It begins ...

I've found that it's a good idea to go to the preview shows at the Fringe. There's the chance of seeing shows go a bit wrong, which can relieve the boredom of a dire offering, and make you feel for the good stuff struggling against rubbish venues and bad tech.

But most of all, there aren't very many folk around, and most of them are well behaved Edinburgh pensioners. They are the ones with the time and interest to start before the mobs arrive.

I've now convinced D and M to take a day with me annually to be spontaneous, go with the flow, chill out and so on.  D, for example is amazed that we got off the bus in George Square, where it all seems to be happening this year, and immediately people handed me free tickets.  We accepted.

Show one
Bette and Joan The Final Curtain
Suffered greatly from being held in a run down lecture theatre. A very iffy start that went on far too long. Boiled down to projections of Louela Parsons and Hedda Hopper muttering that Bette Davis was taking too long to die. Solution? Send Joan Crawford's ghost to help her on her way. Enter ghost of Crawford and the action really began.

Sharp lines, well delivered and the pace increased until the last 20 minutes which were snappy and brought it to a satisfying ending. Bette and Joan suddenly wondered why, since they had so much in common (four husbands, ungrateful daughters) they had not been friends in real life. Bette agreed to die.

‘You should only say good of the dead. Joan Crawford is dead. Good’ (Bette Davis). ‘She's slept with every male star at MGM except Lassie’ (Bette Davis), ‘Take away those pop eyes, the cigarette and those funny clipped words and what have you got?’ (Joan Crawford)

A promising start to my fringing for the next month.

Left that building and more tickets immediately thrust into my hands.

Show Two
Penny Dreaful's Etherdome
19th Century America, 3 dentists vie to invent anaesthesia for dentistry and surgery.  Much slapstick comedy, singing and audience harassment, er, participation. This show started really well, but lost its way towards the end. The staging and props were great.

We escaped the George Square mayhem (nothing compared to what it is now) and had lunch at the Mosque Kitchen. Cheap, fast, nutritious and tasty.

Show Three
Midnight Your Time
Nothing like a world premier to keep you going through the late afternoon slump in the fringe energy levels.  Diana Quick was magnificent as the controlling mother whose daughter took up a post in Palestine and neglected to keep in touch.

Every Thursday at 3am, Judy talks to her daughter via webcam. Judy calls from Islington, her daughter, Palestine. A retired lawyer, Judy is looking for ways to occupy herself: with a women's peace league, with Mr and Mrs Prabhakar, with her daughter's life

Although I often enjoy most of what I see at the Fringe, sometimes there is a gem and this was it. I'm now worrying that my fringe experience has peaked too early and all else will be a disappointment.

Show Four
Anil Desai
The man himself handed out tickets to his impressionist show. He kept a fairly consistent level of comedy and pretty good impressions throughout the hour on stage. I've been recommending him to friends. Abiding image of him with orange wig, pink PVC mini dress and white thong.

I retired to fringe another day.