HOW much rain did we get last week at the Fringe? More than 24 hours of the damn stuff, I can tell you. I felt like an evil, slave-driving bitch sending my flyering team out in the pounding rain. My daughter, Ashley, resembled a seal for most of the week and the other guys tried hard to put smiles on their faces every time they saw me. The leaflet team provides the backbone for the shows and should be hugged and loved.
Venues were flooded, floors were dangerously wet and those gas burners and electric heaters at some of the outdoor areas frightened me to death as they hissed and crackled while pouring rain spattered on them. Yet the crowds still came to the Fringe
and the venues just cleaned up and carried on.
The naysayers predicted a bad turn-out this year, owing to the credit crunch, the Olympics, the box office system and the rotten Scottish weather, but we still welcomed many overseas visitors to the Fringe. I had five Canadians, 12 Americans and about half a dozen Swedish people enjoy my show last week.
Scotland has a lot to offer the foreign traveller. Despite the rain and cold winds, we are a friendly people. I watched wee old Scottish folk help tourists find their way round the city. I saw shopkeepers offer shelter when the clouds burst, and witnessed a homeless man rescue an umbrella from a busy road to give back to a Japanese couple.
Once you get over the fact that, in Scotland, we don’t always have awesome sunshine but we do have wonderful terrain and stunning views, you can enjoy it more.
I personally can’t stand constant heat and a burning sun. I know this because I went to Lanzarote recently and practically melted in the humidity. Give me a cold, windy street, a big castle, some beautiful mountains and I am well chuffed; throw in some fat, fruity scones and hot tea and I am in (Scottish) heaven.
Come to the Edinburgh Fringe. Bring a raincoat, a brolly and a sense of humour. Enjoy the street performances, get into the Free Fringe and get tickets to see something out of the ordinary. Enjoy a play directed by Berkoff, check out some amazing physical acrobatics with the Caesar Twins or see cutting-edge comedy. Get the kids to some world-class children’s shows and theatre. Just get here!
The Fringe is better than the Beijing Olympics: there is possibly less drug-taking, more freedom of speech and better human rights (unless you count the poor flyering team in the rain).
Don’t let the pessimists win. The Edinburgh Fringe is awesome and should be enjoyed by everyone in Scotland as well as abroad.
• Janey’s Fringe show, Domestic Godley, is at the Pleasance Dome at 7pm every night until 25 August. See
www.janeygodley.co.uk/fringe for details or log on to
www.edinburgh-festivals.comGulls with a lot of gallI CAN’T be the only person who is aware of the huge quantities of gangster-like seagulls that inhabit Edinburgh. The big, white, beady-eyed monsters squawk and scream all bloody day and flap into crowds like drunken ASBO teenagers. One big gull snatched at a biscuit in my hand and pecked my finger till I let it go. It stood there and gulped down my cookie and then screeched at me. You know it’s a bad day when you lose a tug of war with a bird.
Night time is worse. They hover over the rooftops, cawing and making that sinister gaggling noise. I am scared of them. The only respite is when the fireworks blow up the skyline at the Tattoo and frighten them into the sky.
That makes me smile. I wait and watch the sky to see them all flock hysterically into the dark night. Small revenge!
The full article contains 671 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
