Catch

A great afternoon and evening out for birthday stuff. Not mine, the other grown-up in the house.

Lunch out with the girls and leasko before they went off to do their own thing and we were left to our own devices. A lovely afternoon pint and a bit of a potter before Bullet Catch at the Traverse. Quite a show. Unbelievably tense in places and I never know how these things are done (just like I never guess the plot twists in films). TV presenter Kirsty Wark was in the audience just across from us and, despite what she may say in the future on air, she was wincing and covering her face like the rest of us. I'm sure that what performer Rob Drummond was doing was actually quite standard magic/illusion and perfectly safe but his calm manner and delivery was pretty chilling. No spoilers here, just a couple of performances left. Sold out, possibility of returns.

Post post-show food and drinks in the Trav Bar it was down to the book festival for the Unbound event in the Spiegeltent. So these events are free from 9-11pm, feature top-class authors and performers, there's a bar, the venue's pretty lovely and if I agree to fill in a short questionnaire about Unbound you give me a £5 book token to spend in the bookshop? Ok then, don't mind if I do. Mark Haddon (still best known for 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-time') gave a great hour-long talk/performance that covered everything from the gaps between the stars and the gaps between the gaps through to his fear of flying and his love of open water swimming. All delivered quite beautifully and wrapped up in language that really made the whole performance pretty special.

They were playing PJ Harvey in the tent after Mark's talk, beforehand they were playing someone else. Bit of a favourite of mine actually. Couldn't have asked for a better scene-setter.