In Development.

I found myself pondering the nature of the phrase 'work in progress' this morning.

It's a statement that surfaces a lot in my job. Half of a stand-up's year revolves around previews and festival dates that lead toward Edinburgh that you mark as work in progress to alleviate expectation and prevent reviews from coming too early. Just chatting to a friend who attends a performance will usually involve the words, "It's not ready yet."

But it suddenly occurred to me today that to ever remove the disclaimer is almost ludicrous as the idea that it's ever finished is a misnomer; the tweaking - like a playground bully with his victim's nipples - never ends. You can also apply the statement more broadly: life is, by its very nature, a work in progress; you're always chipping away at existence bit by bit, trying to change your ways for the positive and doing your best. And, to paraphrase Lenny Kravitz (as I often do), "It Ain't Over 'til Its Over".

So maybe we shouldn't be so keen to strike the phrase from the record. Perhaps the time has come to embrace the concept of incompleteness more openly. Admittedly not everyone can tune into the idea of self-improvement; some people stopped processing new information decades ago. But I sincerely hope that's not me. I meditate and reflect on my actions and beliefs all the time, in the hope I can be kinder to others and myself. I'd prefer to call my next show 'David Ephgrave's a Work in Progress' than suggest the story's over and I'm complete.

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