From Salford to Nottingham. Last year this was the biggest show of the tour. This year it looks like Sheffield might just have taken the crown. There were about 500 people in (down a bit on last year, but maybe because I didn't do Derby in 2010 so I split the audience a bit).
I continue to be upset by the fact that the "Tales of Robin Hood" which I visited many times has gone and been turned into a Tesco Express. I berated the audience for their stupidity at allowing this to happen. "At least you can get milk any time you like now, hey, you idiots! What have you done? What have you done?"
The Playhouse is a brilliant theatre and again the staff were efficient and helpful, though I am slightly annoyed by their policy regarding merchandise. Most venues don't charge for me selling my own DVDs after the show and if they do it's usually just a 10% charge. As I generally sell a handful of books and DVDs this might mean they get a tenner. With Nottingham, always the home of bandits and ne'erdowells the policy is that I have to pay £100 + VAT up front. This means if I had a good night and sold £200 worth of stuff I would actually lose money (as I have to buy the merchandise myself - usually at half price) And there's the risk that I would sell less than that and actually lose money. In any case I would have to sell £1000 worth of merchandise to be on an even footing with the policy of most other venues. It's up to them, obviously, but it seems a foolish way to behave, because this way they make no money from me as I can't risk selling anything at those prices, whereas they might have made something if they had just gone for a percentage. To be honest, whilst I can understand that if they have a musical or band in which sells £10,000 worth of produce then it might be worth them taking a cut, when they are dealing with me and the ten to twenty pounds I might raise, it seems a bit petty for any theatre to want to take a commission. I just sold 500 seats in their theatre and they've made money on the bar. I am not selling merch to make a fortune for myself and want to keep the prices reasonable, but I don't really want to be giving stuff away at my own expense.
Still I managed to have a little rant at the end of the show about the fact that the Sheriff of Nottingham was clearly still doing his evil bidding all these years on. I heard laughter from backstage.
It was a real pleasure to perform in a massive theatre and to have it reasonably full. It's a lot easier to get a momentum going and it's really easy to experiment with changes in pace and volume. In spite of my tiredness I put a lot of energy in. Though halfway through the genealogy bit I completely lost my thread (not in the memory bit, but just after). After a little floundering I managed to pick it up again.
Aside from that an uneventful, but enjoyable show. And a bit of an uneventful day. I had lots of time to kill in Nottingham, but there was no "Tales of Robin Hood" for me to visit, so I just stayed within my humdrum life.
We headed home after the gig and Reliable Pete promised to have me back before 1am, even though the sat nav predicted 1.15. Surely he couldn't bend time and space? He remained confident even when signs announced that the M1 was shut at junction 19. We had no idea how long the diversion would be, but he was insistent that he'd still make it. It was a short diversion which took us ten minutes, but somehow Reliable Pete was driving up my road at 12.57. He is a little bit magic and can make the impossible possible, even if he can't tell one Holiday Inn from another.
I had some Weetabix in a bowl, with proper milk from the fridge and no water in it. It was very luxurious. I even put blueberries and honey on it. If the shredded wheat in a cup me of yesterday could see this wonder he might have felt happier with his lot.
I was soon in my own bed and dreaming and the Comfort Inn seemed like a distant nightmare. It's not a day off tomorrow, but a gig very close to home in Luton (still tickets available) so I was looking forward to a long lie-in.
