Fringe Preview
I managed to take a couple of weeks off and now I’m back into the routine of early rises and continuing to work on The Canongate Containment and The Clockmaker Conspiracy. The final edit of Canongate is almost complete and Clockmaker is being sent off for an edit later today. More on all of this in later posts.
Last night I was at The Stand Comedy Club in Glasgow, doing a preview of my August fringe show, “Cybercrime is not just for criminals” as part of the Cabaret of Dangerous Ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed the stand-up experience and taking questions from the audience.
It was a surreal experience though. For reasons I don’t fully understand, there had been a breakdown in communications, so although tickets were advertised on The Stand website, the audience had assumed it was the regular Thursday Scottish evening and had turned up expecting that. Our compere Susan Morrison explained what was happening and people were given the chance of a refund, but it appeared they decided to stay on and see what was about to happen.
My nerves, as usual had kicked in earlier, and were now under control ten minutes before going on which was the point I found out what was occurring. I’m nervous right up to going on, but at that point they have peaked and then eased off a little. Hearing that I was going out to an audience that hadn’t made a conscious decision to see me was a bit of a curveball, but I was up for it.
I thought I did well and feedback later was positive. Typically, CODI audiences allow the performer to do the show before jumping in with questions unless the performer encourages otherwise. I had a couple of interruptions, which does impact on my thought process as I’m talking one thing and thinking about where I go next. I so admire stand-ups, and their ability to keep their train of thought. I feel I handled it fine, and managed to finish successfully.
I am learning that this form of audience engagement is all about preparation and doing it for real. It’s one thing rehearsing by yourself, but nothing is like the live show. I am told the nerves are good, they never really go away, but the performance aspect will become second nature if I keep doing it.
I’m all set for the show in August at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and really looking forward to it. This will be my fourth year so I suspect I’m now described as a CODI veteran. If you fancy coming along tickets are available from here
The Fiction Factory 