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After the protests and the next generation eclipsing my work, even more drama today, as Storm Floris hit Edinburgh. There had been warnings yesterday and the venue said if things were bad they might have to close for the day. And this morning the Edinburgh Tattoo was cancelled tonight (so it wasn't all bad) and the Pleasance Courtyard shut down til 6pm.
We were due to go out and see the Bubble Man and I was worried about getting caught in the wind and rain and probably killed. But we'd bought the tickets and even though they were two for one I wasn't wasting that money for anyone.
The storm was meant to hit at 10am and we had to leave at 10.30. Would we survive or am I now dead? Or did I survive and my family were killed? Would I still be writing my blog? (probably) Would it be so light-hearted? (maybe, that's a good technique of story-telling to suddenly have a big tonal shift).
We were actually OK. We got drizzled on and we saw some posters that had been blown off some railings.
The Bubble Man was on good form.
Last time we'd seen him he'd been frustrated about the conditions in the venue and he didn't look like he was having a great time. Today though, aside from having to cope with being on a high stage and the heat from the audience affecting the trajectory of his bubbles, he was much more ebullient.
Ernie was desperate to get involved, but so was every kid in the packed auditorium and even though we'd got into row 2, he didn't get on stage today. He'd have loved being inside a big bubble.
It's a terrific show. Of course we'd lost our bubble trumpets that we bought last time, so he got the £30 we'd saved on 2 for 1 tickets as we bought more trumpets and mixture (even though he told us we could make our own with Fairy liquid, water and lube- not that we have any of the lying around the house).
Recipe here.I wondered if Edinburgh would still be there when we left the venue or if it would have blown away. We emerged to the clearest bluest sky that I've ever seen in the city. It was blustery, but I was glad I hadn't cancelled my show.
My guest at the Stand was Andrew O' Neill, a fantastic comedian who is also non-binary and uses the pronouns they/them. I very much believe in referring to people how they wish to be referred to, but also like most of us, am painfully aware of how many times I fuck things up. James my tech reminded me to use they/them and I said I was ready for it.
In the dressing room Andrew reminded me too as I was telling them about my nail varnish and how I was impinging on their territory. I said "I didn't just get it wrong did I?"
"You did," said Andrew, but said it was OK and that even they sometimes accidentally referred to themself with the wrong pronoun.
I was determined not to get it wrong in the show. And made sure I said "They are best know for their" in my funny introduction for what the guest is best known for. Nailed it. I am cool.
Then Andrew asked how my Fringe was going and I told them I was knackered before adding, "You're OK. You're a young man."
"I am neither of those things," Andrew corrected.
I'd got 30 seconds into the interview and already fucked things up. I was so pleased with myself for having got over the first hurdle that I had accidentally run on to the javelin area and speared myself.
Luckily it was amusing, but fucking Hell. What a prick.
It's super hard though. I hope I've got it all right in this entry and have made a huge effort to do so. I am not going back to check though.
Andrew was a terrific guest. I feel most of my audience wasn't aware of O' Neill's 20+ year career and some of them thought I might be talking to the wiggy cunt from This Week, whose pronouns are definitely he/him. We had a great chat about comedy and individuality and authenticity. It was electric. And the storm that I had gently mocked at the start made the lights come up in the auditorium part way through and I had to look at my hideous audience.
Check out Andrew's shows.
I had to correct pronouns twice at the end there. It gets worse when you relax.
