7810/20751
It's still not quite the tour officially, but tonight's preview in Corsham felt like the real deal and I think was of sufficient quality to count. It's a small venue, but it was full and it was a terrific crowd and notably, the crew and the staff were amazing - welcoming, respectful and the exact opposite of my experience with that pub manager on Wednesday (though I must add that the team at the Comedy Junction itself are amongst the absolute best in the country). They offered us a hot meal - something that happens so rarely these days that I was unable to take advantage as I was just tucking into my M and S salad that I'd bought on the way - brought drinks and snacks, offered us a beer at the end of the show and did a very good job of making it feel like they were delighted to have us (hopefully because they were). Hey look, it was pretty cold in the dressing room so it wasn't perfect, but I was happy to just wear my coat, because I am LOW MAINTENANCE (whatever you've heard from that pub manager in Sutton Coldfield).
And even though there was still a bit of work to do on the show - trying to cement what happens in the second half and learn some tricksy bits of material - the difference between touring the podcast and a stand-up show is huge. After the unsettled night with puking Ernie and my own minor illness I was able to snooze a little in the car on the way there (I wasn't driving), because I didn't have to do prep for the interviews and once in the dressing room I was much less panicked -able to read a little bit and get into the right state of mind for the show.
Two podcast interviews leave me drained and ready for bed, but a successful stand up show does not burn up as much mental energy and I was on a high at the end, feeling full of energy and once back at the hotel went for a drink with tour manager James. I was worried I might be too old for touring stand up- and look, it's too early to call after one gig- but it feels a lot more relaxed than the podcast marathon I've just been through. Will this actually be civilised and fun?
Keep reading to find out.
James had done very well with the hotel - it was quite a posh one where we looked a bit out of place - he turned up at reception with just a Sainsbury's plastic bag, which I am guessing is a first for this place. The slightly passive aggressive man behind reception informed us we needed to leave a credit card in case we stole anything or wanted to pay for breakfast. Which seemed a weird way round to put it. I mean usually they don't specify that the credit card is for security. Perhaps he was joking. But it was the second time in a week that a man with a weird attitude had mistaken me for a burglar of some kind, so maybe I need to take a look at myself.
