24/08/08
Bringing it all home -
Categories: I leave tonight. My last show finishes at 8pm - I'll be packing my car straight up and hitting the road, stopping at a motorway services hotel somewhere around Carlisleish, to break up my journey to Cheltenham, where I'm due tomorrow night to do the show one last time (for now) at a nice big ol' festival where I can look forward to playing to more people than I have all month put together. So, a bit of housekeeping before I leave...
The if.come-and-die awards last night - worthy winners in Millican and O'Doherty. I'm particularly pleased Sarah won - mainly cos I know her and she's lovely, but part of me (the evil, corporate promoter part of me) is delighted cos she's playing our gig in Guildford in October, so hey, Guildford folks, come and see the newcomer winner on Wed 1st Oct (oh, and Lee Hurst on Wed 3rd Sept). And while you're there, Guildford folks, pub on Tuesday night?
One comedian who shall remain nameless was chatting to me last night at the awards bash and said, "So if you've won the if.comedie thing, can you be nominated in the future." "No," I replied. "Then what's the point of coming back each year? Why does Brendon Burns or Phil Nichol come back with a new show, if there's incentive?" Ugh. This nameless comic was whisked away before I could reply: "You think everyone's just here to win an award!? What about putting a show on just for the love of putting an hour of comedy together?" If I could change three things about Edinburgh, it'd be no awards whatsoever, a full house for everyone, and less hills.
Oh, and lastly, the 'bringing it home' of the title. One of my former schoolteachers came to my show on the weekend, bless her - now that's a good teacher. Ten years after I left, and she's still checking up on me. She talked of her impending retirement, and the dreams she's had of travelling the world - Australia, South America, Asia... and then of how her husband was recently diagnosed with dementia. You have all those dreams and then you suddenly are thrust into being a carer for the rest of your life. So it doesn't seem to me that she's retiring - more switching jobs. So I'm delighted they both made it along to the show, and it is also sudenly reminds you how Edinburgh Doesn't Really Matter. Up here, it's a microcosm - star ratings matter, audience figures going up and down matter, even who you're chatting to in a bar matters. We forget about the rest of the world, whether it's Olympic Games, air crashes in Madrid, or people like my old teacher who has bigger fish to fry than to worry about a dodgy review in a student-written 'magazine' (or piece of paper). So that's what brought it all home to me.
Till next year, farewell Edinburgh - thanks for having me.
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