Warming up for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe Down Under

This is my last weekend at Adelaide Fringe. On Monday I start the long journey home. After six weeks Down Under, sometimes in temperatures as high as 40 degrees, it will be nice to come back to Scotland in early spring. Even if “early spring” turns out to be late winter.

Performing at an international arts festival may sound like a glamorous lifestyle, but I have actually spent the last month living in a caravan in someone else’s front garden with dodgy electrics, a lumpy bed and a chemical toilet. Yes, I’ve been living the dream. While I am really missing home, I am in no way relishing the flight. I am flying Qatar Airways from Adelaide to Edinburgh with a layover in Doha Airport.

The first leg is 14 hours, taking off at ten-thirty at night. I will be flying East to West, so effectively travelling backwards in time.

Fourteen hours of perpetual night await me. Over half a day trapped in a dark aeroplane with no view of the outside world. Last year, I was stupid enough to book a window seat.

If you don’t fancy 14 hours in a tin tube at 40,000 feet, try spending three hours in Doha Airport. Nothing makes you pine for home more than being dumped into an alcoholfree shopping mall in a desert in the dead of night. In other words, I am definitely looking forward to getting home.

I am looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed in an actual house where the electricity doesn’t unexpectedly trip. I’m looking forward to a proper fridge and a flushing toilet. And I’m already looking forward to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe. Believe it or not, tickets for my show at The Stand are already on sale.

Many performers preview their Edinburgh shows here in Adelaide and I have seen a number of new comedians out here who will be coming to our Fringe in August.

Top of my list of acts to look out for would be ex-pat Scottish standup Gill Cordiner, who is fast making a name for herself on the Australian circuit.

She’s effortlessly hilarious, looking like Barbie’s mum but sounding like Janey Godley. Definitely worth checking out.