Happy Equinox everyone. I meant to write an update in August, but I think I got intimidated by the sheer number of updates I have neglected to make on my website in all this time. I just finished reading 4000 weeks by Oliver Burkeman, so now I’m aware that my fear of confronting the projects pile is actually most likely borne of the sheer fear of my own mortality, as 4000 weeks is the soul-crushingly small number of weeks we have should we get to live to 80. That’s 4000 in total, not starting from however old I am right now. I once thought I had a fair crack at breaking a life longevity world record (122 years old), because I am of course extremely youthful. However, I had not realised how many grey hairs had invaded my pigtails.
I think I have been aware of my “finitude” – as Burkeman puts it – for quite a while as it is, what with growing a massive tumour… Not to worry, I got better, and I wrote a show about it, as you know. I’m so proud of the show I got out of my brush with mortality (Weird Sense of Tumour) and was wondering what next life would throw at me in terms of material. I needn’t have worried… the old bod got me some liver disease this year! However, I don’t think I can just keep getting potentially fatal illnesses all the time and just accept that life has given me stuff to write about, so I’ve joined a park-based bootcamp as well as the gym, cut out most booze and sweets, and acknowledged that I am just going to have to keep making time in my life for meaningful anti-death efforts. Down with death! Death is bad.
Comedy News
I have started a vlog here to talk about my next plans, having confirmed a solo show and a sketch show with my husband for Leicester Comedy Festival next year. I would like to do more with WSOT if I can, but for now, a shiny new show about my general badgeriness and persistence. I seem to be writing more bits for Bondidge! right now as that is very fun, but I must break from that as I have a competition coming up and I need to prep, as everyone else in my heat is bloody good.
At least I can reflect on a jolly good summer. Let’s tot up the good stuff:
- Lakefest: in the grounds of Eastnor Castle in Herefordshire. What a beautiful festival this was! Many thanks to Angie Belcher for booking me to play alongside Spoz and Monkey Poet and share the tent with The Anti-Poet, Karen Bayley, David Arnold, Kayvan Khazaee, Suzy Bennett and Rob Coleman. We got to camp next to awesome band and nice lads Town of Cats, and watch Rebublica, The Reytons, Ride, Leftfield, and Manic Street Preachers. Mark Gardener of Ride blew me a kiss from the stage, I swear. Anyway, I can totally say I supported them.
- Edinburgh Fringe: I was mostly there to perform as Captain Bilgewater Bond, one of the companions of the Baron in The Extraordinary Time-Travelling Adventures of Baron Munchausen. Neil played earlier in the run. The cast did amazingly well! Here are some of our reviews:
“It truly is a delight. If you have kids – take them. Take them now! If you don’t have kids go anyway and you’ll be rewarded with a show riddled with happiness and madness which epitomises everything the Fringe is about.” Broadway Baby *****
“The kids were bouncing in their seats” “this show did not let us down”, “funny and engaging”, “this was done spectacularly well”, “A must see for lovers of storytelling and laughs.” One4Review ****
“I want to go back!” says the mini reviewer accompanying the grownup reviewer. Well because the stories are completely different every time, you totally can! Edinburgh Festivals for Kids ****
The show also got shortlisted for a prestigious Bobby Award. Several days were sold out, too.
Neil and I played Alex Leam’s Improv Provocateur and won a handsome certificate. Might not have been a Bobby, but that one was just me.
- Bardic Picnic: I played an extended set at the Umbrella Cafe Pavilion that went down a treat, and I also got to be one of the judges for this year’s competition. I was the first ever Bard of Northampton, and this year we found No. 12. Taking over from the awesome Kezzabelle is Chris Matthewman, who had some clever, funny poems. There were all sorts of poets taking part, and it was just a fabulous day.
It is with some delight I saw that Chris Norton Walker had tagged me on Facebook to show that an image of me had been picked to demo that 6 days only were remaining for people to register their LCF shows. That was yesterday. Thanks for the reminder, me! I started the process today.
Book News
Best of British Science Fiction 2021 got published last month, and it has already picked up some great reviews.
That’s all my news for now, covering at least 8 of my last few weeks and as much as I know about the next 20, which is a massive chunk out of my remaining 2400+. Please do subscribe and follow my LCF journey via YouTube under Donna Scott Comedy.
