Posters and flyers, Edinburgh begins

Big enough poster for you? This year we've invested in some slightly bigger posters. Not many, three in fact. This one (a 60" x 40") is the biggest, and the other two are Quad posters which I haven't found yet. But I felt I had to dip my foot into the water and see if it made any difference at all.

When you spot your big poster, and take your photo with it, you feel like you're such a big deal and it's going to make such an impact. What this photo doesn't show is me pulling back to reveal the 10,000 other posters, all much bigger than this, which have become the modern posterised landscape of Edinburgh.

We've come a long way since the Socks' first year when a company called Diabolical Liberties would flypost your A2 posters all over the city under cover of the night. Now Bristol's own Out Of Hand have the exclusive licence with the council to provide and put up these vinyl printed banners all over the city. Given that our wee 60 x 40 costs 150 quid, and the two Quads cost that much for two, I can't begin to calculate how much has been spent by other shows on their posters. There are some shows for which I've already walked past half a dozen 8-foot-high banners, which must cost £250 a pop, and I know that's only the tip of their promotional iceberg. Shows must be spending tens of thousands on publicity, for shows in venues as small as mine where, as far as I can work out, you can't possibly earn those tens of thousands back in ticket sales. I'm sure they know what they're doing.

Me, I put my faith in the good old fashioned flyer. They arrived Tuesday, three boxes containing 10,000 flyers, which I shall be distributing personally on the streets of Edinburgh with my characteristic flick (see above). In fact I gave my first flick, not for my own flyer, but for the cast of a show who caught me on the street yesterday. They're called Strictly Arts and their show is called Freeman. Here's that first-flick-of-the-season in full...

Having arrived Monday afternoon I've already delivered t-shirts and comics to the Gilded Balloon shop, said hello to everyone at the venue and picked up my lanyard, done the long walk and parked the car (until Saturday when I'll be taking it out to do a class in a library), done my soundcheck and met my new tech Cassandra and found that Steve Gunn, my tech from last time, is now Head Of Production, and spent the day looking after Heather, who was suffering a severe allergic reaction to something so we had to phone NHS direct, get some medicine, oh it was all go (she's feeling better today).

All that and I got along to my first party. The first, and only, party I'll be able to go to and take advantage of the free drinks, in this case a Gin & Raspberry concoction. I met some nice people - a couple who are producing and performing a show of the songs of Tom Waits & Leonard Cohen, a guy whose flatmate books the acts for the venue we were in, and Svetlana of Kev & Svetlana, with whom I talked Russia and politics. Some good drag acts, mixed with some camp acts, and a couple of cabaret acts with a camp/draggy crossover flavour. I believe they call it Variety. (I jest, I was really enjoying them, especially Myrna DuBois who is reminiscent of Lily Savage in her prime). I didn't stay late, leaving at a time before what will, starting tonight, be curtain up for my show. I really must adjust to Edinburgh time soon.

Show opens tonight, and I have a three minute slot on Chortle Fast Fringe before that. Best get stuck into the day. In the meantime, do enjoy a shot of our lovely flat. Better than we were expecting.

The Award Winning* Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre are Superheroes at The Gilded Balloon at the Edinburgh Fringe from August 1st to 26th - STARTS TONIGHT! 

*Winners of the Bath Comedy Festival Lovehoney Best Joke Award 2018