It is now 2:09 am on Monday. The fringe is halfway over for me, the days and nights are speeding up, the freckle count is getting higher and the notion of returning to the foggy dampness of the UK fills me with the same melancholy that you get when your summer holiday starts to come to an end. That same feeling that you get on day 5 of your one week family holiday when you are 10 and realise you are going to have to say good bye to all the other children you've befriended in the Hotel's playroom*. It's a good feeling of melancholy though, as all good things must end and they always lead onto more adventures.
One major positive of the last week, alongside Being Barbarella going INCREDIBLY well and now having an extra 4 nights of shows next week, is that I've been inspired by my workshop with Dr Brown to research into learning more about clowning and potentially signing up for several workshops in the UK to train up those 'idiot' muscles. The thrill of launching into the deep end and doing things that scare you is infectious here. This is celarly evidenced by today's adventure...
THE NAKED CABARET!
Today was the annual festival Naked Cabaret, organised by the phenomonal comedian Alexis Dubus. Alexis and I have only EVER gigged together naked. We have never seen eachother perform with clothes on, which I think is rather lovely. One of my earliest gigs was for the Naked Brunch in 2009 at the Edinburgh Festival - the first time I met Alexis, and since then the Naked Cabaret has become a staple part of my festival diet.
Performing stand-up is often most peoples idea of hell at the best of times, but then you mix NUDITY into it and it suddenly transforms into most peoples WORST NIGHTMARE. However, I love it. Mainly because 1) I love nudity and think bodies are nicer when they are not constricted by clothes, 2) I love celebrating the human form and 3) It shakes me out of my body-neurosis. I spend too much time hating my body, so the thrill of being naked with so many people is a great way for me to ease myself into loving my shape and also celebrating it's many imperfections and jiggly bits. Today is the youngest my body is ever going to look from now on, so I need to take advantage and love it all the time.
So, The Naked Cabaret took place at Tuxedo Cat. There were 12 acts performing - all talented and different (cabaret / burlesque/ theatre/ comedy / gymnastics) and the audience was a mixture of performers at the fringe, venue managers, nudists from a local nudist community and theatre lovers. All ages, shapes and sizes. The start time was 2pm for THE BIG STRIP (to the Final Countdown of course) and I was excited as the gorgeous comedian Tamar Broadbent had come to support me....
However....
I'd forgotton to mention to her that she had to get naked too.
The colour drained from her face. So, the first reaction was...
"Do you need a drink?"
One beer later and Tamar, like the absolute legend she is, commited to the moment. She knew that it was a bizarre, once-in-a-lifetime fringe experience, and she just committed to it. Stripping with all of us.
Then, taking the moment in, she agreed to perform a short set in the second half before me. She was brilliant and her performance summed up all the things I love about festivals. She gave herself to the unexpected moment performed with so much power it was brilliant to watch. I couldn't be more happy for her. She was terrified but she did it. Afterwards she was smiling and we had a hug. One of those rare fringe memories we'll always have.
Talking about rare fringe memories, I am proud to write that I defeated MARCEL BLANCHE-DE WILT in The Producers Venue Rap-Off challenge last night in the beer garden. Marcel and I went head to head, rapping two verses each, dissing eachother, in front of a large audience of comics who knew us and audiences who didn't. I chose to channel all my inner Eminem and was BRUTAL to Marcel, to the point I even apologised before certain verses as they were so cruel**. My favourite lyric being "I Don't mean to be blunt, but looking at your face makes me feel like I've got sand in my c*nt". I loved how shocked people looked.
Now, it is time to sleep. The plan is to see SO MANY SHOWS THIS WEEK! Starting with Tuxedo Cat tomorrow....
Night night / Good morning / Have a lovely afternoon.
*This is totally based on my experiences at the Oceon Hotel between the years of 1996 to 2005.
**To clarify, Marcel and I get on really well and love eachother deeply. We had both agreed to be super mean to eachother for the sake of comedy....