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Edinburgh Guest Blog: Pimping on the Mile

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13 August 2012

After a hectic while up here at the fringe we are very proud to say that all six shows are up and running and all six shows are being very well received. Both 4.48 Psychosis and Elephant Man have begun to sell out and with our other four shows getting very good houses already; it is not inconceivable that at some stage we could have full houses across the board. I don’t read reviews but apparently we have also had two four star and a five star review so far and are waiting on the rest.

It is safe to say that Fourth Monkey is quite a presence up here at the fringe. I imagine it is hard to miss our fifty strong menagerie tableau-ing (or as we call it ‘pimping’) on the mile. We have worked out a system whereby the three shows on that day trundle up to the mile at 11am in costume (completely with trikes to ride up and down if you’re a monkey) and the company members who are not performing that day don their ‘fourth monkey’ t-shirts and pounce on the photographers and people who have stopped to look. So far we have been featured in the Telegraph, Metro, Scotsman and by BBC Scotland so it seems that we are doing something right. Our clowns are stealing the show, and still managing to prove very popular with the ladies; quite an achievement considering they’re smothered in makeup.

Having been to the festival before I can safely say that the strangest thing about this year has been the weather. It is scorching hot (bar the one day of torrential rain). Dear old James Lewis, who rocked up to the mile in a very small uni-tard today to promote Nights at the Circus has got perhaps the most hilarious tan lines I have ever seen.

The most delightful moments of this early part of the festival have been being able to finally see the other shows and support the rest of the company. We are a very close unit and had heard a lot about each other’s shows during rehearsals, but sitting and watching your friends do some unbelievable work makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. This evening I finally managed to get in to see Elephant Man and was completely blown away and am truly so proud to be in a company with these people.

We are currently have the majority of Fourth Monkey squeezed into the kitchen in our house as we prepare to go out and celebrate a cast member’s birthday. Another has just eaten a deep fried Mars bar (embracing the culture), another expressing his masculinity by making friendship bracelets for all the boys. We have well and truly settled into life here and can now just enjoy each other’s company and enjoy being part of these shows that we are all so proud of.