mostly david ephgrave

The overriding theme of tonight’s University Challenge for me - as my tweets will vouch for - was SOAS Edwards nauseous looking face. Each time he found the confidence to raise his voice, he almost instantly had to hold back the contents of his stomach. To be fair, when faced with Jeremy Paxman’s trademark impatience, we’d all be the same; just ask any of the politicians he’s left in his post-Newsnight wake. As ever, I gave tonight’s show a running Twitter commentary. Here’s what I said: Durham Vs. SOAS (31.10.16) 8:02pm: Jeremy Paxman: so weary. 8:03pm: Because someone called Cressida WOULD come from Harrogate. 8:04pm: SOAS: Durham's parents. 8:05pm: Guillou has a slight air of shapeshifter about him. 8:06pm: Brophy's hair is thick and luxuriant. 8:07pm: SOAS's Edwards looks like a character played by Matt Smith. 8:08pm: Edwards looks like he's holding back a little sick. ...

I just did a some close-to-the-wire ordering of posters and flyers for the dates I’m doing at Leicester SquareTheatre next month , to make the most of a 25% discount; I’m a sucker for a bargain. I took a bit of a calculated risk by forgoing waiting for authorization of a proof from the venue before sending it to be printed, so I wouldn’t miss out on the weekend-only deal and have to pay full price. Hopefully, this shouldn’t be a problem, as I used the right logos, kept within the specifications, and didn’t use the c-word on the artwork once; I’ll keep my fingers crossed this doesn’t lead to a massive controversy resulting me being banned from performing in London / “waitressing in Torquay” again; if it does, I’ll have to revert to my back-up job of trundle wheel adjudicator; no-one recognises a metre circumference quicker than me. Once again, I was lucky to enlist the services of my artwork designing genius double-act-partner Glyn, who made the few...

Tonight’s Strictly Come Dancing was a Halloween special, with costumes and make-up galore (and that was just in the Ephgrave Household.) I tweeted along, as ever, like a teenager on their mobile during a school lunchbreak. See below for my meanderings: 6:45pm: By far the most terrifying fancy dress costume of tonight's #Strictly: the 'Tess Daly'. 6:46pm: Oh audience, you no clap in time no. 6:48pm: ...it's meant to be like a ghost train. 6:49pm: Is the choice of 'You Spin Me Round' for the group dance an intentional tribute or an accidental faux pas? 6:52pm: Bless Tess Daly for appearing on tonight's show before having the stitches removed for her eyebrow injury. 6:55pm: Louise Redknapp, in her VT: "This is the week I need to seriously grow some b̶a̶l̶l̶s̶ guts". 7:00pm: Kevin Clifton came to tonight's #Strictly as The Joker. Tess Daly has no idea what a joke...

As I walked into town today, I passed the former premises of my favourite bookshop, Eric T Moore, to see a builder chipping off its awning with a chisel. This made me reflect with sadness at the amount of independent businesses that have closed nearby in recent months. Three shops have gone on the same street alone, with a number of others about the town following suit. The card shop I’d frequented for years (not wanting to fall for that Simply Clintons bullshit) shut its doors for the final time not so long ago, leaving me at a loss as to where to buy something other than the Forever Friends and comic-sans-fonted-yet-not-comic-in-content fare that's on sale everywhere else; people who once said how nice the cards I gave them were will probably now receive the selfsame design they gave me on the previous equivalent holiday; we may as well communicate by round-robin. This is a pattern that's reflected up and down the country, as more and more small businesses strug...

And so, that’s it. The last BBC series of The Great British Bake Off draws to a close, with an ending more emotional than the final shot of Blackadder Goes Forth spliced with the snowman melting to the tune of Aled Jones. It’s sad to think it’s done, and the dream team of Mel, Sue, Paul & Mary must part (until the BBC entices the majority of them back with a different format). In the same way that Brexit means Brexit, C4 no doubt means C4. Still, it was fun while it lasted. Who knows?: maybe the move will breathe new life into the proverbial oven; we’ll have to wait and see. Below you’ll find tonight's live tweets. I’m glad Candice won, though I did mourn the lack of Selasi. How long before he hosts a show with Nadiya? Not long, I hope. 8:01pm: Continuity Announcer: "...but who will be crowned as the winner?" (Answer: Love Productions, at £25million). 8:02pm: Andrew Eddie Red(head)mayne. 8:03pm: Paul Hollyw...

Right now, I should be going to bed, but instead I find myself staring at a yawningly empty page. Despite keeping my blog up almost daily for over three years now (an anniversary that snuck by without me noticing), there will occasionally be times when I have little to say. To be honest, I’m surprised to have said so much since I began; you can’t always have something of interest to impart. One thing that was personally notable for me last night was finding out that Bobby Vee had passed away. While I don’t know a great deal of his music outside of the obvious big hits, I actually saw him play once. It was in 1995, when I won tickets to a concert celebrating the 20 th Anniversary of the Paul McCartney-organised Buddy Holly Week, at Shepherd’s Bush Empire, through the McCartney fan club. Looking back, it was a pretty incredible line-up, including the original Crickets, Carl Perkins and Bobby Vee, plus a surprise appearance from Macca himself, who ca...

I had a worrying moment prior to Thursday’s Mostly Comedy, when I couldn’t remember a chord to the song Glyn and I were performing that night. This wouldn’t usually be a problem, as my musical ability is such that I’d normally be able to plug the mental gap (*smug face*), but the fact I was accompanying myself on the ukulele instead of a guitar or piano and am less familiar with its shapes, plus I'm severely out of practice, made it harder to retrieve the missing chord from the dim, dark recesses of my brain. The bizarre thing was, I'd remembered the song perfectly when I'd rattled through it the previous day. Then something about the stress of the set-up meant that when it came to doing a sound-check, the second chord vanished from my memory; the more I tried to remember it, the further it wriggled from my grasp. This made me panic, as I was the one who wrote t he song ; if I'd forgotten it, there was nobody to turn to: it would be gone forever.   My fi...

My God, I tweet along to the television a lot. Still, at least it keeps me out of trouble, relatively speaking. Tonight’s Strictly didn’t really set me alight, save a couple of routines (including, strangely, two rhumbas). This didn’t stop me from giving my own running commentary to the show; who wouldn’t want to read the thoughts of an ex-Musical Theatre student with a general mistrust of Musical Theatre, and has zero dance ability?  See below for what went from my brain to my phone to Tim Berners-Lee’s Internet. 6:37pm: I'll probably tweet about #Strictly for a bit. Sorry. 6:38pm: I've got tension in MY ballroom. It's essentially a muscle strain. 6:41pm: Tess Daly has borrowed Vanessa Feltz's hair for the evening. 6:42pm: Lesley Joseph has come as 1970s Cher. 6:44pm: Judge Rinder is wearing sparkly camouflage, thus negating the camouflage. 6:47pm: Oksana's skimpy outfit is cunning...

Last night’s eighth birthday Mostly Comedy was pinch-yourself ridiculous. Doggett, Bremner & Ephgrave at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (20.10.16); photo by Gemma Poole. If you’d told me when we started we would eventually play host to Rory Bremner, I would never have believed you. He was one of my comedy heroes growing up (without wishing to make him feel old), who played a (John) major factor in my awareness of current affairs. It was largely thanks to his sending up of the cut-and-thrust of the news that I learnt about the key players in world politics. While Glyn and I were hugely excited about having Rory on the bill, neither of us were prepared for just how lovely, low-key and undemanding he was. Meeting your heroes can be risky, particularly when you book them at your own event and have to shoulder responsibility for their evening. It turns out we had nothing to worry about; from the moment he arrived and we helped him park to when he left ...

This week’s Great British Bake Off saw the exit of this series’ Mr Cool (second to Paul Hollywood, of course) Selasi. It was a shame to see him go, as he’s one of my favourites. I’m in the slightly unusual situation this time around of not disliking any of the people who are left; there’s usually someone who gets under my skin, though thankfully, this time around, they’re all very pleasant. Selasi was the last big character though, so it’s a pity he didn’t make the final. As ever, I tweeted along as this evening’s baking adventures unfolded. See below for what I said. 8:02pm: I wonder how many takes Mel & Sue's intro took. 8:04pm: Will the £25million fee for C4's version of #GBBO stretch to buying Paul Hollywood a pair of cufflinks? 8:07pm: "Puff the magic pastry lived by the Selasi..." 8:13pm: Jane's hair confuses me. 8:14pm: Lamination's what you need, if you want to be a puff...