Today was about trying to balance my need for rest with my need for work and I had a bit of a lie-in, although the party continued until the morning and the last guest didn't leave until I was making my late breakfast. I was never one to stay up all night even when I was young, but I still felt a bit old.
The As It Occurs To Me scripts used to cast a long shadow of panic over my weekend, but I am becoming increasingly casual about them. That's not to say there is not still a little bit of a sick feeling in my stomach as I consider all that must be done and the possibility of failure and humiliation, but the only way for me to proceed with these now is with the understanding that part of the charm of the series is the rapidity of its creation. Both the other two third series scripts have been written almost entirely exclusively on the Monday and my only fear was that I might just be too tired to get my brain working in the morning. And the trip to Amsterdam had had enough moments to make me think that the show would not be without content.
I did work quite fastidiously in the afternoon - reading papers and working through my blogs and tweets, but all too soon it was time for me to make my way down the road to Hammersmith for my first Lyric gig of the year. There have been two other shows this year, but I hadn't been able to make them because of tour commitments and holiday and a third gig had had to be cancelled due to me booking people for the wrong night. It felt both familiar and strange to be back in the green room awaiting the arrival of the acts. There had been a late surge in ticket sales too which meant we had a good sized audience, which I was pleased about because it was an excellent line up. A very promising newish act, Josh Widdecombe was opening, then juxtaposed with him the fusty and decrepit curmudgeon Robin Ince and an international second act with Aussie Matthew Hardy (who I used to gig with in the 1990s, but who still looks boyishly young and handsome) and rising superstar Shappi Khorsandi.
I had to get used to being at the helm of the show and was maybe a little full on and rude for the slightly reticent crowd to start with, but whilst their relatively muted reaction might have got to me a few years ago when we started these things, but I remained calm and laughed at my own inappropriateness and carried on.
It was fun hanging out with the other comics in the green room - the problem with touring is the solitude and I have enjoyed being part of a bill this weekend, here and in Amsterdam. Most of the acts tonight were gearing up for Edinburgh, in various stages of unpreparation. Robin Ince is possibly the only comedian in the country with more on his plate than me, having just come off the back of two tours and working on four Edinburgh shows. What a prick! Who'd want to work that hard?
Back with another Lyric show on 26th June with Pappy's and Isy Suttie from off of Peep Show and another big name TBC
Book now.
Thanks so much to all those of you who have already donated to the Edinburgh programme fund for SCOPE. Your generosity genuinely touches me and it's so fantastic to have had such a great kick-start to the collection already. If you haven't donated then you have til midnight on 31st May to do so if you want to get your name in the programme. Visit
the justgiving page and donate at least £12.50. You will receive a signed limited edition programme in the post in August if you send me your address and if you can beat the top donation of £500 you will get some extra prizes (probably props and the suit from the Christ on a Bike show). Your money makes a massive difference to the lives of some fantastic people, so go on, you can spare £12.50 for that!
