My Edinburgh Sean Hughes, comedian
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Your support makes all the difference.I've been coming up to Edinburgh for almost 25 years – with a seven-year gap in the middle. The Fringe has totally changed in that time. You used to turn up on the day and do your show. Now you're doing interviews about your show in March.
It's a crazy place. I arrived less than a week ago and feel like I've been here a year. Yesterday, I did a photo shoot with Stephen K Amos, two Australian girls from a show called Busting Out, and Lorraine Chase. Then Abi Titmuss turned up in my dressing room – she's doing a show here but I have no idea what she was doing in there. And right now, there's a plumber in my flat because there's no hot water. All this in the past 24 hours.
My top tip for places to go during the festival is your bed. Try to sleep. I don't like the shenanigans so much any more but I love doing the shows, so I try to keep all my energy for that. This year, I'm staying in the New Town and have brought my two dogs up with me. I'll take them for walks when I can. Otherwise, I have to do the same thing every day: I walk to my show, I do my show at 8pm, I have a drink with a friend afterwards, and all of a sudden, there's a guy saying, "Can you leave the bar please, it's 3am".
Edinburgh audiences are pretty good. My demographic now is middle-aged women – they've grown up with me and I think they sometimes forget that I'm a bit edgy. I don't want to shock anyone. The other night, I had a tricky moment when I thought a woman in the audience was pregnant – she wasn't. I blamed the lights.
Sean Hughes: 'Ducks and Other Mistakes I've Made', Gilded Balloon (0131 622 6552) to 19 August (not 11)
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