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Into London twice today - first up on the train to meet up with Russell Howard to record an episode of Wonderbox in Kings Cross. I considered driving in and hanging around in London until my gig, but I decided to get the train back, work in Welwyn and then drive in later. And I think I made the right decision. Traffic would have been too much this early in the morning and I've had to find somewhere to park.
I ended up getting to Walthamstow early though and parked up at the shopping centre for a coffee and a look at my notes. The atmosphere at the mall seemed tense, like everyone was on edge and violence could break out at any minute. I don't think was just my imagination either and later I would find out that a gang of lads go in on basically a daily basis to help themselves to whatever they want from Sports Direct. No wonder everyone is jumpy. I got a coffee and a sandwich without much incident though a passing man, presumably with some mental issues, shouted loudly in my face at one point. Ah East 17.
And then enough time had passed for me to head to the venue, the terrific Red Imp Comedy Club run by the brilliant Susan Murray. I am doing two nights here, both sold out and it's an audience comprised of people from the club mailing list, not necessarily people who are into me, which is a great chance to try out the material. Plus for the first time I got to put an interval into the show. And for the first time I had the QR code up on the screen so people could download the new programme. I don't know how many people took it, but it's definitely a lot easier than lugging boxes of brochures round and putting them all out on seats (though I gave everyone a free Emergency Questions book tonight to help make some room in my garage!)
I had managed a bit of work on the show and noted some bits from an old script that I'd forgotten about, as well as newer bits that I'd neglected to do last night. It whizzed along. The first half is definitely tour quality now and the second half was pretty good too, though I still felt embarrassed and a bit awkward doing the ventriloquism section (which I definitely need to think about). I showed a picture of my latest scan at the end and I think that maybe oversteps a mark. Although my testis is blurred in this one and I am really drawing attention to the cysst, it's probably just a bit too weird to show an image of your actual bollock to strangers. I have some OK jokes around it, but I think I will lose that slide (though it feels wrong to cut out my remaining testicle).
No one fainted tonight (as far as I know), but there was a 12 week old baby in (who was very well behaved and I think slept through it all) but it's never too late to spread the message about self-examination. The crowd were perfect - not a pushover by any means, but giving the good stuff the right reaction and allowing me to work out which bits needed an injection of something. I had a lot of cool conversations after with people who had enjoyed it (some not really knowing my work before) or who wanted to share their stories. Of course you don't have to have lost a testicle for this to resonate- most of us will have a story involving cancer or surgery. The nice thing about this show is that I think it will encourage people to talk about it and for men (in particular) not to delay that trip to the GP. I am not saying I am the new Jesus, that is for others to say.
