On the Edge of Sleep.


Today was a long, yet eventful day.

This morning’s show drew a nice crowd who were very responsive and happy to be there and entertained. I felt a little out-of-practise, thanks to yesterday’s missed day, but this was just a small background noise. It’s surprising how cancelling one show can throw your timing and make everything feel a little strange. I’m sure no-one would have been aware of this except for me. My wife was in today, and she didn’t notice anything.

Today's show, like.

I walked out of the door of Just Out the Box, dripping with sweat, to be accosted by the booker of Just the Tonic’s daytime mixed bill show ‘Afternoon Delight.’
“Would you be able to me a massive favour and emcee the show?”
‘Yes, I suppose I could,” I said, after a moment’s hesitation.

So it was that ten minutes later, I found myself backstage in Just the Big Room, about to host the show. I was conscious of not wanting to repeat too much material I’d done from the show the previous day, but there were inevitable cross-overs. It didn’t matter, as the audience were on side. My favourite moment was convincing everyone that the bricked-up door at the back of the stage was the venue’s only fire exit, using a couple of snippets of mine and Glyn’s material as a kicking-off point.


Offstage and On-Stage at Afternoon Delight (13.08.16)

I finished Afternoon Delight pleased that I’d done it, but also glad of the break and the chance to pick up something to eat. We decided to visit the Circus Café and Bistro just a few doors from my digs address, where we had enough to keep us going for the rest of the day.

After that, we headed for Up Two Extra so I could tech Fraser’s show, which was packed to the rafters. It was the busiest of his gigs yet – standing room only – and the room was unbearably hot. It was a good performance, the heat dulled the audience reaction a little, and made their reaction a little harder to force out. It’s still in very good shape though.

Afterwards, Fraser, my wife and I went downstairs for a drink and a chat (well, as much as you can chat over unnecessarily loud music). Before Gemma and I came back to my digs, for something to eat and to unwind. I really am bloody exhausted. Thank God it’s bed time.

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