new act. Well, guess what, he said he knows her and has gigged with her.  Ok, London is also a small town in its own way.  But her show was really fun too. Made me want to return to Iceland!  You would have to see her show to understand that.

Man on 10 foot ladder juggling big knives.  I made a video when he
did a 360 degree circle while juggling but can't seem to share it.
All I can say is we were all a very trusting audience! 

The other two shows we attended were PBH Free Fringe shows. Until I found this link, I had no idea why they were so separate. Now I get it, Mr Peter  Buckley Hill started the concept of offering free shows at the Fringe in 1996 so entertainers don't have to pay for their locations.  However, the difference between Cally and FA&G's locations and the two PBH shows we attended were night and day.  Our son and his friend had their show in Bar.Bados. An interesting bar near Grassmarket.  And the building was enormous!  The ground floor had a setting that was meant to look like Barbados and did a fairly good job, then you had to go upstairs to the maybe 8 shows that were on offer.  The one we wanted was on the very top floor!  I felt it would have been a great cardiac endurance test and there should have been oxygen tanks at the end!  But again, it is free! There are always collections at the end of the show so the entertainers do get some monetary feedback and support to get them through the time they perform at the Fringe. In actual fact, the place our son was allocated was fine, roomy with plenty of seats and sometimes they had standing room only!  I am not putting a link to his show since it ended last week, but I really hope he does this again next year.  I really enjoy his take on the world.

The other PBH show we attended was at the Wild Yarrow. This bar looked nicer, but the location of the show was downstairs next to the toilets, with only a curtain keeping the walkway separate. And there was very little seating.  We saw a show called Almost Austrian and it was hosted by an American who moved to Austria from the US and didn't really master the German language so he turned to comedy.  Some bits were funny and I enjoyed seeing how another fellow countryman settles and struggles to fit in to a new country.  The main thing I got out of his show was his struggle to find decent bacon in Scotland though.  Many of you won't understand this but Americans treat their bacon differently and it is almost impossible to find this in the UK.  Most bacon here is what we would consider Canadian bacon, which is fine - unless you are hungry for more familiar bacon, or your recipe calls for it to be crumbled!

Lady Whistle

There are also shows constantly along the Royal Mile, with some temporary stages set up and some artists perform right in the middle of the street.  Two of my favourites were Maple Staplegun, the photo at the top of this blog, and a man on a 10 foot ladder.  These street artists work in incredible situations and there is also a collection for them at the end of their shows.  They should be supported in the same was as the artists indoors.

In addition to all the shows, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of people handing out leaflets!  They go to all manner of ways to get attention and try to get passersby to take them.  The idea being you will be intrigued enough to go to a show.  It did work for the Almost Austrian show!

The lack of affordable accommodation is always a big subject when discussing visiting the Fringe.  Last year, we got very short notice that our son would be in Edinburgh (not performing then). So we scrambled and I found very affordable housing at Arran House Hotel. This is actually student accommodation that is rented out as hotel rooms during the summer.  Last year, we only stayed one night so did not feel it was too far out of the way since we just got up and went home the next day.

This year, we discovered that we did not have to walk to Haymarket to catch the tram then walk up the hill to the Royal Mile.  It is actually only a 20 minute walk up one road really, to get to Grassmarket and a much better way to get to the Royal Mile.  But still....20 minutes.  We have agreed to pay a bit more and stay closer to all the activities next year.   Nothing at all wrong with Arran House, I would highly recommend it and they said lots of the performers stay there too. But for us, just a bit too much out of the way.

These photos are just a few of the thousand I took on our first day at the Fringe.  I will add more in a second blog just so there is not too many to take in at one time.

Let me stress, you can simply walk up and down the Royal Mile and have a fantastic time. You can also attend ticketed or free shows and have a fantastic time.  There is no way not to enjoy simply being there.