7435/19955
Twitch of Fun is always a bit of a high wire act and I never know how it’s going to go. I am trying to get the balance right in terms of how much work goes into it. I think if it’s going to carry on (and I am going to do any actual writing work) then it needs to take as little time as possible. As it is I really only select the news stories beforehand and very rarely think of anything concrete to say about them. Then the inspiration can happen live. Or not. And it gives Ally, who never knows the stories in advance, a real chance to fly. But selecting the stories still takes up a significant chunk of my day.
I wanted to get on with working on some stand up
for Monday’s gig at the Bill Murray (and the five Mondays that follow), but my brain wasn’t getting into gear and I mooched the day away. I did listen to David Baddiel’s
new audiobook “The God Desire” and hopefully David will come on the book club to discuss it (so that counts as work). It’s only a couple of hours long (and it’d be great for me if all books came in at that length, certainly in terms of having time for other stuff) but full of interesting ideas and talking points. David thinks that religion emerges from a fear of death and not unreasonably he shares that fear. Although not religious he has certainly embraced his Jewishness as he has grown older and I think there’s something to be said for the realisation that death is impending to turn the mind towards spriitual matters. I don’t want to die either and find it hard to believe that I will (it wouldn’t be fair to deprive the world) but maybe the way to look at life is in the realisation of how incredibly lucky (or unlucky depending on your POV) we are to be here. Most people never get the chance to live at all. So the wonder should come from this huge combination of lucky accidents that somehow led to our existence and we shouldn’t get caught up in the fact that we will return to nothingness soon enough. Most people get that nothingness forever. But as much as I know there’s some truth in that, it’s still a fucker that death lurks round every corner, ready to take us away from all this and when it does all our memories and experiences will die with us (or a little more slowly once those we’ve shared them with die too). And yes, that’s probably why religious ideas of afterlife and a plan and a supreme being started up.
Even in an infinite universe where every combination of DNA exists infinite times, I am not convinced you can still say that those other versions of you are really YOU. Just in the same way as your twin is not you. Whatever it is inside you that makes you you is, I’d like to think, unique. And even if it’s not, I cannot experience what it is to be the other mes in the infinite timelines, so they’re still not “me”. Even in an infinite universe, even one where every instant creates an infinity of different outcomes for me, the me that is me at this moment still only experience this one timeline. There’s only one Richard Herring.
Nice to have your brain bent for a couple of hours thinking about all this stuff. And why some people go the religious route and others (correctly) don’t. None of it matters in the end.
Unless there’s an everlasting Hell, I guess.
Had a lot of fun filming Meet The Richardsons with Jon Richardson - sadly they could only use a small amount of the barage of insults I threw at him, but it still turned out well.
You can catch up here.
I really enjoy improvising stuff, as both these projects should make clear. There was a script for this scene, but it was quickly left behind and we just incorporated the basic idea - that I was desperate to be in a double act where I was the cool and tall one (in spite of the fact that Jon is clearly taller than me) and it was fun to play around with that idea. I was, if anything, a bit too convincing in the role. I don’t know why that was.
I hope to do more stuff like this - there’s two improvised Jamie Adams films in the can and there was talk about me returning to Meet The Richardsons (and it’s been very gratifying to have been also asked to appear on Odd Couples with them and the same production company). And the short film I did with Bilal and Stevie (and Ally) was also very much in the same ball park.I am hoping to spend some of our Sky Potato millions (well hundreds) on some kind of improvised enterprise, whether it be a sketch show, sitcom or film. But then I spend all day mooching about playing Uno rather than thinking about what that might be, as if I have infinite time to make it happen.
Very moved to see the comedy community (both acts and punters) get behind the just giving page for Gareth Richards’ family.
Please donate if you can.
