“My wee smells funny…”

These were the words that echoed in my ears as I made my way up the stairs to write this blog. No idea which of the gimps was having urinary issues and nor do I even want to know but suffice to say the Fringe is truly upon us. What was that at the back? How does one survive the fringe in one piece? An excellent question.

First up.

Lots of sleep.

We’re all failing on that part so far. We’ve been out after the show every night and even then, on arriving back at the flat, have sat staring glass eyed at the TV screen playing computer games or watching films. The night before last I watched a film whose title I don’t even know and have no interest in looking up where Dennis Quaid was playing a baseball coach who gets a shot at the Major Leagues. By god it was terrible. Everything about it was awful. Just awful. I watched the whole thing and may have almost cried but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t a terrible film. My tears are not a marker of quality. I’ve been known to cry watching Frazier. So good sleep patterns are not being achieved thus far.

Second on the checklist.

Eat well.

The night before last I ate large scampi and large chips at one in the morning.

Last night I ate two battered hamburgers and large chips at one in the morning.

I’ve forgotten what fruit smells like…

Third thing you can try on the checklist.

Keep intellectually stimulated.

This one we’re managing to do pretty well. I saw five shows yesterday and managed to cover a good few different bases. Saw some amazing physical theatre from Gecko, one of the funniest childrens shows I’ve seen with the I Hate Children Children’s Show. That was very funny and I didn’t even feel that weird sat all on my own in the back row in a room full of kids. Excellent show. Saw lots of other great things yesterday and then we all saw our fantastic technician Jim’s show Play For September today. Really well written and acted piece. Got lots more to go and see in the next few days but doing well do far. The minds are stimulated.

So there we have it folks, on a three part checklist of what you can do to survive the Fringe. One out of three ain’t bad right?

Still twenty five days to go I guess…

Lee