Blog: A Mini-Edinburgh

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Myself and The Deuchars In My Pubs aren't going to the Edinburgh Festival this year - with the course and everything there was never going to be time to write a new show, let alone learn it up, and I was FINE with not going... until this week, when the Hewitts arrived there. And TOLD me about it.

On Friday afternoon I was back at my old work, doing one of the final days that I owed them, when I got a text from Steve telling me he was in the Pleasance Courtyard, swanning about drinking beer and watching flyering. I was suddenly struck with PANGS - that sounded like a LOT more fun than sitting in an office!

This may be why we embarked on a MINI-EDINBURGH over the weekend, starting on Friday night with a curry, loads of beer, and late-night WHISKY, moving on to a LIE-IN on Saturday morning, some ART (the new pavilion at The Serpentine Gallery. REVIEW: it was quite nice, though the Artist's Description made me want to set fire to the noticeboard) and then a SHOW.

The show was Mr Gavin Osborn in the basement at The Phoenix, a pub which is doing its own London-based answer to the Edinburgh Fringe called The Phoenix Fringe. It is IN NO WAY copying The Camden Fringe, which is currently doing exactly the same thing over LOADS of venues. Comedians are like MARXISTS, they can't help SPLITTING all the time - something which, I feel, explains the ever growing number of Free Fringes at Edinburgh, for instance.

ANYWAY, it was wonderful to see Gav in a pub basement during a beery afternoon, as that was EXACTLY where I first saw him, at The Tron in Edinburgh several years ago. I enjoyed it so much that time that I went TWICE, dragging along The Songs In My Set for the second occasion and thus starting several YEARS of GOOD TIMES and GRATE GIGS with Mr Osborn.

There were LOADS of people there and it was a BRILLIANT show - I've seen him so many times that it's a bit like seeing Otway (NO HIGHER PRAISE) in that I know the words AND some of the introductions, and enjoy them all the more for it, PLUS there was new stuff. Two ACE new tunes, espeially "In Another Life" which he'd been talking about the writing of last time I saw him. As per usual with a Gav tune i LARFED, also shed a MANLY TEAR.

Afterwards we grabbed Gav to say hello before he had to ZOOM off to HEATHROW, to fly to Edinburgh where he was due to start a show on SUNDAY. After he'd gone we stood around having a chat with his friends, a DELIGHTFUL couple, before staggering off home for Edinburgh Pasta (i.e. pasta + a jar of sauce, all done in the same pan). It had been a wonderful day of Edinburgh-ish fun, which made me not miss being there AT ALL.

Well, maybe a little bit.

posted 5/8/2014 by MJ Hibbett

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