Freedom From The Mundane - A Writer's Blog

Friday, August 05, 2005

Late Night Comedy At The Fringe

The sun beamed through the curtains when I woke this morning; Glory Be! Another bacon roll and hot coffee was quickly dispensed with before I took to shaving my badly overgrown head and face, showering and getting ready to go out with Laura on a Festival Watch later in the day.

We messed around most of the morning and after lunch were about to head out when I noticed grey clouds gathering on the horizon. I changed into my raincoat and told Laura to get hers too - just in case.

By the time we had walked the 500 yards to the bus stop the wind was blowing sheets of rain into our faces. My main concern was my rapidly dampening video camera in my hand. Laura's was being able to stay upright.

We decided to about turn and go back home. Laura was already half-drenched and the thought of getting blown about The Mound with a rain-soaked jacket is not my idea of August summer fun.

I dropped Laura off at Gail's work ten before five and headed into Clark's to meet Dave and Tom. We talked our usual garb and sank a few pints and we were joined by Science. His name sounds like 'S-aye-ress' - he's half Iranian and half something else - but we settled on the name Science after the bloke in Big Brother. Sorry pal - I should have asked how you spell your name!

Off we went to a small and cheap Italian restaurant at the top of Dundas Street where some food was served along with a nice bottle of Chianti. A discussion about the For's and Against's of the Iraq war ensued but none of us noticed Tom struggling with his fillet steak, which he was later to complain vociferously about for the rest of the evening.

We went to a couple more bars; one of which was next to the Assembly Rooms in George Street - our intended destination for the evening to see the Irish comedian, Jason Byrne. The bar is only open during festival time and it's no wonder - heat and a lack of space being the major problems.

The service was none too sharp either. On asking for a vodka and fresh orange the young American student serving looked at me blankly and said, "What's fresh orange?" Once I explained the origins of that particular fruit juice to the young lad I got my drink and reasoned he obviously wasn't from the Orange County.

At around ten o'clock we joined the queue to get in the Assembly Rooms for the show. The previous show was running late and so many of us ended up using the bar and toilet facilities of Mad Dogs bar, which we were positioned outside. An hour later, and we were taking our seats.

For the next hour and a half I was creased in laughter. I had to wipe the tears from my face on several occasions and by the end of it my stomach hurt from laughing so much. Jason Byrne is a class act and it was an excellent show, which by the way was entitled, The Lovely Goat Show. I would definitely recommend him, but unfortunately his run at The Fringe is a total sell out - so there's no point.

As far as the Festival e-book goes, I got some good material this evening, some of which may just make its way into the final version.
Colin 7:11 pm

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