In another world, this run was taking place in the second half of the month, when I would have been in Edinburgh anyway. Alas, it is another world, not this world, so here I am flying up to Edinburgh for 24 hours to surprise Alasdair at his own show, half way through the run. It is, awfully, horrifically, at The Three Sisters (an awful, horrific place) at half midnight (an awful, horrific time). But here we are, and here I am.
It’s a delight to see that the room (read: karaoke booth) is pretty much full by the end! Other performers, random audience members, and me. A dream.
Obviously I am biased. Let’s get that out of the way. I don’t think we’d be together if I thought Alasdair wasn’t funny. But my god, it’s so nice to see him do so well in a proper gig. The seeds of whatever his first proper show are all here, and he’s absolutely storming this. It is playful but considered, with plenty of belly laughs, and the audience are on board. A thrill.
Poor Tom is without his tech thanks to an ill-advised comedians’ five-a-side match, which I know is frustrating to him, because that rids him of some very good set pieces. But creativity is all in the constraints, and he is good enough a comedian to not use the tech as a crutch. It’s a compelling hour, all in.
By the end of it, it’s 1.30am and I only got off the plane four and a half hours ago, so maybe I’m just hysterical at this point. But I think this is one of the best things about the Fringe, the idea of this kind of split bill happening at this time in this venue. The Fringe should be scrappy, and I love it for it.