These are the shows I'm doing in Edinburgh this year

She Was Probably Not A Robot

This is my shiny new tin-foil-clad solo creation. If you saw The Beast or The World Holds Everyone Apart, Apart From Us, this is a much darker but sillier show than those. It's stupid, sad and strange. It has more of a tormented (playfully) quality to it. Out of all of my solo shows I've had the most fun making this one. And I have the most fun performing it. If you're going to be in Edinburgh or know anyone who is, please come and invite anyone you think might be into that sort of thing. This is the Facebook event if that helps

I'm also doing this show:

Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown and His Singing Tiger

This is back for it's third year, but this time only for two shows so please book in advance. It's a show for everyone.

And down here you'll find a secret:

The Lounge Room Confabulators

This is a last minute addition to my Edinburgh offerings. A show that comes to you. My good friend and master storyteller Wil Greenway, is bringing his solo show A Night to Dismember, to Edinburgh. So we're re-uniting to re-kindle the show that we performed two years ago The Lounge Room Confabulators. This show is performed in peoples homes. The way it works is one person invites us round, they invite their friends, we show up and perform to them and then we leave. And it's pretty cheap too, you just have to pay £5 per person (minimum 6 people) and £20 to cover our taxi to and from your place. If you are interested in booking this show please send an email to talesinyourloungeroom@gmail.com and we can work out a time and date.

Adelaide Fringe

Just so you know, these are the shows I’m doing in the Adelaide Fringe this year. For ticket info click on the show title.

The Beast

For the event touch the star ☆ 

Dr Brown Brown Brown Brown Brown - The Kids’ Show

For event touch the umbrella ☂

The Lounge Room Confabulators
These guys➘ have now sold out. We’ll let you know if we add more shows.

For information touch the cloud ☁

See you in Adelaide.

Quantifying August 2011

In August I took a holiday and went to sunny Edinburgh for a month. I did approximately 61 shows in 26 days. Claire operated the lights and sound, made sure we had an audience, invited important people, encouraged me when my head was down and critiqued me when my head was up. She also kept me alive by feeding me coffee and various cheeses.

I was performing my solo show in the afternoon, two lounge room shows in the evening and a kids show in the morning on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, plus flyering and performing the occasional spot. 

I will now quantify my Edinburgh experience:

I performed approximately two hundred and two thousand, eight hundred and thirty nine words (am I saying it right?) it’s 202839 words, based on a word count of the scripts. My solo show had an average audience size of 25, I almost fell causing serious injury to myself during a performance twice, I garnered a total of 70 stars: Four 5 star reviews, nine 4 star reviews, four 3 star reviews and a 2 star from a twitter review, I destroyed two tape players, I ate three meals I regret, I climbed Arthurs seat once, I had around 60 coffees, I cried once, I appeared on BBC TV once, I stood in poo twice, I lost two pieces of clothing, I saw four shows that changed the way I think about theatre, I was kicked in the shin on the same spot twice, I swore I would never do another festival three times, I committed to doing three shows in Adelaide next year, I performed to gnomes and fairies in a basement on a floor covered with plastic once, I heard fireworks at least 15 times, I saw fireworks twice, I caught 19 taxis, I signaled for 16 taxis that didn’t stop, I almost lit a prop on fire during a performance twice, I was followed by a photographer once, I performed to an audience made up of 12 reviewers and one punter in a small lounge room once,  I ate 6 Panini’s from the café over the road, I was nominated for one award, I received zero awards, I ate haggis three times, I walked through a cemetery 4 times, I had 5 breakfasts in the sun, everyday was filled with hundreds of disappointments and every disappointment was surrounded, encrusted and overcome by pure joy.

The Lounge Room Confabulators Edinburgh 2011

We are The Lounge Room Confabulators. We are two rambling raconteurs, that perform our tales in lounge rooms around the world. We will be ambling over the cobblestones of Edinburgh in August as part of the Fringe.

The Lounge Room Confabulators in The Age

PIPING HOT COMEDY, DELIVERED TO YOUR DOOR
John Bailey

With his suitcase at the ready, travelling performer Stuart Bowden at Fitzroy’s La Niche Cafe. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer

SOME nights you just want to curl up on the couch and order in. But today, the choice of stay-at-home fare is not just between Indian or Thai. Now, you can get live theatre home-delivered.

Last week, two Melbourne lads won the Underbelly Edinburgh Award at the Adelaide Fringe Festival: a prize of £7000 ($A11,460) and a season at one of the most coveted venues in the world's largest festival. One hitch: they don't perform in theatres; they perform in your lounge room.
Stuart Bowden is one half of the Lounge Room Confabulators and says that producing a show in a stranger's home carries a ''massive risk''. There's no location scouting: the first time he sees his space is when the performance begins.

Every time we do a show there's the potential for things to go horrifically wrong,'' he says. ''But then there's also the potential for things to be magical. We were more excited about the possibility of things going really well as opposed to ending up cable-tied together in someone's basement.’’

Some reviews of The Lounge Room Confabulators

Photo: Lachlan Woods