Edinburgh Fringe Day 5

The Royal Mile 

Spent the morning in bed with Eckhart Tolle which was wonderfully peaceful. As it's all about the power of Now, I had to work with my mind telling me that it was a lovely day and I should be outside. But now, in bed, resting, won out and it was lovely.

Missed the bus to Fringe Central by two minutes (and they only run every half hour) so practiced being mindful on the bench outside the post office and even felt okay about the wasps that decided to crawl on my face. Well, for a while anyway. Then I thought that being in the Now further away from a litter bin might be a good idea.

For some reason, I've been feeling weird and dizzy a lot on the way into town but a dose of Rescue Remedy helps. It's the Clematis that I seem to need; I expect it will sort itself out and it's almost certainly the stress of the new and tiredness.

Today's event was 'Conversation with..' some professional comedians though that simply meant we got to ask some questions at the end. They were Stuart Goldsmith, Hannah Gadsby, Eddie Pepitone and Tom Shillue. I looked them up on Twitter and apart from Stuart, they seemed to specialise in pretty negative comedy (which of course is the norm) but in person they were all engaging and said a lot of stuff that I'd never have thought of but was absolutely obvious once they'd said it. But they also said that most comedy comes from tragedy which is pretty much true.

The most important message was 'just do it because you want to do it' which is coming across loud and clear with every event here. And again, that's the Power of Now. If you do it as a means to an end you'll miss the moment of enjoying doing it.

I had some food shopping to do on the way to Ryrie's so pottered up across the Royal Mile and down Princes Street, stopping off at the National Museum of Scotland for a few minutes on the way and finding a couple of hotels to drop leaflets at. I did talk to Hannah after the event at Fringe Central and asked her for a leaflet; she didn't have one and said she was rubbish at that kind of thing. We had a few moments on how it was really unproductive handing them out; I told her about the hotels and she said, 'I like your style' and took a leaflet.

Eddie too took a leaflet when I told him I'd got into comedy because of all the funny things that had happened to me when I was doing funerals. That was probably stretching the truth but I would very much one day like to do 'a funny thing happened to me on the way to the cremator' show one day.

I've been wanting a new pair of trainers for a while and, on the wander down Princes Street, found just the shop with a very neat pair at £19.99 down from £49.99. We Taureans do love a bargain. Also got a pretty pearly belt from New Look — a huge store — and it's lovely to be back in a city with cash in my hand from the donations and buying silly stuff. While I was trying the belt on, I realised too that apart from underwear and shoes, everything I was wearing had been given to me as a gift by my Bishop, David, who took me shopping for the Fringe when he last came to stay. I am a very blessed girl.

Until today, when I've been walking in the Edinburgh streets I've still been conscious of the swellings I have on the left side of my face and neck and made efforts to hide them. You can't see them when I'm stationary or indoors because my hair hides them but outside the wind blows my hair back. But today, I didn't bother. Even if people look, it's just the passing show and I'm me, not just a pretty face. This is good; my ego is becoming more accepting of me just as I am instead of as I think I should be.

Got to Ryrie's in good time to find the Tickled Pigs struggling with flashes of fear in their eyes with just four people who weren't that interested. Oddly, they over-ran. They said 'good luck' in a 'it's dreadful tonight' kind of way but I said, truly, that I was used to talking with two or three people so I'd be okay. And I was. I had six in the end ... one of whom was a very tipsy helpful heckler (the worst sort!) but who left peacefully before the end ... and one who was a Scottish Episcopalian minister (amazing! That's four ministers in two nights). He had almost the knowledge of the Bible that I had so we broke into a chat a couple of times which, luckily, the others seemed to enjoy as well.

But I wasn't as good as I wanted to be ... got things out of order and that really does matter when there's a theme going on. They still enjoyed it but I can do better than that. So it's good that tomorrow is a rest day (Celtic are playing at Murrayfield and the pub is closed to comedy for 24 hours).

Still, I've got an idea for a little something to drop into the part about who made the world... That's thanks to Eckhart Tolle. I may spend the morning in bed with him again tomorrow...

Edinburgh Fringe Day 4

This was a gloriously happy day. I'm really focused on taking it as easily as I can and I had one of those 'so bloody obvious' revelations when I woke up this morning.

The thing is, we are 'supposed' to distribute leaflets. The place to do it is at Fringe Central or on the Royal Mile. But it's hard work, there are hundreds of people doing it and it can be very dispiriting. And I really don't want to waste a lot of energy trying to get leaflets to people who don't want them.

So I simply decided not to do it but to have fun instead. Basic Law of Attraction stuff. What did I actually want to do today? I wanted to go to the EdFringe meeting about how to get the right people to see your show and I wanted to have a look around the shops. So that's what I did. I took some leaflets with me because I knew some opportunities would come just as soon as I had some fun.

I missed half the meeting because I went to the wrong bus stop, sigh. However, it was next to a shop which sold Italian ice cream. Most of you know that I'm very careful about my diet to give my body and immune system the best material with which to heal but treats are allowed and a lemon meringue ice cream was just yummy.

When I got there, it was clear that the meeting was mostly for theatre performers who wanted a venue to pick them up but they did say 'ask us about anything' so at the end I went to speak to the head honchette and told her that I wanted to do TV and radio work —QI and the like — and to do comedy voiceovers and presentation and, given that the BBC wants more older women and I had extensive BBC training, I thought I could be useful. She gave me her card, told me to email her with what I'd just said and said she'd look out some contacts for me.

Ask and it is given.

I also went up to the promoter guy who was the main speaker and told him he was utterly gorgeous. Which he was. And then walked away.

His voice floated into my consciousness as I left the room saying 'Now that's the way to make a pitch! Does anyone know who that lady is?' which was rather nice.

Then I went to see the statue of Greyfriars Bobby which was just down the road and pottered in and out of some lovely shops. Until I saw the first hotel. What a perfect place for leaflets! Within an hour I had visited half a dozen well-to-do hotels, spoken politely to the reception staff (with my 'official Fringe participant badge showing) and every one was delighted to take leaflets for their guests. In one hour I had distributed twice as many as in three hours on the Royal Mile on Saturday.

So that's my plan from now on. Find hotels and speak nicely to reception staff. And see the sights and have fun. That's the way to do it.

Oh, and do comedy gigs. I'll definitely be doing comedy gigs...

Heading for the Edinburgh Fringe

Quite a few of you know that I'm a comedian. And in August I'm doing a one-woman show called at the Edinburgh Fringe.
THE Maggy WHiTEHOUSE EXPERiENCE

So, I was happily planning to do all the promotional stuff in the last two week. You know the kind of thing — press releases to radio, newspapers and TV, event page on Facebook, regular updates on social media etc.

And then our Internet connection went down. And I mean down. It just vanished. And, on the day I'm writing (31st July), it's still not back. Plusnet and BT have spent the last fortnight trying to find what's wrong (and blaming each other). It's not just us, it's 12 people on Plusnet in Whiddon Down area, Devon.

So it's been a very peaceful time really. And very suitable for lots and lots of rest. We didn't worry a lot because Plusnet told us virtually every day that it should be solved in 24 hours. And the BT people said the same. Eventually, we did go down to the shop at South Zeal where, in return for a cuppa in their cafe, Alex let us log on to the net. There aren't an awful lot of Internet cafes where we live and most of our local friends had the same problem that we had, if they weren't away on holiday.

So, God will have to do my PR for me. Fair enough. I expect He/She is really good at that.

Instead, it's been time for lots more inner work — and huge gratitude that I am getting to go to Edinburgh (well, I'm already there) because a year ago, this did seem quite a bit of a risk. But I am here. I am well enough to do this. I will be going into the city tomorrow to pick up all my leaflets and start spreading the news.

I am so grateful to be here; to be doing this ... and to be staying at the lovely home of a lady called Anne-Marie Birch whom I met five years ago when I did a prosperity workshop in Edinburgh. She's on AirBnB and I'm currently sitting in her little turquoise single room with my packing reasonably sorted and feeling peaceful and excited.

I flew up on Flybe ... £85 to fly whereas it would be £250+ to take the train. Ridiculous really. But a very easy trip with lovely, helpful people. Mind you, most of my luggage is coming up via MyHermes because that's a cheaper way of getting it here than its going in the hold.

So here we go. Hopefully a daily blog on what it's like to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe....