Wow. Is it really over already? This morning, my producing partner, Natalie Watson and I packed up our VW Passat (courtesy of the fine folks at Hunt Club Volkswagen in Ottawa), said goodbye to our awesome billet, Peter, and headed out on the road to Montreal. See ya later, London! The London Fringe Festival went pretty well for me. I had decent sized houses, incredibly enthusiastic audiences (some people even saw the show twice) that bought plenty of RDSMS merchandise, and actually walked away with money in my pocket. I also love that my final payout was waiting for me by the time I was done my last show. The staff and volunteers were great and unbelievably supportive. I saw festival producer, Kathy Navackas, at everything, including the NO Show, which was the late-night cabaret organized by Jayson McDonald. The cabaret was tons of fun and the staff at the Poacher's Arms were the absolute best! If the Fringe could manage to keep that space as a venue while working out the sound issue, this place would be perfect. My documentary team also had a great time. Maybe too good...

We've collected awesome footage for the documentary. The team followed me to the Fringe Preview, tech rehearsal and first performances. They were at almost every NO Show and filmed plenty of the activities there. We have interviews with Kathy Navackas, Jayson McDonald, Keith Brown, Bill Pats, God, Kurt Fitzpatrick, a retiring Reverend Nudgent, and my billet, Peter Janes. Oh and not enough can be said about my amazing billet. Not only has he been a huge supporter of this tour and documentary, but he also generously took in 3 wandering artists who took over half of his apartment for almost 2 weeks. Thank you, Peter!

If you want to see more about where we were living, check out my director's earlier vlog:

VLOG - Filming away from Wolf Pelt Productions on Vimeo.

Other than that, he's a random list of things I really liked about my time in London, ON:

Slushy sake drinks with umbrellas from the Poacher's Arms, which we often got for free because the manager is awesome.
The Early Bird Dinner and their Fat Elvis - that's peanut butter, honey, panko crusted bananas and house cured bacon smooshed between French Toast and drizzled in maple syrup with powder sugar on top.
$1 tacos & beers at Jacks - locals will tell you not to go, because it attracts just the type of clientele you imagine it would. But some on! $1 tacos!
The weather was great! And we had multiple access to pools and gyms throughout our time here.
High-fiving Fringe Volunteers!
The Convent Gardens Market - fresh groceries and cheap eats. Not to mention random 6/49 hammocks & free lemonade.

Fringe Crushes:

For Nancy - Mike Delamont of God is a Scottish Drag Queen

For Natalie - Bob Brader of Spitting in the Face of the Devil

For Cory - Jayson McDonald of Magic Unicorn Island

And now, as I write this in the car, we are getting closer and closer to Montreal. The next leg of our adventure begins. I'm slightly concerned. Since I've been in London, Montreal has already started. I've had little to no advertising in the media, no posters are up and, since I have to tech right before my first show, I won't be able to flyer. So, I ponder: Is anyone coming?

Roller Derby Saved My Soul runs from June 16 to June 23, 2014 at the Montreal Fringe Festival.