A lot of performers take Wednesdays off at the Edinburgh Fringe. The reason for this is that Wednesdays are notoriously known for having bad houses - a mid week slump keeping audiences away from the theatre and making the whole business of doing a show a lot more of a challenge. Most of our friends took Wednesday off. We didn't know about 'Black Wednesday'. We didn't take the day off.
The thing is, we are never afraid of a challenge. Black Wednesday, however, turned out to be a little more than we bargained for. And for none of the reasons we expected...
We started the day off with a bit of rehearsal for 'The Sweet Release Cabaret' that we were performing at later at night. Our cover of Radiohead's Creep had never sounded better. As we sang out "I'm a clown, I'm a weirdo..." we put on our fanciest sparkly jackets and felt a little lighter than we had felt in a while. On this particular day we were going to meet the Canadian High Commission at the Glass House. The Glass House is just as posh as it sounds, and as we pulled up in our purple cab (which was like a disco cab because of Morro's sequin jacket and the beautiful sun bouncing off of it) we felt a tingle of excitement shoot all the way up from our toes. There was a really nice lady in a tie that greeted us in the lobby and sent us up to a special secret rooftop lounge. We got off the elevators and our jaws dropped open as we looked out to a view of the waterfront and a castle and all kinds of guests dressed in their best. It was special indeed. Luckily, we were also dressed in our best so we fit right in. The High Commission (we are actually not even sure what that is other than a group of really welcoming people who all had maple leaf pins on their lapels) greeted us and we hung out with our Team Canada friends who were also there. Morro even got some free wine. Then we took some pictures with fancy mannequins.
We left the party promptly because we had to do a show soon. We left with a skip in our step, though. We left feeling hopeful. Little did we know, a series of hiccups and farts were hiding just around the corner store that we had to pass on the way to hailing a cab.
The thing is, we are never afraid of a challenge. Black Wednesday, however, turned out to be a little more than we bargained for. And for none of the reasons we expected...
We started the day off with a bit of rehearsal for 'The Sweet Release Cabaret' that we were performing at later at night. Our cover of Radiohead's Creep had never sounded better. As we sang out "I'm a clown, I'm a weirdo..." we put on our fanciest sparkly jackets and felt a little lighter than we had felt in a while. On this particular day we were going to meet the Canadian High Commission at the Glass House. The Glass House is just as posh as it sounds, and as we pulled up in our purple cab (which was like a disco cab because of Morro's sequin jacket and the beautiful sun bouncing off of it) we felt a tingle of excitement shoot all the way up from our toes. There was a really nice lady in a tie that greeted us in the lobby and sent us up to a special secret rooftop lounge. We got off the elevators and our jaws dropped open as we looked out to a view of the waterfront and a castle and all kinds of guests dressed in their best. It was special indeed. Luckily, we were also dressed in our best so we fit right in. The High Commission (we are actually not even sure what that is other than a group of really welcoming people who all had maple leaf pins on their lapels) greeted us and we hung out with our Team Canada friends who were also there. Morro even got some free wine. Then we took some pictures with fancy mannequins.
We left the party promptly because we had to do a show soon. We left with a skip in our step, though. We left feeling hopeful. Little did we know, a series of hiccups and farts were hiding just around the corner store that we had to pass on the way to hailing a cab.
We ate some sad and loveless sandwiches and then arrived at our venue after our usual few hours of flyering, having no idea how many people would be there today, but feeling like we made a good effort at combatting Black Wednesday. As we entered the Turret (our cozy performance space) our first hiccup of indigestion arrived. Apparently, our technician ran away. "We have a runner!" they stated. Like actually. He ran away and no one knew when he was going to come back. WHAT!?!? After several panicked Gilded Balloon staff walkie talkie calls, "Come in any technician that is available to run a show... we need someone to op Morro and Jasp stat!", our emergency tech busted in through the door with 2 minutes to showtime... sorry, make that shitshowtime.
Jonni (our technician of the day) called the show pretty well for never having seen the show or script before. In fact, there was only one time where the phone kept ringing for several minutes after Morro picked it up and preceded so smash it with everything in sight until it finally stopped. It's a good thing there wasn't a scout for a comedy festival and a reviewer at the show... oh wait... there was. On a positive note we did end up beating the 'Black Wednesday' small house curse because we were three people away from a sold-out house which is amazing (and we met a lovely man named Morgan who came all the way from Toronto to see our show...and to see his cousin who just moved here...), but we were now focused on other matters.
Instead of going to drink our worries away (which is what some people recommend here when you are feeling low) we cleaned off our goth makeup and titanic dreams and got ready for the cabaret we had practiced for. On the way we stopped for a quick burrito (they reminded us of home) and suddenly found ourselves a street over from The Edinburgh Castle, which was aglow with fireworks. It was just like the commercials for Disney World except it was real. It was better than a drink, and filled our hearts with a bit of magic so we could go and perform for the other performers who were in the cabaret at the Sweet Venues (including our Canadian sister, the glorious Rebecca Perry), because there were only about 3 for real audience members (Black Wednesday).
Exhausted and internally conflicted (because we were filled with every emotion) we walked home at 1am, almost getting hit by a cabbie who was pulling out of a parking lot and only looking the other way (he actually didn't see us at all, even after the fact, so maybe at that point we had become invisible). We walked up the countless steps to our flat and put the key into the door. It is a bit sticky sometimes because it's a new key so Jasp was having trouble turning it. We were tired and things like keys are a lot more difficult when you are tired. Morro gave it a try. It still wouldn't turn. We stared at the door and at the key. "Strange that it is so st - We are at the wrong door!", shouted Morro. We ran up the rest of the staircase, which we had forgotten existed for that moment where we had convinced ourselves we were home already, and on the edge of laughter and tears we unlocked our own door and crawled promptly into bed.
Jonni (our technician of the day) called the show pretty well for never having seen the show or script before. In fact, there was only one time where the phone kept ringing for several minutes after Morro picked it up and preceded so smash it with everything in sight until it finally stopped. It's a good thing there wasn't a scout for a comedy festival and a reviewer at the show... oh wait... there was. On a positive note we did end up beating the 'Black Wednesday' small house curse because we were three people away from a sold-out house which is amazing (and we met a lovely man named Morgan who came all the way from Toronto to see our show...and to see his cousin who just moved here...), but we were now focused on other matters.
Instead of going to drink our worries away (which is what some people recommend here when you are feeling low) we cleaned off our goth makeup and titanic dreams and got ready for the cabaret we had practiced for. On the way we stopped for a quick burrito (they reminded us of home) and suddenly found ourselves a street over from The Edinburgh Castle, which was aglow with fireworks. It was just like the commercials for Disney World except it was real. It was better than a drink, and filled our hearts with a bit of magic so we could go and perform for the other performers who were in the cabaret at the Sweet Venues (including our Canadian sister, the glorious Rebecca Perry), because there were only about 3 for real audience members (Black Wednesday).
Exhausted and internally conflicted (because we were filled with every emotion) we walked home at 1am, almost getting hit by a cabbie who was pulling out of a parking lot and only looking the other way (he actually didn't see us at all, even after the fact, so maybe at that point we had become invisible). We walked up the countless steps to our flat and put the key into the door. It is a bit sticky sometimes because it's a new key so Jasp was having trouble turning it. We were tired and things like keys are a lot more difficult when you are tired. Morro gave it a try. It still wouldn't turn. We stared at the door and at the key. "Strange that it is so st - We are at the wrong door!", shouted Morro. We ran up the rest of the staircase, which we had forgotten existed for that moment where we had convinced ourselves we were home already, and on the edge of laughter and tears we unlocked our own door and crawled promptly into bed.
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