Edinburgh Day Two

I am very tired as I write this. Ah, you nod sagely, another late night at the fringe, or perhaps some after-hours partying? No. My mother kept me awake all night snoring like a JET ENGINE. Fuck me, the woman is loud. It happened the night before as well, but when I yelled at her or smacked her arm, she stopped for a while. Last night, nothing worked. Every time she stopped for ten minutes, I couldn't sleep because I was waiting for it to start again. As it inevitably did. Now I know we all have fantasies about killing our parents... but people - I had the pillow IN MY HAND. I dragged my pillows and duvet to the living room, shut the door and attempted to get some sleep on the sofa, that even for a 5'3" shortarse like me, was too short. She's acting all affronted this morning because I now HATE HER WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING... but dear God, I can't do another three nights like that. Anyway, back to the festival...

We wandered round and did a bit of shopping yesterday morning and early afternoon. I found a sweet shop to take care of all my sugary needs. My bag now holds essentials such as pear drops, rhubarb and custards, aniseed balls and sherbert lemons. Also got a couple of baby things. Like a small stripy hat with ears. What do you mean, unessential item?

First entertainment up was Laura Solon's 'Rabbit Faced Story Soup' at the Assembly Rooms. She won the Perrier in 2005 and this was her first visit since then. I have to say she was truly incredible. She told a story, and acted out all the characters from it - so a sketch show, but with a thread linking everything. She had some awesome lines and was very quick and smart. I would see the show again in a second, so I hope it comes to London.

We went to get some Thai food, which was very good, and well timed, as a heavy shower started just as we were about to go in. After that we headed off to Rachael and Seth on Market Street. Far more people in the audience tonight, and Rachael fed off that energy much better and created a whole load of her own. Highlights for me were 'What If' (so much better live than on the record) from Rachael's set, and 'Got To Get Away From Here' from Seth's. Of course, he was made to cartwheel again during Rachael's show. Twice.

We then headed back to the Assembly Rooms to catch Rich Hall, who was in a much bigger venue. He was pretty good - he mainly interacted with the audience and improvised, but he had some other bits in there as well. I hadn't realised just how Bill Hicks he is in delivery style. Which made me wish I was seeing Bill Hicks - but that wasn't Rich Hall's fault. Verdict: good but not as fantastic as Laura Solon. She's going to be the one to beat, I think.

Walked back to the apartment, and had a hot bath and got into bed. Little did I know that that was where the crappy portion of the day would begin :)

More tomorrow!