So the final preview down and a week to the start of Edinburgh. On the downside I am still running 25 minutes too long for the time slot, I haven't yet written up task 11 and 12 or the conclusion and I am still reading most of it. On the upside the show seemed to go down pretty well and mainly held the attention of the crowd despite its length. Probably when I've written the end properly, rather than ad-libbing it it will actually be shorter as there was a lot of flannel and I made quite a big mistake early on which probably added two or three minutes to the proceedings.
It's a nice problem to have too much material, but there is always the fear that losing certain bits will bring the edifice come tumbling down. And as I think I've said, it is easier to cut funny routines than bits that are necessary for the plot. It hurts because I want to be able to tell the audience everything and have the freedom to take myself off down ad libbed cul de sacs, but there's going to be little time for improvisation.
I imagine I will experiment with different bits throughout the Fringe though, which will keep it interesting for me and also for anyone who wants to come more than once.
But it's really feeling like it might be a good show now and I'm certainly over the horrible period when the writing of the show seems to be an insurmountable hurdle. There's still an awful lot to do and it's going to hurt, but only in a being punched hard in the face by a bouncer kind of way and not in a radioactive dog's jaw clamped around your genitals kind of way.
I hope you'll come and see the show if you get a chance and recommend it to anyone you know who is going up. Of course you've read all this, so you pretty much know everything that happens (and in a lot more detail), but if you come and see it live you get to see me actually saying then things with my mouth and then pulling a funny face to make up for the fact that no-one has found the jokes amusing. It's a whole different experience.
I will try to keep Warming Up going during the Festival, but due to limited internet access and hangovers it is going to be a whole lot more erratic.
I'm heading northwards either tomorrow or Friday. Do say hello if you happen to spot me. Or punch me in the face if you're the bloke from the guestbook who promised to do so if I ever came to Edinburgh again. You get the first punch for free so make it a good one. I'm a lot tougher than I was before I started all this craziness.
