Holiday Inn Mistaking Pete wasn't coming round until 4.30pm today as we were only driving to Epsom, which turned out to be much closer to London than I had ever realised. Would I make the most of my day and get some work done, or at least get to the gym? Of course I wouldn't. I dicked around on Twitter and got people's (largely very positive views) on the poster for the new show. Of course this could still just about constitute work, but if I am going to get everything I need to do by September done then I can't shilly-shally much longer on this TV script.
At around lunchtime I decided to run to the gym and then go for a swim and I set off at quite a pace but after about a kilometre I was very tired and walking and decided that I didn't have the energy for a swim after all. I have been doing pretty well with the exercise so didn't feel too bad for ducking out of it today.
My girlfriend had managed to go for a swim already and so I hooked up with her and had a coffee in the Caffe Nero that I used to go to all the time three or four years ago, but which I abandonned when another one opened up nearby (with a row of seats with plugs by them for my laptop). I also haven't been doing that much writing recently so coffee shops have dropped out of my daily routine a bit. Four years ago I knew all the staff in this shop quite well and the efficient Italian manager knew my order and always greeted me warmly. Of course in all this time those regulars have moved on. Time has passed quickly.
I used to see Adrian Chiles in here quite regularly, in the days when he was only familiar to football fans, and he had the same Sony Viao computer as me (which dates it as well - those pre Apple days) and I once chatted to him about how he found the computer. Then his career took off in a balistic way and I guess he probably can't go to Caffe Nero now. I, however remain able to do so.
It's funny looking back on moments like that, where you meet someone at a certain level and then a few years later see how far your lives have changed. I remember doing a gig in Bristol with Russell Brand
which I am guessing was back in May 2006 (but it might have been a little earlier, thinking about it - no earlier than 2004 though). He was known by then, but certainly not as famous as he was about to be. He had gone on first and I briefly chatted with him at the back of the venue. Now just five years on he is in the top two films in the US Box Office. It's pretty incredible how lives can change in this business. And how they can also stay roughly the same in my case. The most rapid change in fortunes I have witnessed was spending a week in Montreal in July 2007 with an almost unknown Michael Mcintyre who would, within months be the most famous comedian in the UK and who is now selling tickets for a tour which will make £25 million.
Ah well, I am here to document the careers of others and provide them with a benchmark. Who needs £25 million anyway?
As if to highlight my own more moderate rise through the ranks tonight I was playing to 130 people in Epsom. I was pleased to get that many as it's a town I have not been to before, but the theatre could probably seat about 400 so things looked a little sparse. I am glad to say that is the exception rather than the rule on this tour, and as always it is a lot better than those tours of five or six years ago where 130 would have been one of my massive crowds, but it's always a little bit embarrassing to face an audience who are wondering if everyone else knows something they don't. In this case, I hope, they knew a secret that was being kept from the rest of Epsom and hopefully they enjoyed the 75th date of this tour. It was another crowd of very mixed ages and my expectations were subverted when a white-haired lady who was sitting alone in the seventh or eighth row returned after the interval. She had enjoyed it enough to return and I learned that you shouldn't judge by appearances and was forced to remind myself that I am increasingly a white-haired man. I shoudn't be surprised that my audience is getting older. In fact the most surprising thing about this tour is that so many younger people are coming to see me. Which gives me some hope.
I can't believe I have done this show 75 times since late December (and at least another 50 times in Edinburgh and previews). It has flown by with relative ease this year, though I am aching for my Easter break and counting down the gigs in my head (after tonight just 19 more shows). But still enjoying performing the show and finding new areas to explore. Hopefully it will still be fresh for the last few performances and then I have to work out which of the extra bits I will do for the DVD and which will be left out. I am delighted to see that the DVD record in London only has
6 tickets left thought there are still plenty available for
the Collings and Herrin part of the evening. Should be a fun night, so come along to one or both shows if you can.
