Was greeted at the port by friends, Sean, Elaine and their daughter, Aislinn. I'd heard a few days back that they'd recently moved to Shetlands when one of their other daughters, Siobhan, got in touch saying they were there, were excited about my show and had offered to be my tour guides for my stay on the island.
I wrote a play many, many years back that Aislinn, Siobhan and their other sister, Ceara, was in - it went to the Brighton and Edinburgh fringes and did quite well. Hadn't seen them for years, though, despite always being close to their parents, too, who enjoyed my writing a lot. Siobhan and Ceara have since got married/engaged and moved on, but Sean, Elaine and middle daughter Aislinn decided to relocate to the Shetlands for a better quality of life.
They were a joy to hang out with over this day; after all - they hadn't seen me for years and I was weary, exhausted after a long trip, knocking back the energy drinks and just looking grubby. I went to theirs for a walk around their private beach, saw some seals, did some bird watching and then they cooked me a lovely lunch before dropping me off at my hotel.
Shetland Islands is an incredible place, so beautiful, so stunning and, despite what you may believe, plenty of work. It's just a hidden secret. Hidden, 14 hours on a ferry away.
Hotel was lovely, felt very welcome. My venue for the final show of the tour was another hotel, which itself was also lovely. I walked in to a flurry of apologies from the venue manager, a nice man called Neil, who had clearly been trying to promote the show but wasn't getting much interest. I'd seen the posters everywhere, I appreciate his efforts.
The tour ended with a modest audience of 4, but a lovely 4. Sean, Elaine, Aislinn and a random old guy called Jimmy who kept buying me beer and told me afterwards it was, "the funniest show I've ever seen," but he was hammered. Good show, though, I thought.
Helen had said to me during our picnic that she had felt uncomfortable watching me do stand up, because this show is too dark in places, too raw, as much as everyone else at the Edinburgh performance didn't see that. Maybe it's because she knows me?
Either way, I tweaked the tone for the final performance, made it less about the loser guy who is still unsure about life decisions, and made it more about the guy who has just done a long tour by public transport with a box on his back, is starting to feel like the industry are noticing him and that his career is going in the right direction, is feeling like a success but is still unsure about life decisions.
This sat well, and it was by far the best performance of the run. Filmed it, those who chipped in to the Crowdfunder will get a free DVD of it.
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