Been idly speculating that my next Edinburgh show might be about my year off. I quite like the idea of calling it "1985" like it's a sequel to the George Orwell classic, although my year off was actually mid-85 to mid-86 and the pedant in me is troubled by that. It would be, I suppose, a follow up to "The Headmaster's Son" seeing my life through that tricky transition period between virgin school swot and embarrassingly still a virgin but with a tiny amount of life experience about to start University. Lots of stuff happened in those 12 months - perhaps too much for one Edinburgh show - but almost accidentally bits and pieces of potential material are suggesting themselves. The best (or worst) of the embarrassing poetry I've been reading out on the Collins and Herring show comes from that period, as does the story about the mild gypsy curse that I told in the warm up at the last AIOTM (which is available on line). But on top of the inter railing experience I went on archaeological digs (already the inspiration for Excavating Rita) and worked in Cheddar Caves (also an unproduced comedy drama script) and did Camp America. The year, and almost my life, ended with the camp almost burning down on the very last day, with almost perfect dramatic and symbolic timing. Though it really happened and thankfully no one lost their life (though I had had to cope with the death of a fellow digger in a car crash whilst doing my brief spate of archaeology).
More memories were stirred up today on the 6Music show as we got to my sixth object in our series of Collins and Herring in 100 Objects, which was my battered copy of
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe" by Ken Welsh which had accompanied me on my 6 week jaunt around Europe with Geoff Quigley (though we had only hitchhiked for the last few days). It's hard to believe that our parents had allowed these two green 18 year old boys to propel themselves around Europe and it's incredible that we got through it pretty much unscarred, but at the time we thought we knew what we are doing and I guess you have to take the stabilisers off at some point and let your children risk life and limb. It also seems a long time ago and the book is delightfully old-fashioned, with a hippy sentiment behind it all. Nowadays kids jet off to Thailand to party and get wasted on a beach, but we camped in the rain and ate mashed potato that we had cooked on calor gas stoves. It might be fun to revisit this time, where I was a seething cauldron of contradictions, wonderfully judgemental of others, whilst totally terrified of sex and growing up.
But for today I just thought fondly of Ken Welsh (is he still alive? I hope so) who had written the book (an earlier edition of which has inspired Douglas Adams to write his own Hitchhiker's Guide) and of a world where teenagers still felt capable of thumbing a lift (if not totally safe - there were a few weird experiences). Ken encouraged you to take left over food from restaurants - something I certainly did in New York at the end of my trip when I had completely run out of money - and to travel light, taking just two spare pairs of pants. You could see the world for next to nothing in those days.
Another more lyrical and nostalgic Edinburgh show might be fun. And incredibly it's now 25 years since all this stuff happened. We shall see how we go.
Whilst I may have some ideas for a show that is about ten months away my brain has turned into cotton wool and I got nothing done on Monday's AIOTM (AIOTM) except to record a little insert with the real Andrew Collins. But it always works out OK, right? Come and see it if you can -
Tickets here, it's selling well. Hooray. Unless I don't get any script written, in which case Booooo! (will be the sound that I am hearing).
