So close, yet so far...

Man, it really seems like it will never end. My knees and back have
given out. I'm walking like an old man. Really painful. I have some
vicodin but I'm scared of shredding my liver and addiction. Ouch.

Yesterday, I dragged my lazy ass out of bed to get to Steven Berkoff's
show "shakespeare's villains".

As I expected, he is a big ham. Man, he sure does know "the text" as
we like to refer to it, but he acts it like no one would ever act it.
Howard Fine would stop him after sentence one. Indicating, showing
off, everything one does with shakespeare when you've been doing it
and you're doign a one person show about shakespeare's villains people
pay to see.

But... I sure did enjoy his lecture stuff about it, though. I
loooooove hearing people who know what they're talkign about talk
about stuff. You know, he wrote an entire book about playing Hamlet
and, well, he's doing a show about Shakespeare's villains, so... yeah.
I'm glad I went, it's good to get away from all the
cuntcuntcuntcuntfuckfuckfuckbollocksbollocksfuckfuck of the festival
and see soemone ham through Iago.

Also, and this is how one would begin the parody show, he came out
sorta yelling at the tech staff because some fans were on. "David,
would you PLEAAAAASEEEE turn the effing fans off!" Saying "effing" is
so funny.

Irregardless, it was nice. Plus, the building was absolutely lovely.
It was at the Assembly venue up on the hill and as you walk up the
steps, it is built in a way that another building shoots up behind the
venue. Stunning. Plus the sky and sun... man, it's pretty over here.

Grabbed some food and internet and went off to do our show. The venue
is soooo hot. Jesus. There is a kid's show before us, James Campbell's
Onomatopea Society and it's a big whomping hit, so there are 100
sweaty and excited kids in there heating the room up. We get in and
open the doors and try to air it out, but it is sweltering. Sometimes
I feel as if i'm going to pass out. Man.

The show was another average one. I'm trying to change stuff that I do
to keep it fresh and maybe find some surprises. dunno. Sometimes I
feel like I'm done with it; that we should never do it again. Then,
after the show, i see how much people like it and i change my mind.
I'm insane.

Hiked back over the hill to the Assembly Rooms to see Will Smith (no)
- Misplaced Childhood.

He's created a character who grew up rich and was a huge, geeky,
marillion fan (there is no other kind of marillion fan). It's very
funny, the conceit being it's the 20th anniversary of the release of
Misplaced Childhood and he is revisiting the thing that marked his
childhood: his punishment for not bringing his outdoor p.e. clothes.

There are filmed segments with him and Fish, the former lead singer,
and they're pretty great. Fish is really fucking good. He should act
more. Seriously, he could be a great bad guy or corporate leader.
Really subtle and funny and charming.

Glad I saw it, and it was nice to see that there are other Marillion
fans lurking about.

As i was hiking back over the hill, the sun was nearly setting. The
castle was absolutely mesmerizing. I went in to the park and watched
the orange of the sun change the view of the castle every 10 seconds.
Words fail. Watching it was sooo odd. Thinking of history. Of our
short times. Castles. Things built for royalty. This festival. People
trying to better their station. The struggle. The wars. The defeats.
Love. Death... all that stuff one thinks of when watching sunsets and
castles.

Met up with Paul Byrne and Brendon Burns. Burnsy is doing two shows in
a larger venue and it's a sort of culmination of his shroom thing from
glastonbury and they're documenting it via video. I have a video
camera, albeit a crappy consumer camera, and have been enlisted to
ass-ist.

Met Luke, his delighful son who he talks about in his shoe and I shot
them working on getting lighting cues, etc. just right. It's funny how
some people "act natural" when they're being filmed. Sweet.

Was about to head home when I realized it was the night we buy drinks
for the fliering staff. I headed to the pleasance dome and chatted
with the fliering staff. What a tough gig. Better them than me.

Then i walked georgia and becky in to spank! (you love it!). It was so
hot. This is how hot it was. Ready? When we got in the room, my
glasses fogged up. I mean not a little... but they fucking fogged all
the way up. It was horrific.

Stewart Lee, one of the co-authors of jerry springer, the opera, was
doign a set. I must see him. He seems like an actual genius. When his
set was over, becky and georgia headed off and I found myself in the
library bar at the gilded balloon.

I'm sitting with steve hughes when I see Fish. Holy shit.

then I see will smith (no).

okay... what to do.. I walk up to will smith, to introduce myself when
he sees me.

"hey, you're dean cameron. you were at my show tonight!"

i was quite stunned

"i met you last year when i saw your show. It's brilliant, i want to
come see it again!"

how cool is that? So i tell will smith that i'm one of the few
american marillion fans and he points at fish who is standing by the
bar chatting with a couple of ladies (of course). I say "I know... I
saw him.. maybe you'lll...." and before i can finish the sentence, he
drags me over to Fish.

"Fish, this is dean cameron, he's doign a brilliant show here and...
well, tell him what you told me, dean..."

I tell Fish that i'm an american marillion fan and I saw them do
misplaced childhood at the roxy and then saw them at the palace and a
shitty theater in riverside on the clutching at straws tour. then i
told him how great i thought he was in the video segments of will
smith's show.

He brightened up at the compliments and the fact that i was an american fan.

"we must see your show, then!"

Will smith explained a bit about the show and fish gave me his card
and wrote his phone number. Then he said soem stuff in scottish that I
ddidn't understand.

So i wrote him an email last night, reminding him who i was and about
the show and got an email back from him. He's going to try and come
back next week and if he does, he'll see the show.

That is so fucking cool.

the really cool thing was seeing an email from "Fish" in my inbox.

Who knew?

They're now kicking me out of the internet cafe.

More later.

¶ 1:53 PM