mostly david ephgrave

Today I met my friend Stephen for a general catch-up, having not seen him for a few weeks. The big bit of news on my part was the whole situation with my dad, which was a heck of a lot to fill him in on. At least the upshot is positive at the moment, but I’d still been hesitant and not given Steve the full story via text up to this point, opting for the hastily abridged version instead; it just felt like too much stuff to get across. We’ve been fortunate in the sense we've managed to see each other a fair amount since he moved away from Herts in favour of Northamptonshire. I’m glad about this as he’s long been the friend I see most regularly and share detail of the ins and outs of my life to; he’s very much my sounding board and my unofficial, unpaid advisor, which is probably a bit of a poisoned chalice. One thing that’s getting me down of late is the fact I’ve gained a little weight, something I haven’t done to any extent before until...

Today was a busy day of jumping from one thing to another, but ended up being productive nevertheless. I started the day feeling quite negative and overwhelmed by the situation I’m in work-wise at the moment and the things I need to do. If I allow myself to frame things negatively - which I’m prone to - there’s a sense that nothing’s changing and that aspects of my career are stagnating and won’t improve. Cast the net too widely and you can give yourself the distorted view that everyone else is better off than you; Facebook is a huge culprit in feeding this, which is why I try to keep my distance when I’m not at my best. Thankfully, a meeting this morning helped me vent my frustrations and reminded me of the good things that have happened recently that I’d forgotten. I came away invigorated and with a greater sense of purpose once I’d cleared the mental fug I’d woken up in. As I left, I picked up a message from my friend Sarah suggesting we...

Tonight, Glyn and I met with Mostly Comedy's technical assistant, Paul, for a catch up / loose business meeting to discuss the general running of the club, and our plans for next week's gig with Rory Bremner.  It was nice to have a get-together, and to talk about everything in a less fraught and stressful situation than the day of the gig. We don't set out for it to be this way and often say we'll meet before, but inevitably, life gets in the way. We'd intended to have a chat before our first show back after our summer break, but ended up back-footed by last month's gig, when the line-up was only confirmed last minute. Either way, tonight was good. Halfway through our meeting, we were joined by our long-term friend (and many-time director) Glen, with whom I had a long chat about my Edinburgh run, my frustrations with my PR situation up there, and my doubts and frustrations with the gigs I've booked since. Glen's a good sounding board, who understands w...