The Shocking Truth About Men & Women
Edinburgh Festival Stand Up Comedy News
GEOFF NORCOTT
Title Of Show: ‘The Shocking Truth About Men & Women’
Venue: Pleasance Courtyard – Over The Road 3
Time: 7.00pm
Dates: 5th – 31st August (except 12th & 19th)
Previews: 5th – 7th August
So I am standing there in Edinburgh castle at 6am yesterday morning, surrounded by a belly dancer, some Japanese drummers and the Sowetto choir and i’m thinking the fringe has truly begun…
There were other points where I wondered if things had started. That terrifying but reassuring moment when they lower the harness down on the roller coaster; you’re still scared, but you know pulling out now would make you look like a dick.
I had it when I arrived at the airport, feeling a little bit vulnerable it has to be said.
I’d had this ongoing fear that the landlord of my flat would be this unscrupulous type but he couldn’t have been nicer.
He even came to meet me at the airport to give me the keys and had a voice a bit like the Meerkat on the adverts, which made me trust him.
I wondered if things had begun when I got to the flat and I had that inexplicable sense of immediate familiarity with a flat that actually looked better than the photos.
The only down side to the flat is a pub opposite outside which Leith’s finest stand smoking and continually saying, ‘I’ll tell you what big man,’ without ever getting around to telling them anything.
The bathroom has the smallest possible clearance between bath and wall, which means I have to walk to the toilet sideways like a crab, which makes me laugh as I catch myself in the mirror.
I got the feeling again when I went to my venue for the tech rehearsal and realised that both my room and team are good.
The show manager, Ed (it’s very easy from me to like people called Ed) looks like a better looking version of Matt Horne and has a very reassuring manner about him. Theo is on sound and Grace is on lights. Theo is a good lad, but didn’t get my Cosby show reference.
I did that pathetic thing of trying to make them laugh continually during my rehearsal – nineteen year olds shouldn’t have to cope with that kind of pressure.
I had lunch with the lovely Sarah Millican yesterday, who made me laugh and smile so much I forgt to shit myself about that night’s show.
I definitely thought the first show would be the true point of arrival, but, while the laughs were there, it did have a ‘first show’ feel about it. I hadn’t actually performed it live for over a week so I had to get my structural satnav re-alligned.
Maybe i’d had my head turned by a call I took before the show to appear on GMTV the following morning.
Ever the optimist, I immediately defaulted to me and ‘Shep’ (Ben shepherd to everyone else) swapping familiar gags on the couch.
It turned out that I was one of a wealth of performers across the spectrum to be briefly interviewed standing up at Edinburgh castle.
I have to say I felt a little dull by comparison to the dancers and song and dance troupes.
As we turned up at the gates there was a guy with white hair and a cigar standing with a Mr T lookalike, replete with gold chains and mohican. The PR girl with me whispered without a trace of irony, ‘Do you think they are from A Team the musical?’
‘…yes…most likely.’
The presenter doing the outside broadcast, Nick, did a great job at dealing with loads of PR hungry acts and I was eventually given two short slots to say something funny to the nation.
Difficult for a stand up, but I managed to belt out a couple of 30 second grabs from the show, the second of which was referred back to by my old showbiz buddy Andrew Castle in the studio.
A result – I felt like I was in.
I sat in the Pleasance Courtyard before my second show hoping for a good one.
I was inspired by the sight of the great Hardeep Singh Kholi getting mobbed as he made his way across the courtyard.
Only in Edinburgh could Hardeep Singh Kholi cause a near stampede.
The show went well. I still need to tidy up a couple of bits, but I felt in control of it.
No matter what happens now, there was at least one night when it all seemed to make sense.
…and that’s when your Edinburgh really begins; the first time you give your audience a fair account of your show.
Tags: comedian, Edinburgh, funny, Geoff Norcott, the comedy club, the shocking truth about men and women
