Fringe Diary #1

Dear Fringe,
the weather gods certainly don't mean well this year. Loads of rain and silly dark clouds. Not fun.
Work is relaxed and good fun because my team is great (hooray). So far no customers have yelled at us (yet), no one puked in to our venue, no one had to be escorted out. Thumbs up!
My best food award so far definitely goes to the BBQ pork hot dog thing at the food truck in the Assembly George Square Garden. My go to drink is the cheapest beer with lime juice because I don't like spending over 4 quid on a tiny vodka+cranberry. No thank you.
I still haven't managed to get organized and bring lunch to work, which is why I enjoy sandwiches/soups from Cafe Musa and Cafe Espresso (I have to admit, they know me personally by now). Oh the perks of paid work, you can actually spend some money.

Here are the shows I have watched so far, in no real order.

1. Voca People//

I was freaked out by their costumes but they are endlessly talented and their song medleys will give you goosebumps. The part where they pick audience members to go on stage will give you goosebumps too, but the ones I don't like. Ugh.

2. The Pin//

So glad we picked this show, these guys are so sweet and funny and have a great idea for the show which is inspiringly innovative and hilarious.

3. Glenn Cosby//

He was part of the last season of the British Bake Off and in his shows, he actually makes cake for the audience. That's all I'm gonna say, because it should be enough to make anyone want to go.

3. Margaret Thatcher Queen of SoHo// 

 This might be my favorite the more I think about it.

"It’s a camp comic cabaret Christmas Extravaganza about Thatcher and the creation of Section 28. It’s got music, dancing, jokes, and a cameo from Ian McKellen in it. It also tells the story of Thatcher getting lost in Soho one night, mistaken for a man in drag, being on the receiving end of homophobia and accidentally becoming a cabaret sensation." I feel that this is easily one of the most typical Fringe shows: so fun, creative, smart and entertaining.

4. Foul Play. The f*cking nasty show// This was a show that starts quite late, so the performers are drunk and turn in to racists, justify it by pointing to the title of the show. Thank god each one is only one for about 8 minutes. I enjoyed one of the eight performers, the rest was just a big too much. If you are into nasty comedians, then this is your show!

5. 50 Shades! The Musical// I really enjoyed this, more so because I actually read the books- their parody is spot on and worth watching. 

New York trip {a very lazy day 3}

So it was Sunday and it definitely felt like it.
We got a super lazy start because we hung out with the boys on the roof top the night before- I think for a couple more years I definitely will enjoy hostels and the people you meet. Not just the snoring ones, but the amazingly fascinating ones with stories that make you want to travel so much more.

Alright. We started to make our way downtown to go the Highline but with food. Luckily Whole Foods was more or less on the way so we indulged and bought amazzzzing food. Sometimes I wish we had that store here in the UK but that would definitely ruin me.
Because we really felt like getting pampered we ended up getting a mani and pedicure (I might have almost fallen asleep during it, so good!). I love to do these things as I don't really do it when I am here in Scotland (or Germany), so it's really a treat for me.
Afterwards we were walking through the city somewhere around Madison Square Garden and we saw a sign for a psychic and a 10$ offer.
That Sunday was definately a weird one so we went to her apartment. Of course that 10$ offer was not on the cool stuff so we ended up paying 25$ each for a palm reading about our future. Jeeez that was cool. There is something goosebumpy about a stranger telling you stuff about yourself, that's for sure. She made some comments about stuff she could not have known, which was super cool. You don't really have to convince me though, she could have been a total rip off and I would have enjoyed it anyway. So yeah, career and love life all sorted out.

After this super enlightening experience we made our way to Shake Shack, because I have heard amazing things about their burgers. It was a nice and warm day so we headed to the one outside near the Flatiron Building. The line was preeetty long but the wait was actually alright. And it's so pretty with all the fairy lights! The burger was so so good and worth the wait!

New York trip {day1}

Miriam and I landed Thursday night at JFK, thank god immediately found each other. Took the shuttle to our hostel and fell asleep veery happy.

Breakfast in Central Park, of course bagels and my favorite drink from Dunkin Donuts (Large Iced Caramel Latte with skim milk, no sugar and no whip cream. okay sometimes whip cream).

We strolled through Central Park, said hi the Met, sat on the stairs like Blair Waldorf and relaxed in the sun. It was soooo hot!

 

After that we went shopping in Soho until we couldn't walk anymore. Had dinner, went home and changed. 

After all the recommendations we went to 230 Fifth, that rooftop bar.

It was super crowded and waitresses kept pushing us around but the view is simply amazing. After a hundred attempts to get the perfect picture we just let it be and let some guys buy us a drink. Oh well

When there is only enough time for one episode...

It has become a bad habit, but when you live by yourself, dinner time is just not that fun. So I just watch an episode of something, anything. I don't really like rewatching stuff so I always look for new stuff. And I am on a test period for Netflix right now, which has been so good!
"Orange is the new black" is a new series with just one season so far. And oh man, it is SO GOOD. The series has loads of different characters, but there is no way of confusing them (which I sometimes hate when there are so many) because they are all so unique and special.
Basically it's about this white chick going to jail for a year because of something she has done yeeears ago. It has an amazing cast, almost all female, it plays with all the prison cliches you know, turns them around and you end up liking characters you never thought you would. They ended up in jail because of bad choices. And we all make bad choices at some point, don't we?

I am so so excited for the second season as the first season finale was CRAZY!!!!

Puppet up! {1 week Fringe- check}

Puppet Up! is actually not what you think. This is a show for adults, no kids allowed. So it's a puppet show for adults, produced by one of the Hensons', the creator of the Muppets!
The show is really fascinating, as you get to see the puppets on the screen like you would on TV but then you also see the people performing with the puppets. Switching between the two of them and watching how the puppets come alive is incredible!
It is improv, so every show is unique in a way. People shout out where they want the puppets to be, what they want them to do.. and they just go with it. There are insanely talented people on the stage, it's very fun to watch them mess up as well as come up with the funniest shit within a couple of seconds. I really wanna go again as I cannot imagine it getting any less fun the next time!

 In terms of my job- I really enjoy it and I am so happy about it! Going to work is not yet associated with any horrible feelings, wooho!I feel like I need to invest more of my free time in to watching shows, but the idea of sleeping in is more attractive most of the time. Oh well.

3 reviews in a flash {comedy & food tips}

Yesterday was my first day off (after only one day of working, which means I got two days off left for the next... 25 days- fun times). Anyway, after taking loads of time to do boring housewife stuff, Julia and I headed down to Old Town, check out the Royal Mile and the street performers.

We then tried to find a restaurant that wasn't occupied by loads of tourists, so we found the Spanish restaurant Iggs & Barioja. We went for the tapas bar and ordered several dishes to share as well as red wine with lemonade. Ooooh, it was amazing! The prices were absolutely fine and sharing everything was so much fun. The couple on the table next to us ordered literally everything and it all looked super good- they also have a unlimited food offer for 20pounds. We are definately gonna check that out!

We then headed to the City Cafe for some dessert (Honey and Hazelnut Parfait, yum yum) and a drink. It looks like a proper American diner, cute booths with red leather seats, breakfast all day and a proper menu full of burgers and even a burger challenge. Man vs Food anyone?

We then headed down to the basement of the City Cafe because Anil Desai's Fringe show was on. It was free but among the Fringe madness this show hasn't gotten a lot of hype yet, so there were only four other people there. And us. I have never really reviewed a comedy show, so all I can say is: it waas funny and he didn't make the audience feel awkward. Awkwardness is probably my biggest "fear", so to say. Silence and weird jokes within a small room just reminds me of a seriously dodgy comedy stand up show in a Manhattan basement. So this was nothing like it and we really enjoyed it- the best part was probably the impressions of famous movie stars. Hilarious and so spot on!
If someone is in town for the Fringe, definitely go and check him out, he deserves more than six people in the audience.

pictures from x, x, x