Mouthpiece

Reflecting on the initial delight (and subsequent dread) of selling out her debut Fringe show, Ania Magliano writes about overcoming second-album syndrome and her deep-felt gratitude for work-inprogress audiences n Ania Magliano: I Can’t Believe You’ve Done This, Pleasance Courtyard, 2–27 August, 4.35pm.

When creating my first show, I had my entire life to draw from. Stories, thoughts and ideas from February 1998 to July 2022, to be exact. Preparations began on my next show in October 2022. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that July to October is a marginally shorter period of time to draw inspiration from. This realisation panicked me initially. But rather than spin an hour out of a sheer three months, I decided to look back at my whole life and attempt to dig a little deeper. In this new hour, I’m talking about events and topics that are more personal to me (sorry, dad), and that require more skill and confidence to deliver well on stage.

This was, of course, only possible thanks to the kind-hearted support of audiences who attend work-inprogress shows before August. If you’re someone who has ever been to one of these, then you are truly a martyr for comedy. There is a special place in heaven for you (in a chair, watching god test out new scripture ideas scribbled in his notebook before he sets them in stone). Thank you. Now I’m starting to realise that having another go can be useful for creating a higher-quality finished thing. Like the second pancake . . . or child: the first one never turns out all that great. More evenly-cooked; a little less time on the iPad before bed. It’s how things grow and improve. So I hope that’s what this show is. A better, well-rounded, perfectly warm pancake/child.

You have to feel a little sorry for Fringe acts who need to get their show title into the programme often before they’ve even fully conceptualised that August masterpiece.

Best way to attract attention is with a ripe old pun. Here’s a bunch that took our fancy