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I've made this trip a few times before. This is the 28th time I have come to perform at the Fringe (and I've been up on a couple of non-performing years too)
Here are all the 45 shows that I've been involved with over the last 39 years (all those numbers seem impossible and I can't make sense of them). Interesting to note that Collings and Herrin were doing podcasts in front of an audience as early as 2008 - not quite the first to do it, but certainly well ahead of the curve. Now you can't move for live podcasts! In fact they're the only shows I've done in Edinburgh since 2017 (but should be up with a new stand up show next year, if God be willing in his Heaven above).
The first year that I came up as a "professional" was 1992 when I appeared in "the dum show". Again a title that we took a long time to come up with and settled on because it sounded like the name of a comedy show. An incredible cast of comedians: Steve Coogan, Stewart Lee, Simon Munnery, and Richard Herring. And Patrick Marber was in it too. Doing sketches. What could possibly go wrong?
Aside from Simon we'd all worked on On The Hour, but Stew and me had been writers on that and so there was a disparity from the start - I think Patrick mainly wanted to do it so we'd write funny parts for him and Steve, but I was keen to perform on an equal footing. I was very insecure about performing though (which wasn't helped by being constantly undermined) and when you're up for a part against Steve Coogan, it's quite difficult to argue that you should do it. So there were some tensions and hardly anyone came to see it and the ambitious cast lost faith in it. In the last week someone from TV came and there was talk of doing a pilot (there were some good sketches) and cast interest intensified a bit and suddenly Patrick in particular got excited about it again. But it came to nothing.
Steve won the Perrier Award for his show with John Thomson. This had no knock on for sales of the dum show. We went our separate ways. Probably for the best, though I wonder what the timeline would look like if the dum show had made it to TV.
Probably worse for everyone.
I imagine if they ever do time travel events back to the Fringes of the past that there would be more demand to see this show, but then again I saw Bill Bailey and Sean Lock do a show in the same room to four people (one day their only audience member was Dominic Holland, comedian and dad-to-be of Spiderman, and they did the show anyway). So audiences of the past didn't always get it right and missed out on some gems. And it's cool to be one of a few dozen people who saw that show.
Sometimes I have started the Fringe full of worry or fear or hope or belief that this might be my year (and occasionally it was), but as I walked out of Waverley Station today I felt glad to be back, but not expecting anything much. I hope I can create some good podcasts for you and it'd be nice if I made a little bit of money (possible thanks to being at the Stand). I didn't feel haunted by past shows or relationships as I have sometimes and my only worry was that I will miss the family.
I am staying in a hotel that is incredibly close to my venue so I don't even have to get involved with the rest of the Fringe if I don't want to. The hotel management are aware of who I am and put out a tiny pool table in my room (plus some nice Scotch snacks - shortbread, Irn Bru, Tunnocks teacakes - almost like they are taking the piss out of themselves). I've got a nice room and as incredibly expensive as it is, it's still cheaper than renting a flat and half the price of last year's accommodation.
On the walk from the station I passed a man who recognised me and once I was past him whispered (too loudly) to his wife "That's Richard Herring." It's nice that this place still remembers me and I thought about the 19 year old who came up here in 1987 and wondered what he'd think if in just 39 short years I wouldn't be able to walk the streets of this place without one person being slightly impressed. Hard to call if he'd be happy or embarrassed.
Later I had a wander around. In the past it's struck me how there will be performers at the Fringe who weren't alive when I first came here. Today I realised that anyone I passed who was under 39 years of age wasn't alive when I first came here. The majority of people in the shopping centre. This didn't strike me last year. It feels like 20 years had suddenly vanished, but I just didn't notice the time passing.
I don't mind it. It's just a bit fucking weird.
First show TODAY (if you're reading this on the 5th). Guest is MP turned stand-up Mhairi Black.
Tickets here. 
