Greetings, gentle reader! Once again, this is the time when you will get pestered by me with loads of blog updates over the next week, as, if you subscribe to my blog, you will get constantly emailed telling you we’ve been to see yet another show at the Edinburgh Fringe – and I’m really sorry about that. This is our fifth visit to the Edinburgh Fringe, and our devotion to it is still as strong as ever. In 2014 (just a weekend visit) we aimed to see 20 shows and managed 19; in 2015, we planned on 52 shows and hit 50; in 2016 we set our sights slightly lower, planning to see 47 events, and managing 45, and in 2017 we aimed for 51 and achieved 49. This year I’ve gone really ambitious – with 54 shows in the diary. Don’t tell Mrs Chrisparkle, she’ll murder me.

As in previous years, I’m proposing to prepare a preview-type blog post in advance for each show we’re seeing and then add my instant reactions in the few minutes I have afterwards, between shows. I think it’s worked well enough in the past – because it would be impossible to write a full post about each show, there just wouldn’t be time! I’ll try to make it so that there’s always one preview blog on the go at any one time, so you always know what we’re seeing next.

So our first show for this Edinburgh week is Can’t Stop, Can’t Stop, at C Venues – C Royale, Studio 2 at 16:35 on Saturday 18th. Here’s the official promotional blurb: “A solo theatrical performance by Sam Ross, which aims to convey how it feels to live with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. A much-misunderstood yet debilitating condition, affecting 1.2% of the UK population and manifesting itself in disturbing intrusive thoughts, which compels its sufferers to perform repetitive and exhausting actions. The show follows the development and treatment of Sam’s mental illness, examining the latest scientific understanding about how the illness works, as well as the current state of mental health support in the UK. Ultimately, this is a show about how we cope in ever-unsettling times.”

I confess, the main reason I’d like to see this show is because I have a close friend with OCD and I have a small insight into what his life is like, and I hope this performance will take the condition seriously and, in its own little way, help the world understand it better and help sufferers to live with it better. A big ask, I know, but you have to dream! I’ve read some great reactions to his performance at the National Student Drama Festival, so hopefully those high expectations are realistic. It’s 55 minutes long, so please check back sometime after 5.45pm to see what we thought of it, and by then the next preview blog should be available to read too.

And if you’re up in Edinburgh, have a brilliant Fringe!

Unfortunately, I couldn’t get an internet connection earlier! A difficult watch, but fascinating and informative. Sam puts himself through many tortures to show his anxieties and the therapy that might help. Extremely good, but very hard!