My First Visit to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on Saturday 27th August 2011

Arrived at Newcastle Central Station to find out that there was a delay to our train due to singnalling problems. We left 20 minutes later than scheduled but this wasn't too bad, we actualy managed to make time up on the journey so in the end we were only 10 minutes late getting into Edinburgh so can't really complain.

When we arrived into Edinburgh we went for a spot of lunch at Garfunkels on the Royal Mile and very lovely it was.




We then headed out to the Royal Mile and came across a great street perfomer. As well as being a funny bloke he could juggle knives and climb up a ladder which was unsupported.As well as this he juggled knives whilst being on the unsupported ladder and move around on the unsupported ladder without falling. He was so good. He also removed his kilt and moved round whilst on the ladder.

We then went to check into hotel and planned what we were going to see before Sarah Millican (more about her later)

At 5pm we went to go and see an improvised comedy controlled by the viewer. In essence we the audience were given the remote and we could set the scene and subjects to be used as part of the comedy scene. The show was good, it had by face acheing but it wasn't the best comedy i have ever seen and was a bit cheesy in parts.

And so to join the queue for Sarah Millican as seats were unreserved i wanted to be as close to the front as possible. 10 minutes before doors opened the rain came down but never mind it was worth it and we managed to get seated close to the microphone in second row in front of stage. Alas no pictures of Sarah as photography wasn't allowed during the show.

Sarah Millican's comedy talent throughout the show was amazing, the venue also felt intimate. Sarah looked right down on me at a couple of points during the show and in the show posted a question to the audience asking if anybody had tried spacedust before, most of the audience answered yes. I answered no as i hadn't. The comedy continued and i was laughing so much my chest was starting to ache. It was a really great show she is such a funny talent. i would give the show a massive 10/10 and this show was a preview to her upcoming tour Thoroughly Modern Millican which i am going to see in March 2012. So as the end of the show approached Sarah went back to the subject of Spacedust which she had discussed earlier on in the show and she looked at me and then INVITED ME ON STAGE as she wanted me to try some spacedust with her as I had never tried it before. Previous to the tour she hadn't tried it and is now hooked on it lol. Anyway still in shock from being picked I went up on stage and handed Sarah a cake which i brought for her as i know she likes cake and previous tour audiences have given her some, she was very impressed. I also told her my name and where i was from (a fellow Geordie) We then had the spacedust together before i went off the stage. About 5 minutes later the show finished and what a great show it was, Roll on March 2012. I left the venue feeling happy and lucky.

We then headed to the Barry and Stuart magic show, where before going in there was a guy who does magic for a hobby who was going to be in audience for the show gave me a Harry Potter style wand and someone else had a broken piece of rope i was then asked to press a button on the wand 3 times and then the rope wasn't broken anymore would love to know how this trick worked.

During the show I was given a potato to look after during one of the tricks which i caught with one hand. I was then asked up to the stage to chuck the potato at a bed of spikes to proove they were in fact real sharp spikes. I was given the potato to keep as a prize lol. However later in the show i was invited back on stage to take part in a trick where i could trade the potato in for a prize. I shook a dice in a cup which determined what the prize was i got the prize i got was a hug from the magicians all the other prizes said kill :D After the magic show we went to the reveal show which the magicians revealed the secrets behind the tricks they performed in the show.. At the end of this show we were shown a piece of footage and were asked to take  a picture of the screen during the footage. I took the picture at the right time to get this image below spooky.. we were left with this mystery. I was a great show.

Got Back to hotel and went to bed before getting up this morning, having a lovely breakfast and a good trip home via a lovely Sunday Lunch.


Until next time Bye for now.