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Pesky meerkats, War Dogs, Basil Brush … The puppets are taking over, says the standup – and they’re sabotaging his Edinburgh show
My reaction time is too slow to be a proper standup. It takes me about two weeks to come up with a decent riposte to a heckle. It turns out you can’t just email audience members what you should have said a fortnight after the event. Although sometimes at the fringe I probably could have – once I had eight people in. Or was it seven? It’s hard to tell in the dark.
How has it come to this? I was nearly a somebody 15 years ago. Was it the dwindling talent? The laziness? The ever creakier old boys’ network? The answer came to me one day as I was walking along the Royal Mile, which was thick with old flyers and memories. The street was brought to a standstill by a procession of puppets. Suddenly it clicked. It was all the puppets’ fault. Continue reading...