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I had not heard of Bewdley before I was asked to play Bewdley Festival. But apparently I still said I'd go there (though I don't actually remember doing so). Either way I was going to Bewdley today and it was a bit further away than I'd anticipated.
On the drive there I looked up Bewdley so I could do some local jokes for the audience.
The Visit Bewdley website says of Bewdley - "A gateway to the UK’s largest native woodland, Wyre Forest and the birth place of prime minster Stanley Baldwin."
If you are trying to get someone to visit somewhere you don't call it a gateway. Oh right, so I have to go through here to get to the place that's any good. Right you are.
Or did he used to play for West Ham?
Or was he a Prime Minister who has been dead for 80 years and didn't even do a very good job of leading the country?
I found a picture of Kayleigh with no top on very quickly, but I searched the internet for a picture of Stanley Baldwin in his pants and there was nothing. I would think it was one of his regrets that he didn't get a photo of himself in the buff when he was young and handsome. At least it might have encouraged people to visit Bewdley in 2025.
It was a long drive and I was feeling very tired by the time we arrived, but Bewdley was rather a lovely place - especially compared to Kidderminster, which we'd had the misfortune to drive through on the way.
And we got a lovely welcome from the impressive team behind the Bewdley Festival, which seems to be a resounding success. My gig had sold out many weeks ago and though the venue, St George's Hall, was not massive or particularly hall like, I was surprised to see there was a video screen set up, so that people at the back of the room were able to see all the action. I've played some big rooms but none so big that they have required this feature and the back of the Hall (room) was only maybe 20 rows away, but it did make it feel like I was in the O2.
It turned out to be a great crowd though who loved both guests: Sam Nicoresti and Carl Donnelly. It was lovely to meet Sam and she coped well with my blustering middle-aged attempts to show allyship with the trans community (something she funnily mocks in her brilliant show). With so many (or at least so noisy) comedians making horrible and hack jokes about this subject it's good to be supportive, but luckily I am pretty crap at doing so and always liable to say exactly the wrong thing accidentally, so I can't come across as worthy. Sam used to be an usher at the Leicester Square Theatre and so has seen many of the shows before and she seemed genuinely chuffed to now be a guest. She's part of a new wave of comedians doing inventive and exciting things, so do check her out if you get the chance.
Lovely to see Carl again.
I spent the morning after the Brexit vote with him, recording his podcast and I have seen him again since then. He is a very interesting man, kind and sensitive, but grabbing life with both hands and in his younger days, quite a partying force. He talked very openly and amusingly about the stuff he's been through and as with the earlier podcast the time just flew by.
It was great to meet the audience after - they were all very positive about the night and the Festival and then my tour manager Grundy whisked me off into the night for the slightly too long drive home. These pods should be out in December or January. Lots of stuff we'll have to cut out -
so book to see the show live if you can.
