8015/20956
Nothing. Damn. I am going to have to wrack my brain to think of something to write about. I was in a traffic jam for a bit cos they've closed the road outside Mrs Doubtfire and my satnav didn't know. Is that enough?
Apparently I need to do more than that. I don't know who makes the rules. Or enforces them. Whoever it is is doing a fantastic job.
I did open the door to the car park quite gingerly and still don't understand how that door hit me. Sucker punch.
It was another surprisingly small audience for a cracking bill of Andy Zaltzman and Poppy Hillstead and this run is going to force me to have a think about the future of the podcast - though there are at least four more shows at the Leicester Square Theatre in 2025 and of course one more show in 2024 with Chesney Hawkes (and the other guest will be announced below for paid subs).
All info here.It's been an amazing run and nothing (apart from this blog) can go on forever. But I am not throwing in the towel just yet. We might just need to have a think about other ways to do the show. Or try and find a new young and rich audience who won't die on me or have to worry about baby sitters or getting to bed before 9pm (I'm with them on that last one). I saw a podcast where another comedy person claimed I had to have certain viewpoints to keep my student audience on side. And it's the funniest thing that person has said for quite some time. There's sometimes a couple of teenagers in my audience thanks to Taskmaster, but otherwise it's all unfit men in their fifties or older and I don't give a fuck about what any of them think about my politics.
I have never really been very forthright about politics aside from not really liking selfish cunts and thinking adults should be allowed to do whatever they want if it doesn't adversely affect anyone else. I like to take each issue as it comes and have a think about it rather than digging my heels in too deep. But even as a student myself, whilst somewhere between left and centre, I didn't think I knew enough to have a strong opinion about anything and was quite sceptical about those who did. A lot of the people who seemed to have very strong left wing opinions in the 80s and 90s have gone on to have quite strong right wing opinions in the 21st Century and it becomes apparent that they were consistent at least. Consistently backing whatever cause was best for them personally. Left wing when you're broke, right wing when you've made a bit of money. I have remained confused and uncertain whilst poor and relatively well off, but still think that it makes sense to take a bit more from those people who can afford it and that the government should be making certain there's a level of service for everyone regardless of their economic background to ensure a free education, free health services and some working public toilets that you don't have to pay for (OK that last bit is sort of left-wing, I guess, but it makes capitalist sense as well - society will function better if people are happier, healthier and smarter and if they're not rich people just have to pay out extra money on security and private health).
I wouldn't want to be the kind of person who would rather pay much more for private health than national health, just because they don't like the idea of someone else getting something they haven't paid for. That's pretty self-defeating as a capitalist. You'd rather lose money to already rich people than some imagined chancers.
Also I'd very much like to know that if I had a medical accident or emergency (which private healthcare can't cover) that I wouldn't be waiting for ten hours to get seen
Anyway, luckily for everyone I am not in charge, because I would be shit at it. And I have no way to pay for all this stuff, except for maybe asking rich people to pay for it. I don't think the rich people are that keen.
One of the good things about not having a very big audience is that you don't have to toe a certain line to keep them all. The fuckers that I haven't shaken off yet aren't going anywhere.
I had a fun chat with Andy Zaltzman about childhood sports statistics obsession. He was impressed by my self-playing Subbuteo leagues and I was impressed that he had managed to improve the flawed (yet still excellent) game of Howzat by adding extra dice rolls to make it more realistic. I didn't do that, but did use a proper cricket scoring pad to keep the records.
I wonder if my folder of almost endless Subbuteo matches between Partick Thistle and Dundee United (for example) is still in a box somewhere or if those records are lost. They should really be in a museum. Leeds United won everything (aside from international matches) until I started supporting York and then weirdly York became the greatest team in the imaginary world. What a monumental waste of time. No wonder I was nearly 20 before I lost my virginity.
A lovely chat with Andy who gamely tried to answer the human centipede question and then a not lovely, but very funny chat with Poppy, who made the human centipede question look almost charming. I love to have an out of control chat with someone who isn't afraid to push the envelope, even if the envelope is covered in shit and full of piss. I'd say we were on the same wavelength, but I think Poppy exists on a higher and lower plane than me simultaneously. Do check out her podcasts if you get the chance. You'll have to wait a while to listen to this one.
