The Edinburgh Festival season is in full swing, and you can keep an eye on festival reviews on this blog. More show reviews are coming, Bronwen is still Ed Fest busy, but I’m back at the day job.
So, what? In the week taken off to write up Edinburgh Festival shows and gigs, I found myself pulling 20-hour days back to back and got hit by a van. Long hours like that are common during the Fringe and festivals.
Head-butting the van is less common. Thankfully, I’m okay as the wing mirror (probably) just clipped my glasses, smashing them to bits with cuts and bruises caused by that explosive departure from my nose! A shoutout to Downes Opticians for sorting me out with replacement specs so quickly and while I stuck plasters to my face with the aid of their impressive collection of mirrors!
HiJOBS, a Scottish job site, has a collection of horror jobs and dream jobs experienced by Festival performers.
Nick Cohen, who wrote and performs in Life with Oscar, at the Underbelly, Cowgate, told the site about the pranks he faced on his first industry job as a runner. The builders next door were responsible for;
Disruptive football chants escalated to laxatives in my tea and being mildly electrocuted with a piece of copper pipe.”
HiJOBS even got to speak to Nikky Smedley, who was the Teletubby Laa-Laa.
Every time I was out of the suit, working on Teletubbies was the best job ever, but inside the suit was a living hell and definitely the worst.”
Nikky is in Edinburgh and in Confessions of a Teletubby.
It turns out that becoming a surreal fantasy creature like a Teletubby doesn’t stop most Edinburgh people from chasing their dream job. HiJOBS’ survey data says that 43% of Edinburgh locals would be put off a job by unsociable hours. That beats the 38% of residents who said it was their lack of confidence and the 30% who said it was their fear of the unknown.
Without fear of laxatives in my tea, this review blogger is back in his day job with a heightened awareness of delivery vans and mid-way through August.
Are you an Edinburgh local who takes holiday time to see things in the Fringe or Edinburgh festivals? And what job horrors or dreams do you have? Let us know.
Image credit: Jacob Bentzinger.
Leave a Reply