Blog: A Mini-Break In Buxton
Last week The Shows In My Festival and I had a LOVELY mini-break to the utterly fab Buxton Fringe Festival, where I was doing TWO (2) performances of Data and Doctor Doom. Executive summary: it was GRATE!
This was not my first time at Buxton Fringe, nor even the second, as I had been TWICE before, doing Total Hero Team in 2013 and Hey Hey 16K in 2015. On both of those occasions I had been with Mr S Hewitt and we had had a DELIGHTFUL time, swanning around what felt very much like a mythical Edinburgh Fringe Of The Past, where performances really DID happen in church halls and cafes, rather than monolithic multi-room venues run by vast comedy corporations.
Wonderfully it was all still VERY MUCH the same ten years on, with loads of odd shows happening all over town, slung together in an enthusiastic and joyous fashion MILES away from the aforesaid comedy corporations and indeed corporate comedians who have taken over in Edinburgh.
It was also very similar in that the town was still packed with SHALL WE SAY people of previous generations. If anything this was even MORE obvious this time around as we were staying in a Fancy Hotel (paid for by The Fresh Towels On My Towel Rail) where nearly everyone working there was at most 22 and nearly everyone staying there was at least 72. It was like some weird science fiction story where half a century's worth of people had been DISAPPEARED!
We did not let this mild discombobulation stop us from have a groovy time though, as we made FULL use of the aforesaid Fancy Hotel's SPA facilities, went out to see a couple of other shows, had a bit of a stroll around, and generally LIVED IT UP. The only thing that got in the way of this being a full-on MINI-BREAK was the fact that I had to do a couple of shows myself, but these turned out to be LOVELY. I had about ten people in for each one and they were GRATE fun to talk to - one of them was even a REVIEWER who done a REVIEW of it all.
The show itself changed both nights, partly due to the previously mentioned Letters In My Words proffering some excellent NOTES what I incorporated, and also due to me relaxing into it all and TALKING a lot more.
It was, not to put too fine a point on it, a BRILLIANT way to spend a couple of days, and I would be HIGHLY keen on going back again, even if not to put a show on. As stated, it was like a version of the Edinburgh Fringe without all of the stuff that used to wind me up, which leaves something rather wonderful behind!
posted 28/7/2025 by MJ Hibbett