Tales of a non-extinct prehistoric fish :o)

Today we spent an awful lot of time being indecisive and running (well… walking as quickly as the Royal Mile allows…) up and down the Mound, deciding what we wanted to see and getting tickets. So, having missed one play we’d meant to see already, we settled on a really random play called Coelacanth (pro. See-la-canth) by Ben Moor, at the Pleasance Attic. Now this one-man play, or perhaps it is better described as an old-fashioned story time, is hard to sum up briefly, so I’ll quote The Stage, who sum it up quite nicely.

“The coelacanth, a prehistoric fish that lay undiscovered and unevolved for millions of years, seems an odd motif on which to hang a yarn of love, life and climbing trees. But then writer/performer Ben Moor has built his reputation - this is his 19th Edinburgh show - on such seemingly random associations. And, as it unfolds, his latest one-man shaggy dog story reveals a delightful rhyme and reason to even the most fanciful, Edward Lear-like flights of fancy.
Moor casts himself as a tree-obsessed loner introduced to the sport of competitive tree climbing by his father, who then meets the girl of his dreams, loses her and then discovers, the hard way, his true way in life and love. It is nonsense, of course, but the unassuming Moor who, bearded, shoeless and suited, resembles a shipwrecked bank clerk, is such an engaging, warm and witty host that while you are in his company you take it as gospel.”

This really was a heart-warming play, which I wholley recommend. I, personally, particularly enjoyed its complete random-ness , but then, I would… It is a story, of life and love and rejection and regained lust for life again etc. told so simply, yet compellingly. And you may even learn something (albeit about a non-extinct prehistoric fish…).

After this we hadn’t booked another show until 10.30 that evening (another show chosen by my attraction to complete randomness) which was Jason Byrne: The Lovely Goat Show, which, again, comes with a whole-hearted recommendation – it was very funny, and had a gaot dance at the beginning – what more could you ask? But more of that later…
Since it was Jen’s first time in Edinburgh, or infact in Scotland, we decided that something touristy was in order and there were really only two main attractions I’d not seen before (those being Edinburgh Dungeons and the Auld Reekie midnight haunted town tour thingies).
However, one of them stood out since – a) it was open at a sensible time of day and b) I mentioned it at the bus stop, we then had two pound off vouchers on the back of our bus tickets and then at Pizza Hut we were given two-for-one vouchers, clearly we were meant to go to the dungeons…
Edinburgh Dungeons, the attraction, is not actually Edindurghs dungeons… something I did not realise until we had actually go in It is more like a history of the kind of things that went on there. It was quite entertaining, if not anything more, although it does have by far the best mirror labyrinth I have ever been in – that really was very confusing and v v cool! The end of the tour through the various set ups is a little disappointing, and slightly bemusing. But by then we didn’t mind much – it was all in good spirits. I would recommend a visit if you have nothing better to do, having said that I would only recommend it if you have two-for-one vouchers. It’s easily worth a fiver to while away some time, but certainly not the £11 they try to sell it to you for normally…

When we came out the dungeons it was chucking it down… (and we thought we’d picked a good week… hohum), and since we still had a few hours before our next show and couldn’t be bothered to go back up to the ticket office to see something else, we returned to my uncle’s apartment for somewhere warm and dry to work out what we were going to do the next day. On returning he asked us if we’d eaten and then took us out for an Indian meal at the end of the apartments – second nicest indian I’ve ever had :o) Aww… I do love my uncle, who is both unbelievably random and one of the most kind and decent people I know. Thank god there’s people like that in the world, me thinks. And plus, we got to hear about the new business he is setting up with a friend, that will be a fair-trading business thing – how cool!

After our dinner we hopped back on the bus (btw Edinburgh buses are just sooo far superior to the ones at home, it is unbelievable – they’re also cheaper) and found our way to the Assembly rooms. Then we waited in a queue in the rain for another half an hour… and just to top it off, there were some very fantastic sounding fireworks going off just the other side of the building from where we were stood, which was highly frustrastng. Having siad that, it was a very friendly queue and the ice cream sellers (at 10.30 at night in the dark, cold and rain… hmm) did very much keep us entertained, even if it was just that we felt so sorry for them. We also made this guy’s might by taking his last flyer, so he could go home for the night – doesn’t it just give you such a warm fuzzy feeling, making peoples evenings ‘n all.

But to the show. I knew it was comedy – that was really it. But it was possibly our best random choice of the week. From beginning to end we were kept highly entertained, whether it be by the genius goat dance (v v good!) that opened the show, the dry ice that just wouldn’t disappear, and thus meant we couldn’t actually see Jason Byrne for a good couple of minutes, the picking on the audience or the loose thread of anecdotes that somehow held it altogether. Infact, the audience really was a huge part of the show – he basically spent the vast majority of the evening taking the piss, very effectively I must add – particularly out of the ‘posh kids’ in the front row (who lived in hertfordshire/just outside london and one of which had a piolets license at 17!). Truly no one was safe – particularly if you decided to go to the bar or the toilet – just don’t. The show ended even more spectacularly than it had began. Volunteers were bought on stage as backing dancers to his goat dance (it was not actually, btw, Byrne dancing at the beginning – there was a quick, not-so-subtle switch in the ice at the beginning) and another one to lead – who eventually ended up in a giant cricket jumper with byrne trying to get him to mve correctly… I won’t say anymore incase anyone wishes to see it – but suffice to say, it was spectacular and had pyrotechnics – which is always a good thing!
Having left and wandered around looking for a bus – we discovered there wasn’t another one til 0109… and got a taxi instead… then back to the apartment and zzzzzzzzzzzzz.