Lockdown viewing?

Hello!  How are you all doing out there, in there…?  I hope this finds you well and relatively centred?  What a time, to say the least.

In the midst of all this, if you happen to be in the market for a bit of video viewing (have you watched enough things yet?) I’ve got a couple of bits for you, if you’re interested…

Firstly, I finally uploaded the preview performance of my show Fabled from waaay back in July 2012:

It feels like a lifetime ago…

My performance was still pretty rough around the edges at this point and not as BEAUTIFULLY HONED as it was after a whole month’s run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, but this is the only filmed performance and, actually, I kinda like how shonky it is.

Please note:
-me sweating off most of my mascara as it was SO HOT ON STAGE.
-my bike bell breaking and me having to resort to clanging another prop instead to make a noise.
PLUS: see if you can work out where the soundtrack froze and the backup soundtrack had to be played instead…  I think I managed to hide my genuine panic/confusion…

And: I’ve done some more story reading for Liars’ League – this time as part of a Lockdown Special, from the comfort of my own home.  Here I am reading ‘A Space to Inhabit’ by Lyndsey Croal for their ‘Mystery and Suspense’ event this week:

A strange cloud appears outside a small Scots town… or has it always been there?

You can find the story text and an mp3 of this story reading here, all the other story videos from the night here, and the event podcast here.  It was a good night in 🙂

Other than riding the current wave as best I can, I’m continuing to set myself up for voiceover work and my little makeshift studio is coming along nicely, if slowly.  Photo evidence, at some point…

Until then, Big Love <3

Ed Fringe #Day2

Greetings from glorious Edinburgh!

I arrived with an hour to spare via the ever Mega Megabus last night and am well and truly settled in to my new home for the next few weeks.  How lovely is the view 30 seconds from my digs…?!

The plan is that I’ll keep this here news page pretty regularly up to date (more so than usual) with my Fringey goings on…

I had a grand tech run this afternoon at The Bongo Club and got the first glance at the flyers for my show, designed by Paul Garner. I am bouncing about rather excitedly/in a daze.

The promo video is all done and uploaded and you can view its wonder here:

Big thanks to Geoffrey Sautner for doing the biz.

The preview of Fabled at Theatre503 was a resounding success, with me sweating off pretty much all of my make up (stingy eyes owwwwww!) and I’m PUMPED to give it my all for everyone who comes to be Fabled over the next month.

In a moment of madness today, I thought I’d start doing an Edinburgh Fringe video diary. FIRST INSTALLMENT HERE.  Who knows how regular this will be!

In other news, I’m now booked to do Gypsy Hotel on the 15th of September and there’ll be plentiful amounts of cabaret dates throughout this month at the Fringe.  I’ve also gone and put my songs on MySpace.

August, here I come…

Fabe-ulous

Fabled preparations continue at lightening speed: re-writes and records have been done, soundtrack tweeks continue, new props are materialising and rehearsals are going great guns at Jackson’s Lane – very grateful for the space!

The photo shoot for the show by www.mecaniques.co.uk was a resounding success:

…as was the video promo shoot, the fruits of which are headed imminently internet-wards.

My second London preview date is also now organised: catch Fabled next Tuesday the 24th at 7pm at Theatre503.
Details and tickets here.

Many things (like actually buying my train/coach ticket up to Edinburgh) are backing up but every day brings progress!

The Postcards Cabaret at Jackson’s Lane last month was a storming success (find amazing pictures of the night by AbsolutQueer Photography here) and, off the back of it, I’m performing on the Bandstand at the Secret Garden Party this Sunday.  Somehow I’m going to pull a 20 minute Lois of the Lane act out of the bag…

On top of all this, I’ve added a new song to my songs page.  Please find ‘Android‘ there for your delectation.

Sleeps.

Postcards from Hyperdrive

So, despite it somehow not feeling like it did, Fabled most definitely happened on the 10th of June at the Holloway Arts Festival.  Big thanks to all who made it down.  I have no idea how it all came together so quickly but it did and it worked!

I’ve been watching the video footage and am in the process of fine tuning it all: re-writing, re-recording making some more decisions about the world it inhabits, design ideas etc with my rocksteady creative team of Angela Gasparetto, Jinne Stiksma, Christopher Hone, Seth Rook Williams and Tim Frost for my (as yet to be organised) preview dates in London at the end of July before it heads off to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (you can book tickets here…) as well as firing out all the admin bits and bobs that need to be done too.

I’m also making a promo video for the show with my partner in crime Geoffrey Sautner of Mazibel Productions which I’m very excited about.  It’s all go and it’s all going to be AMAZEBALLS.

In amongst the Fabled fabulousness I’m also heading out to Lois of the Lane it up at Jackson’s Lane‘s Postcards Cabaret Curiouser and Curiouser this Friday the 29th of June at 8:30pm, curated by the inimitable Crimson Skye. The line up is supergreat!   Get your bums down there if you can.

Ah-yeah!

We are GO for Edinburgh Fringe tickets!

I repeat:

GO for Edinburgh Fringe tickets!

Yup, the programme launch for this year’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe is today and you may now buy muchos tickets for Fabled – woo hoo!

Manic… sorry – focussed preparations for its first performance on the 10th of June at the Holloway Arts Festival are well underway and I am really looking forward to it.  So many great people involved in bringing it all together.  The voiceovers are all pretty much recorded now and a mammoth soundscape build is in the diary for Saturday for rehearsals next week.

You can buy tickets for the 10th of June here.

Have a nose at the rest of the Holloway Arts Festival programme – loadsa great stuff on.

I had great fun at the Boxing Rabbit Launch Party last week and am really relishing the crazy Fabled deadline I’m up against.

GOOD TIMES!

Yes I Can(nes)

I should most definitely be asleep right now for tomorrow I need to awaken at 4am to head to the airport for a whistlestop trip to Cannes for the Film Festival for 2 days.  A manic exciting trip is just what I need in the midst of show preparation madness.  Please hold it together brain.  Woo!

The first draft of the ‘Fabled‘ script is finished as of Wednesday this week and casting of voiceovers and song writing begin.

I should probably pack.  Yes.

I am a writing machine

I am most definitely ensconced in writing mode. My new hour long solo show Fabled needs to be all up and running for its premier performance at 5pm on the 10th of June and that day rapidly approaches.  I AM LOIS’ HYPERDRIVE. 40mins written so far and 20 left to go – it’s a sinch I tells ya…

Once again: details are here and hot tickets are here.

I am now also taking the show up to the Edinburgh Fringe this August and I’ll be performing at The Bongo Club at 4pm – proper details when tickets are on sale.  Soon!  Soundtrack, photos, video, webpage, flyer: all backed up in the pipeline behind the as yet unfinished script.  Tasty, tasty deadlines – hot diggity dog.

On the more variety side of Lois of the Lane based things I had a great gig in April at the Bussey Building in Peckham for a V-Day London fundraiser for Bede House and I have another gig at the launch party for new theatre company Boxing Rabbit at the Rag Factory on the 25th of May – more details and links when I have them.  It’s all go.

I’m now going to go and put our crockery in alphabetical order and catalogue my lint collection before sitting down for another writing splurge…  (No, I’m not procrastinating – these things are important.)

Overdue update and new show ‘Fabled’!

Ahoy!  So, here’s my brand spanking new website ready for a fresh leap into creative action this Spring.  It’s been another quiet few months, blog-wise, around these parts but, as ever, stuff’s been going down.  The main thing was trying to find a new place to live and then getting settled in, but thankfully that’s all now done and dusted and I’m most definitely ready TO GET CRACKIN’.

In August I made a brief jaunt up to the Edinburgh Fringe where I made a couple of appearances at the Gorgeous George Cabaret Club, singing some of my songs and doing a bit of Lois of the Lane-ing.  Lovely to see everyone and get my Fringe fix.

September saw me popping up to Birmingham to Lois of the Lane at Barbara Nice‘s Jamboree at A.E. Harris.  A grand evening it was too.  For all of you Brum-based, the next one’s on Friday the 20th of April and you can book tickets now.

Here’s a picture of me doing ‘Alive and Amplified’ that night, picture by Graeme Braidwood:

There was also a great 1st Birthday Village Green in September, theme: Hotel vs Camping, where I performed Chris Issac’s ‘Blue Hotel’ with the lyrics changed to make it about an Hotel painted blue…

October saw another Village Green, this time the theme being Wonkavision and I Lois of the Lane-ed it up good and proper with my ‘Dance Fever’ act.

November saw me hosting a Pac Man vs Pac-a-Mac Village Green then, after the Crimbo hiatus, I was back in the driving seat on Friday the 13th of January at the ‘Bad Luck Cabaret’ at The Space with a BRAND NEW Lois of the Lane act called ‘Somewhere’ which went down a treat.  Here’s me gurning away as normal during the show, photo by Johanna Spiers:

January also saw another Village Green, the theme being Spelling Bee, where I performed Arthur Askey’s ‘The Bee Song’ with the lyrics changed to make it about a Spelling Bee (the reference was mostly lost as only one person in the audience had even heard of the song… ha!).

Aside from all of this, I’ve also been in the very early stages of rehearsal of a brand new play called ‘Kill the President’ by James O’Shea which should be on in London in September, funding dependent… and I’ve also hooked up with Angela Gasparetto who’s going to be helping me develop all aspects of my performance goings on – exciting times!

The BIG big news is that my new solo show is going to be premiering in June.  It’s called ‘Fabled’ and it will be showing, initially, for one night only at the Holloway Arts Festival at 5pm at Platform.  Details and tickets here.  Now I’ve finished my website, the task is to actually finish writing the show and get it all ready – I like a deadline!  More dates for the show following shortly, all being well…

2012 – I’m comin’ atcha!