Edinburgh Fringe Day Two (part 4 The First Show)

Ryrie's Bar at Haymarket is a lovely old-fashioned dark wood pub and the upstairs room will fit about 50 people.

Not that I got that many ... but ten people showed up which isn't at all bad for a first-timer (my friend and mentor, comedian Paul Tonkinson, said he had four on his first night at the Fringe). I was really pleased to see them — and they were all within my age range which was great because it meant they had a better chance of knowing what I was talking about.

I forgot a few lines here and there ... and filled in a few lines that came out of the blue (one of which really worked and will be staying in). Thalia the Muse of Comedy, can be a really good help, live...

But one friendly heckle completely threw me ... one of the atheists said that he believed in an afterlife. You don't have to believe in God to believe in heaven, he said. That was a new one on me! Will have to think of a snappy reply if it happens again ... but I was genuinely interested and he was quite happy to talk about it.

But, you know, I short changed them! I kept an eye on the clock and was really surprised that I was running out of time. I knew I had an hour's material. Maybe I'd been going too slowly? But I ended spot on 7pm with a good line ... and it was only when I got back to the Hermitage that I realised I was supposed to finish at 7.15.

So if you were there last night, sorry. And if you want to show up again, at about 7pm there's 15 more minutes of good stuff. Honest!

Great applause, good feedback. Nice bag of donations. Not a bad start at all.

Interestingly, Ryrie's doesn't offer you a free drink. I got a glass of water when I went and asked ... but that was all. That's a first!