Can I start by being openly shameless? I can? Why, thank you.
A big motivation for my involvement in Barbershopera is to be Famous. Not hounded in the street, having my (as yet unconceived) offspring pixelated in photos, people getting my face tattooed on them Famous. I'd settle for an occasional double take in the street, or someone buying me a beer, or even some gentle and obsessive love poetry Famous. It's what gets me out of bed in the morning.
To this end, I am in Barbershopera, a comedy Barbershop quartet who perform silly, funny plays in the country's many and varied Arts Centres, theatres and village halls. All in the hope it will some day lead to someone saying: 'Aren't you that guy, from that thing, with the singing?' I think you'll agree it's a noble goal.
However, one good way of increasing the likelihood of being recognised as a performer of any stamp, is to take your show to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Amongst other things, the festival is a hub for performers and fans of new and obscure art. Basically, if you're one of those people who like to like things no-one else has heard of, the Fringe is for you. No-one's heard of almost all of the acts here. Obscurity is king!
And vice versa, if you're a performer of something barely anyone has heard of - as most of us are - the Fringe is the perfect place to pick up fans. Arrive a nobody, leave a nobody who has their face on an A5 flyer!
And this has been the key to Barbershopera's (limited) success so far.
Our first year saw us pick up fans loyal and lovely enough to want to see the next offering without question. And we've benefitted hugely from this ready-made pool of people, braced to accept new ideas every time we've come back. Even if those ideas have seen Barry White, obsessed with Yorkshire puddings, starving the world of love. These people are frankly superhuman.
Now, when I travel about Edinburgh, though I still have to pay my £1.40 for the bus and nobody lets me cut to the front of the queue in the supermarket, occasionally someone will fan the flames of my ego and say: 'Aren't you that guy? From that thing? With the singing?' And I'll be famous for a moment.
3-27 August @ 23.05
Pleasance Courtyard - Edinburgh Festival