A Fairytale of Edinburgh

Last night I was sat waiting to start my show when something wonderful happened... There were only nine audience members in with about one minute to show time and I was preparing myself for the possibility that it might be an intimate one. As usual before the show I was chatting to the people who were already there. My stage has a carpet on in which appears to be black with silvery flecks but actually the flecks are glitter which has been dropped by the burlesque show that uses the venue the rest of the year. We were discussing this and I was rubbing the carpet to show that when you did so the glitter jumped off the carpet and rearranged itself. As I did this I joked to the audience that I hoped there was a coach party on their way but that otherwise we would be starting in half a minute.

Then in walked four people. Then another two, then six, then three more clearly all part of one group. I told the original nine that clearly the coach party had arrived and we laughed. But they kept coming. I had to get get up and start finding extra chairs. In the end this group of fifty American students - some of whom had seen me the night before at my midnight show and had decided to bring their friends - took up so much room that I had to ask the original nine to move along and make room.

As I turned to do so I realised something amazing had happened. The original nine had seen me rubbing the glittery carpet and wishing for a coach party to arrive. They had then seen a coach party arrive and now firmly believed this was a magic wish-granting carpet. They were actually rubbing it themselves and wishing for thing they wanted themselves.

So come to my show and rub the magic carpet and make your own wish - maybe it'll come true!