Tuesday 4 September 2012

More Festival Madness

The festival in Edinburgh is over and most of the colourful and frankly mad people have packed up their suitcases and gone home. Perhaps some have gone to cause chaos in some other city but most have probably climbed back into their civvies and returned to the nine to five or are now sharpening their pencils in preparation for a return to another year of textbooks and learning in the countries fine institutes of further education.

With the number of superheros that abound, I should wonder that any crime happens during the festival.


He's a one man band, nobody knows or understands. 



The chap in the middle of the road is a member of the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Club. We were nattering to some of his mates that we had seen the previous afternoon in a rather funny version of As You Like It. They had a second show on at the fringe called Interruption, which we didn't take much persuasion to go and see. It was a powerful, well written and acted, short play, which ended without a curtain call. Not a peep was to be heard from the audience as it filed out. I'd be very surprised if we don't see some of these people on our screens before too long.


 "Tempest sir?"  I didn't go to The Tempest but I thought I had better take the leaflet.


Nor did we feel the need for a further dose of tunes from the lads and lassies of Lancaster University.


We stopped for a while and watched Tom Ward playing a few tunes on his guitar. His guitar was made by his Dad, Ian - maybe it's been cleverly designed to look stressed or perhaps Tom just gives it a hard time on the road. Either way he manages to get some great sounds out of his beat up old instrument - have a listen here and here.



Lying down on the job seems quite a popular way to attract attention.


This fellow taped to a pillar by his own show posters amused us - not enough to go and see his show though.




 We found the people of Zambezi Express drumming up a bit of custom on the corner of Princes Street. We had been to see them only a few hours earlier, they were great. Here's the trailer for their show on Youtube.



Honourably mentions must also go to New Zealand comic, Andre King, who we met in the street and who also nattered to us for a while after his show - nice guy and funny too, which is handy when you tell jokes for a living.

After all that, it was rather nice to find the White Hart none too busy. Macaroni cheese and Belhaven Black :)


STOP PRESS

This picture just in. Seems another mad person has been spotted on a bollard during the festival.


See the heights I go to to get pictures for you (about 2 feet max)













8 comments:

Ellie said...

Hi Sandy,
Thanks for your comment on my post about the award - I always feel bad not putting names up but then I feel bad trying to pick people. Ah well!!!
Looks like an entertaining time in Edinburgh - I've never been to see any of the festival. You did get some great pictures. :)

Crafty Green Poet said...

Always fun to be had along the Royal Mile of a Festival...

Anonymous said...

Hi Sandy
Just popped in to catch up on some of your blogs. Good to see your still getting out and about.

The Glebe Blog said...

Fun and games Sandy, lovely.
That last picture could have been at home at Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park.

The Glebe Blog said...

Fun and games Sandy, lovely.
That last picture could have been at home at Speaker's Corner, Hyde Park.

Shundo said...

Nice to know that most of those involved in the shows are likely to be running the country in a couple of decades - or even less at the rate we are going. Don't you agree that the Prime Ministers are looking younger these days?

Sandy's witterings said...

You're quite right Ellie - name nobody.
I've seen more festival this year than all the previous years added up - it's not difficult to miss. Especially when previously much of my Edinburgh experience has been as a student and the festival is deliberately placed when they're not there.

Indeed Juliet. Although I'm quite looking forward to just being able to walk down it unhindered and unleafletted.

Glad to see you back Poppy - how are you doing?

Jim, I shall be straight down to Hyde Park Corner at the first signs of tea rationing.

Shundo, not only are the prime ministers looking younger, they are younger. I'm older than both Cameron and Clegg and whats his name on the other side. At least, across the pond, Mr Obama still has a few years on me.

Poppy (aka Val) said...

It looks like great fun, and I am so pleased to see you on that bollard lol x