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In the podcast yesterday I had suggested that at least one of my guests had to lose the award. As it happened one did, but I might have been wrong as the thing was declared a tie. Congratulations to John Robins and Hannah Gadsby for sharing the trophy (but not having to share the money). I came the closest I have ever been to a solo win of the Panel Prize, because no Panel Prize was given… ooooh so near, but yet so far.
Thank God this is over. I stopped for a rest at the bottom of the hill on the way up to the Pleasance and my legs seized up a bit and I then shuffled up the slope feeling like I was 70. It took me so long that I might have been by then. This might sound bad, but usually by this stage of the Fringe I am too tired to walk from my flat to the venue, so this was a triumph.
And how marvellous to be finishing on a Saturday with a sold out show and an audience who rose to the occasion. Had great support from the Pleasance 1 crew and Maia my stage manager. And a brilliant street team who boosted my numbers when I needed more. I gave everyone a signed Emergency Questions book with an extra question written in by hand. I can't work out if this was a great present or a terrible one. But it's better than a boot up the arse.
As tired and old as I felt before the show (the legs started working again properly on stage) I am pleased that I returned to the Fringe. I haven't engaged too much with anything but my own shows, but that was increasingly the case in recent years anyway. It's a strong show that I will make stronger on tour.
I am not sure if I will be back next year - everything is a bit up in the air - though my gut feeling is that I won't do a new stand up hour, but I might try to do a longer run of podcasts. Or I might just enjoy summer with my ever-growing family. I love doing the stand up shows, but they take up a lot of time and a lot of nights, before the Fringe and after.
Back to the flat for the last night. I had a glass of champagne, but apart from that was just trying to prepare myself for an early departure tomorrow. I did some tidying today, but it was hard to work out how much to do as the flat was fairly dirty when we arrived. I made the mistake of attempting to clean the sides of the hood of the extractor fan and it was deep with grease that suggested no one had been up there for months if not years. A letter on arrival had threatened that if we left the flat dirty then we would have to pay for professional cleaners. It might have been nice if that courtesy had been extended to us beforehand. It's been a good flat in spite of this and a few things falling apart (you wonder too if you will be charged for this wear and tear) and costing a fortune. I mean you can't expect too much for a thousand pounds a week right?
