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Forest Fringe Prepares to Leave Bristo

If you’ve been reading religiously, you will have heard a lot about Edinburgh’s Forest Cafe on the blog over the past couple of weeks.  Apologies to readers who aren’t based here but there is a reason for it; namely that this is likely to be the last time the building is used in the Fringe Festival.  They’re obviously hoping to leave Bristo Place with a bang, so that when they find a new venue it’ll have something amazing to live up to.  Forest volunteer Harry Giles somehow found the time in amongst poetry marathons and readings to write this guest post on what to expect from the Forest’s swansong.

This August is (probably) the Forest Café’s last Festival season in 3 Bristo Place. That makes us sad.

But it hasn’t stopped us programming an amazing month. Forest is a year-round multi-arts centre, with a gallery, gig rooms, spoken word events, library, workshop space, and much else besides. We’re also a free venue: it’s free to put work on here, and free to see it. So when August comes around, with eager, bigger audiences, we use it as a chance to champion what we do the rest of the year – or show off a wee bit – showcasing the fringes of the arts world.  With free and liberated events providing space to the marginalised (or just plain awesome), Forest is a venue  that programmes what commercial venues won’t. Plus we throw some pretty awesome parties.
Continue reading “Forest Fringe Prepares to Leave Bristo” →

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Toto Tales: What we’re doing and why it’s different

In another of my Edinburgh Festival guest posts, Mara from Toto Tales explains why they got involved with the fringe and why adults and children alike will be drawn to their colourful brand of theatre.

Performing in the Fringe is an experience not be missed.  The panic stations, the chaos, the utter joy, the thrill of audiences coming to see your work, and of course the anticipation of reviews…

This year Toto Tales is collaborating for the first time with iTheatre, a Singapore based childrens theatre company.  It’s an exciting time for us all, as there is so much newness to this experience.

Our show Under the Baobab Tree (‘A Must See’ in The Stage yesterday, WOOHOOO!!) is an exciting blend of puppetry, ridiculously interactive storytelling and plenty of music and dancing to keep anyone happy.

Continue reading “Toto Tales: What we’re doing and why it’s different” →

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What I Know About Creating Fringe Shows So Far

Today I have a guest post from blogger and Fest Magazine kids editor Ruth Dawkins on how husband Young Dawkins’ 2011 PBH Free Fringe show, What I Know About Women So Far, has been a definite team effort.

It’s not always easy being married to a poet. Young and I use up a significant number of babysitting credits not on romantic dinners, but on evenings in dingy pubs, where I sit and watch him reading to half a dozen people. He is always shouting ‘that’s a poem’ in the middle of our conversations, and rushing off to scribble down a phrase or idea. And we spend hours trekking around stationery shops looking for just the right notebooks, because no others will do (yellow Levenger – A4 – lined).

I have always consoled myself with the thought that maybe, one day, Young would write a lovely poem about what a wonderful and supportive wife I am.

In some moment of madness, earlier this year, Young agreed to do a solo show as part of the PBH Free Fringe. He may have still been on some crazy, slam-induced adrenaline high after his time at the Poetry World Cup in Paris, or he may have genuinely thought it was a good idea… I will never know.

All I know is that it has taken over our lives for the last couple of months. We had no idea what was involved (and I use ‘we’ intentionally – this has certainly been a joint venture). Doing a ten minutes slot at someone else’s show is one thing; doing a whole hour by yourself is quite another.

Continue reading “What I Know About Creating Fringe Shows So Far” →

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36 Hours of Poetry and Literature

It’s all go in the Forest Cafe over the next 36 hours as 3 Bristo Place hosts a pair of epic marathons in performance and writing.

I had hoped to join in with the latter, ominously titled They Shoot Writers, Don’t They? But unfortunately prior engagements (work today and a mega exciting interview on Friday, more on which after it happens) got in the way and I can’t make it.  Still, I’m planning to pop in and out of the forest for the latter part of the event, and hopefully I will be blogging about it in a live stylee.

Here’s the background, courtesy of Rachel from Inky Fingers:

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What’s Your Favourite Geeky Website?

Seeing as this month I am writing a book in the scifi oeuvre, it feels only right to make a wee tribute to geekery.  And those of you about to get up in arms, look around the room at your collection of lightsabres, sonic screwdrivers and vulcan ears before you try to tell me the two don’t go hand in hand. 

I’m not saying geekery is a bad thing, or that it’s limited to Science Fiction.  Lots of my favourite geeky things have nothing whatsoever to do with space travel, aliens, or future dystopias.  Some are just people who are very dedicated to a particular cause. 

Here’s a list of some of my favourite geeky things online. 

  • Molly Ringle’s Lord of the Rings parodies.  She wrote these nearly ten years ago but I still think they’re great. Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and Return of the King.
  • My other half is in the process of profiling every incarnation of Doctor Who on Den of Geek.  So far he’s done William Hartnell, Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison and Colin Baker.  He’s funny about them, which is helpful for the less well informed, and knows his stuff which is good when a challenger approaches.
  • Do you like trains?  Do you speak Gaelic?  Well maybe you’ll enjoy this blog about trains, written in Gaelic. 
  • If you like occasionally foul mouthed graphic novel writers, you’ll love the Talk like Warren Ellis quote generator.  Not for the faint hearted.
  • All episodes of TMWRNJ, a TV show from the late 90s starring Stewart Lee and Richard Herring that’ll probably never make it on to DVD now but has a cult following that often discuss it / do bird puns in hushed tones (said following consists largely of me and my mate).

See, barely any scifi at all.  But clearly there are tons more out there, so what’s your favourite geeky thing on the internet? Leave a comment below, the world needs to know!

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How To Successfully Stalk Comedians

In this guest post, award winning author Emily Dodd gives you a taste of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s seedy underbelly – the twilight world of stalking.

I’m not talking creepy or romantic stalking. Successful comedian stalking is quite different; a fine art with the ultimate aim of making the comedian laugh. Then you have arrived, then you are funny.

I first started stalking comedians in the Fringe by accident. I’d recognise them and greet them like one greets an old friend. I was so ridiculously friendly that they were polite; perhaps thinking I was someone they knew but didn’t recognise. You could see them racking their brains trying to work out who I was.

A real friend, Vicki once caught me mid-stalk with Simon Amstell.  She edged away, embarrassed. I went to find her afterwards.

“What were you doing?!” she exclaimed.

“I don’t know” I confessed “I just forgot I don’t actually know him.  It keeps happening..”

Continue reading “How To Successfully Stalk Comedians” →

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