Fringe, Fun, Fatigue, Frustration...

Tuesday 18th August 2015

Despite leaving Newcastle nearly half an hour late, got to Edinburgh only five minutes behind schedule. Great to see Jenni at the bus station. First poet I saw in the corridor of The Banshee Labyrinth was David Morgan, who gave me an exhaustive run-down of shows to go see. Was good to see Rowan and AJ. Met a guy called Lee Nelson who is as pedantic about pamphlet making as I am. First show I saw was ‘Getting Better Acquainted with Samantha Mann’. A fictional character interviewed by Dave Pickering. Me and Jenni went for a wander round to Pie Maker. Saw a pie with FAT listed as one of three ingredients – no thanks! Settled for steak and kidney. Hammer and Tongue Slam totally off the wall. Hubby and wife team running it were great. Matt Panesh was a guest and filthy – smut, politics, patriot bashing – great stuff! Next up JibbaJabba. I don’t know anyone on the bill, but I’m sure it’ll be amazing. 11.00pm.

Wednesday 19th August 2015

Got in from The Banshee around twenty to four this morning. Lovely to have a lazy lie in. Caroline left a plate of goodies and a card for Jenni’s birthday. Jen enjoyed opening her presents. She intended to go to a children’s show this morning but we kind of knew that wouldn’t happen. On the wander this afternoon. Waverley to pick up my return ticket for second trip to the festival. Got to warm up for tonight’s JibbaJabba by doing a guest set at James MacKay’s The Boy with the Moomin Tattoo. Saw Sophia Walker’s Cult Friction about ways marketing manipulates us into consuming – food, technology, the works. Real heavy, I bought the pamphlet. Jenni said, You do realise Steve’s going to be googling all this and I’ll never hear the end of it… Took a walk down Cowgate and got proper fish and chips. Stand-up Tragedy was great. Girl extra on set of Hollywood movies, two guys with a failed greeting card company, Lee Nelson historical epic I can’t remember, AJ McKenna on not being able to handcuff yourself to the mic stand plus coming out poem. 9.11 pm.

Thursday 20th August 2015

JibbaJabba was fantastic last night. Chuffed to be on the bill with Kevin Cadwallender and Rosie Garland. Not used to still being out at half three in the morning. Jenni up before me. I didn’t get up till quarter to eleven. Too tired to get into the city quickly. Jen did some flyering and I caught Matt Panesh’s GREYHOUND which just absolutely blew me away. A true story of travelling across America by bus and the tragic lives of the people encountered along the way. A brilliant verbatim multi-character storytelling show. Just outstanding. Then we saw Frizzle Song Ruiner at the Globe. The Water Show by Rob Auton back at The Banshee had me laughing lots. Billed as a stand-up comedy show rather than spoken word, lots of interesting stuff about ducks, rain, cucumbers. We got the bus back from the city to Stockbridge. Nice to sit with Caroline and daughter Kirsten. Had ravioli on toast, blueberry muffins and a banana. Feeling a bit hammered already. Good to just be in a domestic setting for a while. Back out in an hour for a Never Mind the Buzzcocks style poetry show that Jenni is taking part in. 7.04 pm.

Later. Only two audience members at show and six onstage. It finished early so we went to Hammer and Tongue Slam. Elvis Mcgonagall was the guest. I came second in slam. Only three took part. Now outside The Banshee waiting for Jenni to finish her pint. I like the shows but don’t understand the attraction of sitting around till the small hours consuming alcohol. 11.35 pm.

Friday 21st August 2015

Managed to wake up pretty early despite all the late nights this week. Me and Jenni had pizza for breakfast. Chatted with Caroline awhile before leaving for the bus. Journey back was okay. Wanted to read but slept a lot. Sorted finances in Newcastle then 45 back to Consett. Picked up contact lenses then home to delete backlog of emails and FB stuff on desktop. Tweaked my Never Mind the Ramones 2 set. Made a one-off pamphlet of set-list in the style of Sex Pistols album cover. Should come in at just under 40 minutes. 22 poems – some newbies and some big hitters. None from last year’s gig. 11.40 pm.

Saturday 22nd August 2015

Mint day at NMTR2 at Caedmon Hall in Gateshead Central Library. Excellent line-up. Saw some familiar faces: Emma Whitehall, Aaron Wright, Harry Gallagher, Jaene Burn and her sister. Emergency Librarian were fantastic. Cheers to Mark and Tracy Speeding for the lift home. Catching up with a bit of admin this evening and listening to a bit of Alice Cooper. 10.10 pm.

Sunday 23rd August 2015

Lie in. Sorted my bag for return to Edinburgh. Got the Poetry Jam event page up on Facebook. Wanted to type up Edinburgh notes but proofs arrived via email for Dark Matter. Problems with hyphenation on justified prose pages. Aiming to rectify this. Ride to Edinburgh was hot, but not nauseating, thankfully. Hardly anyone in the carriage. Saw Stand-up Tragedy at The Banshee, hosted by Fay Roberts. Tina Sederholm, Andy Bennet, Keith Jarrett and Hannah Chutzpah did feature sets. Going to watch Hammer and Tongue slam then JibbaJabba. Won’t see Jenni till then. 9.04 pm.

Monday 24th August 2015

Sparsely furnished house in Edinburgh where Jen is staying when not staying at Caroline’s. Crashed on the couch for an hour while Jen wrote notes for her WORKIE TICKET show. Spark storytelling was good. Saw Sara Hirsch’s show but too tired to appreciate it. Checked out Hogg Records a few doors down from Clerks Bar but they didn’t have anything I wanted to buy. Pleased I’m only going to one show tomorrow. I think, on the whole, the best full length show I’ve seen is Matt Panesh’s GREYHOUND. I prefer variety spoken word nights – Stand Up Tragedy, Hammer and Tongue, JibbaJabba. Going to Jen’s show then the first heat of the BBC Slam. Bit tired of everything already. I couldn’t do a full week. Maybe I’m just really difficult to keep happy. 6.42 pm.

Tuesday 25th August 2015

Had a drink with Caroline after seeing Tina Sederholm’s show and got my Banshee Labyrinth t-shirt exchanged. Quick dash to find platform for Newcastle 2.08 pm train. Once onboard passengers are told the train is cancelled due to a fatality on the line near Alnmouth. I go back to Banshee where Kirsten Luckins is chatting to Matt Panesh. I tell them the tale then walk up to Pie Maker for a cheeseburger then return to Waverly station. Sit around till half three train is announced. It’s totally jammed – people sitting on the floor, luggage stacked up by exits – but better than waiting even longer. I try to read, I sit on the floor, I stand up and look out the window. Time passes. Eventually we hit Newcastle. I go to the toilet at The Centurian bar then get the 46 bus. I’ll get back to Moorside about seven o’clock. A day of delays. And a workshop to prep for tomorrow. 5.41 pm.

Wednesday 26th August 2015

Disappointing day. Waited at Waddy till twenty to eleven this morning but no-one came to the Writing Marathon. Came home yesterday to prep for it. Spent some of this afternoon reading about flash nonfiction for upcoming sessions. Slept for a couple of hours, more reading this evening. Listened to Public Image Limited and a Rollins interview online. Feeling a bit snotty nosed. Wrote a bit about frustration this morning. Currently listening to Richie Allen show on the nature of psychopaths. House is a tip. Still have gig sets to prep for Saturday. Need to get college stuff sorted. Good to hear from Jenni. Improvising nightly, her show is going good. I’m ready for bed. 10.31 pm.

Thursday 27th August 2015

Up at six. Morning pages. Bag pack for Mind workshop. Read some flash nonfiction on the bus to Consett but didn’t remember much of it. New session went well. Stepping stones, signature poems, feature sets, flash nonfiction primers. Read backs of compositions. Got home to find a Jack Fallows perzine on the mat. Well produced, looking forward to reading it. Keyed in notes for a couple of hours then headed out to pick up the JibbaJabba banner from Jen’s place in her absence then onto Newcastle for an eat4less baguette. Took a while to set the room at the Cumberland. All the stools were stacked and blocked in behind piles of crap. But it was a good night. Harry Gallagher played an acoustic music set. Lively open mic. Ira Lightman was hilarious. Ann Porro did two poems. Marianne Pownell, Sky Hawkins, Matt Cummins, etc. Comedian didn’t turn up so Kirsten, who was hosting, did a really funny poem. I did The Score from the upcoming Dark Matter pamphlet. Headliner Michelle Madson read poems about spiders and flying on aeroplanes. I’m now on bus at Metro Centre. Will pop into Tesco for supplies at Consett then walk home to Moorside. 11.32 pm.