6th August 2014 - Edinburgh on the horizon...

Within 48 hours, I will once again be in Edinburgh, spending a week taking in the delights of the festival. This, my 3rd trip to the Edinburgh Fringe, will be different from the previous 2. This isn't just because I will be watching different shows (obviously; if I went 3 years in a row and watched exactly the same things every time, I don't think that would be making the most of the incredible choice of shows on offer).

Firstly, my accommodation. During my 1st Fringe Festival, I stayed in a mixture of a hotel and in the flat of an Edinburgh resident. For my 2nd Edinburgh, I stayed in the flat of a different Edinburgh resident. This Edinburgh? I'm back in a hotel, but I am sharing a room with Mr. Sam Bowskill, who has joined me and Dan on our writing challenge (you can find his blog by clicking here). As for next year, there have already been plans discussed that would involve me sharing a flat with a group of my comedian friends (including PDT, who is currently writing an Edinburgh blog that is worth checking out), and staying for the full run; I've wanted to go for the full run ever since my first Edinburgh in 2012, but circumstances - namely, the fact that life hasn't gone to plan at all for me, so I've not been able to get a job - have prevented that from being a possibility. People have been saying that "it'll get better soon" since 2012, so hopefully things will turn around by 2015, or I fear that I will be left behind.

Secondly, this will be the first Edinburgh where I will be performing. While I had done a handful of gigs before my previous 2 Edinburghs, this is the first year where I have actively sought out spots in Edinburgh. I don't feel that I am going up there as a comedian, though; I intend to spend 80% of the time socialising/as a punter. It will be nice to do the odd set here and there this year, mind, before hopefully having my life in order to do it all properly next year.

In terms of shows that I am going to go see, there are very few in my mind that are set in stone; I imagine I will plan most of the shows I'm going to see once I'm up there, seeing as all my previous timetables that I had worked out in advance were pretty much thrown out the window. All I'm certain of is the fact that I will not be seeing a certain comedian named Jim.

As for my daily writing challenge, I am unsure what I am going to get down on paper during the festival; I imagine it will mostly be a mixture of show reviews and stand-up notes, considering all the comedy I'll be seeing. But hey, who knows? I am hoping to see some non-comedy shows this year, too (by that, I mean spoken word/theatre/music shows, not simply comedy shows that are awful), so maybe I'll be inspired to write a poem or something similar while I'm up there?

Thanks for reading.

Tom.