I've gotten terrible at writing every day. No excuses except that Coopers Ale is strong and when I'm not gigging I prefer to sit outside with the other comics rather than in doors near the luminous screen of my manipulative hypnotizing laptop.
It's midday on Friday 27th February and I'm at my desk with coffee and an array of comic-books, flyers and postcards around me. The smell of freeze dried coffee is one of my most loved, familiar smells reminding me of my final years of University and my first adventure living in my own flat when I was a 21 year old graduate in Bow. Freeze dried coffee - the signature drink of any young person who considers themselves to be grownup yet still lacks any working knowledge of how a normal coffee machine works or is too intimidated by the coffee grinder machines in John Lewis to actually go buy one....
So,
The highlights of the week have been thus far:
1) I've gotten rid of the Crutches! I've given up looking like a limping Kangaroo. If I ever have a child I think I'm going to name it Codeine. As I think it's important to name things after other things that you love.
2) Dan Lees is here in Australia. WAHAY! Dan helped choreograph the opening of my show, Being Barbarella, and he is performing at Tuxedo Cat next week with his award winning show Brainchild. I'd highly recommend you see his show. It's a bizarre, childlish hour of mind-boggling clowning fun - http://m.adelaidefringe.com.au/event/dan-lees-brainchild/e2ba8a51-dd57-4ab5-8af2-fee63f2a0109 - On Tuesday we had a lovely day together walking around the zoo where he pushed me around in a wheelchair as we looked at Hippos, Giraffes, Pandas and Tazmanian Devils (the most beautiful creatures in the world).
3) On Monday I spent the afternoon with Bryony Kimmings and Tim Grayburn at their 'Day Off Brunch'. Bryony Kimmings is one of my favourite performance makers and her work has inspired me since I first discovered her work in my first year as a Drama student at Bristol in 2010. She is a great role model. On stage she is honest, refreshing, fantastic and creates work that challenges our perceptions of many social topics such as feminism, sex, mental health and gender roles.
Anyways, putting my mini-fan-girl aside, the brunch was full of interesting and fun performance-makers. Orange juice, proseco and pancakes and a mini-amateur-ping-pong-tournament took place. Then afterwards, as the evening drew to a close, a small collection of us went to Henley Beach. The waves were so strong and the tide was coming in, but it was the most refreshing way to close a calm, unexpected day of rest. A refreshing way to cleanse the end of one performance week and christen the beginning of another. (I was also very pleased as I collected lots of really nice shells from the beach.)
4) Dr Brown Clowning Workshop - I signed up to do a two day workshop with Dr Brown. It took place in the delapitated upstairs room of a restaurant near Tuxedo Cat - where the walls were a marble collage of brick, old paint and different layers of wallpaper. An interesting room to perform in, with thick wooden floorboards and a wide spacious black stage. There was a group of 15 of us, all working together to bring out our inner idiot. It's important to do something that challenges you and terrifies you in equal measure, so I thought it would be worth to do. I need to push my inner-perfectionist and do something that pushes me to 'be shit' basically and not rely on my usual storytelling abilities. Boy, it was fun. Hard in parts, being made to feel vulnerable at points, but it was an important experience for me. It knackered me, but revitilized me at the same time - especially at a moment in this festival where I have become very familiar with my show and I am keen to keep it fresh and innovative each time.
Right, now I'm off to adventure.
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