My wife and I were gigging together tonight at the fabulously funny and unbelievably long Old Rope comedy night. More and more comedians got added to the bill and my headline slot moved later and later into the night. I finally got on around about 11.30, but despite having seen a dozen or so other comedians the stalwarts who stayed in the room and stayed awake were remarkably up for more comedy. I'd been a bit annoyed that a couple of comics had done more than their allotted time slot, but in the end it was fun to have a night out in the company of some of the funniest people in the city. Touring is a solitary and lonely business and it was great to be on the bill with so many people - like a mini Edinburgh Fringe.
Beforehand we'd gone out for Tapas in a small but sweet restaurant in Soho. We started with a big plate of ham which reminded me of the
Museo de Jamon that I had visited in Spain back in 2007. I would happily eat this for dinner every night of my life, though it might make my life a bit shorter. So vividly was the Spanish culture conjured up by this repast that it made me even more determined to properly holiday in London some time. With the money saved on hotels and flights you could live like a king eating out for every meal and sampling the cuisine of the whole world over the course of a fortnight. There's plenty of cafes to sit outside and read or have a cheeky beer or two in and lots of sights to see. I wonder if I can somehow market the idea of holidaying where you live and get people to pay me to do it. I guess I could charge them for taking their phones and computers away from them so they couldn't do any work or take any calls. Or for putting together a pamphlet of where they could eat and drink and what they could visit. Or maybe just be a tour rep, organising their reservations and tickets and coach trips. And maybe sorting out games or discos for all the other holidayers at home who were around that week. Perhaps a maid service could be offered to change people's bedsheets daily or bring in room service meals. It would all still be much cheaper than flying somewhere else and there'd be no jetlag and not days wasted travelling. I think I might be on to something here. Look out Dragons Den, I am on my way to pitch this to you. I'll give you 5% of the business for a £100,000 investment. Plus you'll get free service whenever you holiday at home.
It's a shame that we've already booked a holiday to the Maldives or I'd be well up for spending January in the freezing pissing rain, sitting outside a bar in Soho with my beer icing over in front of me. I will just have to cope with what we've got booked instead.
Thanks so much to all of you who have donated to the SCOPE fund in celebration of 10 years of Warming Up. You've moved the total on by almost £3000. If anyone else feels the urge to add a couple of quid then that would be most welcome
Donate here.
