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So my thoughts are turning to the tour, which kicks off again on Wednesday, but both this week’s gigs are sold out, as is Salford and all the February gigs look to be heading that way. Not sure why demand is higher than usual, it may be the relentless appearance of RHLSTP every week or possibly because the show wasn’t on at the Fringe that there are more people wanting to see it now, or maybe the 15 years of constant touring is slowly and steadily paying off, but whatever the reason it is gratifying to have built up an audience without any major TV exposure. So thanks so much for your continued support. As I’ve said before, now I am a parent I know how valuable a night out is and even if you’re not then I am also aware that there is only so much money to spend on entertainment, so I will do my utmost to make your commitment worthwhile.
I am still working on the show and I need to add another 20 to 30 minutes now as nearly all the gigs from here on in are 90 minutes with an interval. But I am actually relishing the challenge of adding new stuff and working up the bits I’ve already got in place. There’s plenty to talk about.
Some bad news about the Bloomsbury Theatre - where I was meant to record the DVD of Happy Now? in June - I am afraid that the renovations and asbestos removal are going to take a lot longer than usual and it won’t open again until 2018 (at the earliest) and from what I hear the future of the venue is looking a little bleak. It’s one of my favourite London rooms and this is a real blow for acts and audiences alike, plus many charities that put on gigs there and of course the students who use it too. But it also means I will have to record my DVD elsewhere. This will either be at one of the other tour dates or I might try and find a night in June where we can do it at the Leicester Square Theatre. There’s a chance that my rapidly selling-out gigs at the Leicester Square Theatre next week might be my only remaining London dates, so book now
Sorry for those of you who had tickets already for the Bloomsbury, but obviously you can get a refund and I will let you know about alternate DVD dates asap.
My wife was out at a birthday party and Phoebe went straight to sleep tonight which meant I had time to record three frames of Me1 Vs Me2 snooker in an uncomfortably hot Terry Wogan (et al) Arena. Frame 70 is up already and the others will follow in the next couple of weeks.
Sometimes I remember I am nearly 50 and ask what am I doing with my life? But it quickly passes.
My wife texted to say she was heading back so I had to quickly rearrange the room and hide the snooker board under a sheet so that she wouldn’t know what I’d been doing (providing she doesn’t follow me on Twitter or read my blog, which seems unlikely). On a night like tonight I find it hard to understand how I have survived in this world, or found someone to marry me or spawned a tiny version of myself, but it seems I have. I seem to be making a nice living at what I do, even though nearly all of the things I do are essentially talking to myself in a basement for the enjoyment of nobody. How does that even work? I wondered tonight if I was the victim of a sophisticated prank, where jokers unknown somehow fixed it for me to keep going and have a life that I don’t deserve. That’s the cleverness of the joke. I am being satirised because I am not worthy of any of this and yet don’t have any clue as to what is happening and the unseen pranksters are laughing up their sleeve at me. It does take the shine off my life to know it’s a Truman Show/Total Recall sham, but I will do my best to ignore it and hope my wife and daughter never break cover. I am happy to live a lie if it’s a lie that brings such contentment.
