An actress and writer was left in tears after just one person turned up to her show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival – with her devastated post prompting an outpouring of support.
Georgie Grier, based in London, shared a teary-eyed photo of herself on Twitter and said: ‘There was one person in my audience today when I performed my one woman play, Sunsets at #edfringe. It’s fine, isn’t it? It’s fine…?’
Her tweet caught the eye of several comedy stars, including Jason Manford who uploaded a video message saying he experienced similar things when he first went to the fringe festival.
Ex-Mock the Week host Dara O Briain also sent his support to Grier, as did Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein among others.
Upset: Georgie Grier, an actress and writer based in London, shared a teary-eyed photo of herself on Twitter and said only one person was in the audience for her show Sunsets
Message: Jason Manford provided words of encourageanment to the actress who only had one person turn up to her show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival
Grateful: Georgie saw Jason’s video and thanked him, writing: ‘Thank you so much @JasonnManford and everyone for your kind words of support!’
In a touching video message, Manford said: ‘Hi Georgie, it’s Jason Manford here. I don’t know you, you don’t know me but your little message popped up on my Twitter so I thought I’d drop you a message.
‘You know what, it’s absolutely normal A, for one person to rock up to your show at Edinbrugh and also for you to be annoyed or p***ed off about it, that’s totally fine as well.
‘I did Edinburgh in 2004/5 and I remember the first couple of shows, the first week I think, was just such a slog.
‘I was out in the rain, people weren’t coming. I had total imposter syndrome. ‘How much is this costing me? What am I doing here? Look at all these amazing people, how embarrassing nobody’s turned up’.
‘But you know what, you’re on the path and it’s just the start. Tomorrow will be better, next week will be better and next year will be even better than that so just enjoy yourself if you can.’
Georgie was delighted by the comedian’s video, responding: ‘Thank you so much @JasonnManford and everyone for your kind words of support!’
Meanwhile, O Briain told her:’We’ve ALL done it. Soon, you’ll dine out on this anecdote.
‘More than once I had to buy my audience a drink, as a thank you for being the only ones there.
‘Best thing though, it’s all stage time, and the show will get better every single time, ready for the big crowds later!’
Inspiration: Jason gave words of encouragement to Georgie and encouraged her to keep pursuing her goals
He said: ‘I did Edinburgh in 2004/5 and I remember the first couple of shows, the first week I think, was just such a slog’
Reaction: Jason’s video drew a positive reaction from Twitter users with one writing: ‘What a glorious thing to say and do’
Lord Finkelstein wrote: ‘I went to Norwich to give a speech and it took me 4hrs of travel. There were only 2 people there.
‘One of them was the person who invited me. I asked the other person to join the cause I was there to support. He said he would, but it might interfere with the terms of his parole.’
Astronomer Mark Thompson added: ‘I’ve seen amazing shows with really poor audience numbers.
‘Just because there was just one audience member doesn’t mean your show isn’t awesome. Believe in yourself but maybe it’s the poster/marketing?’
Georgie appeared to be delighted with the outpouring of support.
She later shared a follow up tweet informing people her show would run at the fringe from August 2-27 at the Gilded Ballroom.
Her next performance of Sunsets is scheduled to take place at 12.20pm on Friday.
The one-woman show is described as telling the story of a woman ‘fascinated by romantic comedies’ who ‘tries to create her own walking-off-into-the-sunset moment’.
It is 60 minutes long, with Georgie saying the production ‘explores our relationship to fantasy and how far this can impact our reality’.
Away from acting, she hosts a popular podcast called The Screenster Podcast, which has had guests like actor Josh Hartnett, Elvis director Polly Bennett and Peaky Blinders writer Steven Knight.
#Georgie #Grier #left #tears #person #turns #Edinburgh #Fringe #Show #Jason #Manford #sends #touching #video #message #telling #tomorrow
