Valerie Potter

@HotMetalmag @acdc Thirty-five years ago?! How can it possibly be that long?

⚡️In our issue #21 - 35 years ago this month - journalist @VeeLondon spoke to Brian and Cliff from @acdc! "We are the competition!" Brian told Val. "That's the best way to think about yourself, isn't it? F--- 'em! Let them worry about us!" hotmetalmag.com

@FringeGuru But sometimes they bend the rules, open the doors to let people off, leaving everyone at the stop in an agony of indecision as to whether they walk down to the bus in case it drives off - and then snap the doors shut in the faces of those who do!

One of the many excellent things about Lothian Buses is its consistency in enforcing that, when more than one bus arrives at once, YOU remain at the bus stop and THE BUS waits its turn. For the first time ever (?) I just witnessed a driver breaking that rule, and there was DRAMA.

@FringeGuru @ZOOvenues Thanks, @FringeGuru - your shout-out is much appreciated! Hope to see you at the new show, Tale Of A Potato, soon. @bati_sfera

For the Fringiest of Fringe experiences, on both epic and tiny scale, it has to be The Gummy Bears' Great War at @ZOOvenues. Starts with a gimmick, marches through an absurd kind of comedy, but proves unexpectedly meaningful at the end. My 2024 review: theweereview.com/review/the-gum…

@SusanElkinJourn There's nowhere like the Proms!

Back in my happy place ...

@AndreaColemanBK And now you have a title for your 2026 Edinburgh Fringe show!

I just published My White Boyfriend is Forcing Me to Perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe medium.com/p/my-white-boy…

@loureviewsblog Also - that's Nuno Bettencourt?!

Me reading the Black Sabbath coverage. Ah, glad that it went well. Good for Ozzy ... That's Zakk Wylde?! 😱

@therecsuk @edfringe Especially if an act has been struggling getting audiences at the Fringe. A decent review gives them some validation to their decision to take part.

@VeeLondon @edfringe I think that is such bad form. It’s taking away a ticket that could be sold - but also breaks the deal between review sites and the show: a free ticket for a fair review.

Here's a question for #Edfringe performers and PRs for @edfringe 2025 - with many shows doing short runs this year (so many doing 5 to 7 days only, some even less), how will that work for reviews? Certainly The Recs (and many other review sites) always tries to turn reviews around quickly, but for a short-run show, for example a 5-day run... unless your show happens to be reviewed in the first couple performance days, you are unlikely to get reviews published before you have finished. Is it still helpful to have reviews even after your run has finished - to support the show's life post-Edinburgh? Would be good to hear your thoughts!

@bettanyhughes @channel5_tv @SandstoneGlobal Looking forward to this! Very much enjoyed the Q&A chat at the City Lit Classics Day at the British Museum.

I’m very excited that the documentary series based on my book Seven Wonders of the Ancient World will air this summer on @channel5_tv! @sandstoneglobal @keshetinternational #SevenWonders #History

@ElaineC_reviews @PhantomOpera Definitely one of those 'If I could have a chat with my younger self...' moments.

The things you find clearing out. An old programme from @phantomopera dated by the advert inside for @thelondonpalladium pantomime I had no idea back then where I would end up and what I am doing now. @officialtommycannon_ #nostalgia

@THEBONDIGIRL @mrcarl_woodward There was one taking a leisurely sniff along the line of seats in front of me when I saw Judy Collins at the Barbican last year. I told the staff, who said, "Awwwww!" They thought it was cute...

@mrcarl_woodward The West End theatres are full of them, one can never leave food lying around. Some time ago, an actress had to perform with one in her coat onstage!

dramatic scenes at ELEKTRA last night - a mouse ran across the front the stage

@mrcarl_woodward Or get the mouse taken on as a permanent member of the cast?

another friend has gone to ELEKTRA tonight — can we set up a helpline?

Proof that there is life after the Edinburgh Fringe! @MichaelMears7 brings his two-hander The Mistake, which debuted at @theSpaceUK in 2022, to @59E59 24 April-11 May. An urgent, gripping play, increasingly relevant in these dangerous times. 59e59.org/shows/show-det…

@mrcarl_woodward I have a mental image of Sigourney Weaver going back to her rented flat every night and banging her head against a wall, howling, "Why did I agree to do this?!"

Two Just Stop Oil protesters climbed onto the stage during The Tempest.

@mrcarl_woodward 🤦‍♀️I was looking forward to that one too...

what’s worse than Rami Malek in Oedipus? Brie Larson in Elektra; oh well.

@mrcarl_woodward Oh, no! I was really looking forward to that one.

this isn’t a joke fyi

what’s worse than Sigourney Weaver in The Tempest? Rami Malek in Oedipus; oh well.

@becca_carey_ Congratulations! I would also like to hear more please.

@miriamattwood What?! Oh no, that is sad. He was always so kind and helpful to me when I was starting out.

Just hearing the news about Neil McKinnon. My old pal and colleague and boss at the fringe. No-one could ride out a PR storm like him. But we were special to each other in our own funny way. Goddamit, gone far too soon.

@larainenewman Also, villains cannot kill the hero without stopping for one final word, which then enables the hero to escape. I sit there shouting, "Just shoot him!"