Edinburgh Week 0

So, how do you even start?

You know when a couple has a kid, and they get home and think “Ok. Now what? How is this even legal?”

It’s kind of the same sentiment in Edinburgh (only much higher stakes than having a baby). Tess and I got in the cab from the airport and thought “so…what do we do now?”

The truth is, there is not a soul that cares how your show does except for you. It is exclusively our responsibility to shepherd this project into the world, which is simultaneously freeing and terrifying.

Our first show is tonight, August 1st, so the below information is about preparation.

Here’s how we started:

1. Just be the new kid on the block

Not long ago, if I was in this situation, I would’ve felt incredibly anxious—new place, new people, and it seems like everybody else knows what they’re doing.

I think I’m self-aware enough now to understand that I’m simply feeling what it’s like to be in a new place. I literally met upwards of 30 people in a single day. You can acclimate quickly when you’re forced to do so. The key is to stay calm and slow down.

2. Figure out what you can control

The basic recipe for selling tickets to genuine strangers is to hand out flyers. If you flyer in the 90 minutes before your show, especially for one like ours that’s technically free (pay what you want), then you can, pretty consistently, get people in the door.

So, Tess and I have scheduled ourselves to flyer during those times, and we’ve also hired someone else to do it with us to increase our reach.

Likewise, showing people magic is free advertising, and it’s one of the best tools I have to promote the show. Tess and I spent three hours at a bar chatting, exchanging flyers, and doing magic, and it worked wonders.

3. You don’t have to do it all at once

Getting to Edinburgh can be extremely overwhelming. There’s literally 4,000 shows, venues everywhere you look, and more performers than that. You can let it stress or excite you!

There’s a ton to do once you get here, and this is where we remember—we got here several days early on purpose. There’s a ton of time. We don’t have to do it all at once.

In fact, splitting important tasks over multiple days with multiple people is a much better way to go than overloading yourself with work.

4. Ignore the United States

Life in the U.S. doesn’t stop—I’m still preparing for shows this fall, there’s work to do, and people that need responses.

Additionally, the time zone means I wake up with a ton of emails and texts, which is a stressful way to start the day. Until I remember that I wake up around 2am EST, and there is zero rush to respond to anyone. Even the most stressful email won’t be seen until, at the earliest, noon my time.

Likewise, the time zone forces me to be more intentional in my communication. When I know that someone won’t see my message until the next day, I have to be more thoughtful with what I say so that if something needs to get done, the conversation doesn’t drag on for days.

5. Find a routine outside of the show

It’s all about performing, all the time, unless you make a conscious effort to do anything else. And physical activity is still vital to my mental and physical health.

Arthur’s Seat, a famous little peak in Edinburgh, is literally out my back door, and I’m gonna try to climb it as much as possible (it’s like a 30-45 minute round trip). The path is easy enough to jog parts of, and I can add a run on either end of the climb.

It’s an excellent way to start the day, get my body moving, and get physical activity out of the way. The schedule here is so crazy that if this stuff doesn’t happen in the morning, it won’t happen at all.

---

So, there you have it. We haven’t done a show yet, and next time I post, we’ll be seven shows deep, so I’ll have more information on the actual performance side of things.

The energy here is like nothing I’ve ever experienced, and I can’t wait to jump in the deep end.

See you in a week!