My days are packed, but so far I am just about able to keep up with the pace. I think the relatively healthy diet and amount of exercise is helping.
Today's podcast produced drama even before it had all begun, when Josh Widdicombe caught his finger in a door (coincidentally my wife had done the same thing earlier at home - so anyone who tells you that I have a violence problem where I like to crush the fingers of everyone I meet is lying). He soldiered on (like a soldier holding a tea-towel full of ice over their injuries). Later he nearly tripped over on his shoe lace his way to stage. He had been unable to tie his lace due to his hurty hand. It was a chain of events leading to a deadly situation. But in the end nothing went wrong.
Had a fun chat with Widdicombe and my other guest Rory McGrath - though I forgot to ask him about the time he took Ben Pope (the Oxford Revue 1988 pianist and brother of Who Dares Wins' Philip) out on an afternoon bender on the first Saturday of the 88 Fringe and delivered him back to us late and too drunk to properly play the piano. An act of sabotage even more impressive than Keith Allen's. Maybe I should be asking what it would take to suck Rory McGrath's cock.
Another sold out WAGTD! gig, but again it was 2 for 1, so the real tester is Black Wednesday tomorrow. The audience seemed a bit reticent tonight. If I waited for them I would usually get the laugh, but there is no time to wait. I have a lot to get in. It was a much sharper performance, but I seemed to lose a proportion of the crowd. Or they were just smiling quietly. It was fine and I thought I did a good job. I have to keep it pacey to fit everything in, but some nights I think the audience can't keep up as well.
Then I jumped in a cab with my wife to head down to the Ruan Thai restaurant, one of our favourite places to eat (apart from the Tempting Tattie). The waitress seemed to recognise us as we arrived, which is more than possible as we've been there at least once or twice every August for the last five years.
But it turned out that the waitress knew me from my Metro column, though not any of my other work. This happens occasionally but is always a surprise - partly because I am surprised they would recognise me from a small by-line photo. But she was very excited about meeting me and I thought that maybe we'd get some free prawn crackers on account of my celebrity. But as star-struck as she was by meeting the man who writes 600 slightly rude words a week for a free newspaper, they still wanted to treat me like another customer and I didn't even get presented with a glass of strange liqueur at the end of the meal (as sometimes happens in restaurants when they're angling for a tip/ want to make you feel appreciated). I was glad not toe get any special treatment though and will still give the place a little burst of publicity (though sadly only on my hardly-read blog, not my syndicated newspaper column).
It was the first day that I failed to make it to the gym/pool since last Tuesday, but I still did an awful lot of walking. I think I am losing weight, which is something.
We watched the first episode of Portlandia in bed, which didn't really make me laugh too much, but which I think might do more so when I have tuned my brain into it properly. We were a bit too tired for a second episode and may have been asleep before midnight. Just as the rest of the people at the Fringe woke up.
Excitingly the news came in from Wales that the Talking Cock DVDs have arrived and are on sale at Go Faster Stripe. It's £15 +p&p for the DVD, but you can get the 2003 and 2013 show programmes for just an extra £2 (all profits from that to SCOPE) and the Talking Cock book (retails at £12) for just and extra £5
And don't forget that I am doing the first ever live-in-front-of-an-audience frame of Me1 Vs Me2 Snooker on 12th August, 9.30pm at Assembly 3. All the profits from this venture will go to SCOPE. And it should be a theatrical spectacle of some note. Unbelievably there are still loads of tickets left, so book here. Though at least all the Mes in attendance should fill a few of the seats.
