mostly david ephgrave

It was with a feeling of optimism that I put up a new wall planner for next year in my office yesterday. Proof. While I’m not a fan of Christmas particularly and find it a hard time of year to enjoy, I genuinely like New Year. It may be arbitrary, but I like the fresh start. Somehow, sticking an empty calendar up underlines the potential for a change of approach, casting aside the shackles of the past twelve months to look ahead with positivity. My only problem is I find it hard to stay this buoyant for long (I'm the same at sea); life is challenging. But as I sit in my office writing this, the nearly blank wall chart in front of me goes some way toward flushing out the cynicism and self-doubt that’s often just a few short mental steps away; perhaps keeping an empty diary is the only way to maintain it. All in all, 2017 hasn’t been a bad year, but I wouldn’t say it’s been easy; I don’t suppose it ever is. That said, I’m looking forward to the promise of a new b...

There was something satisfying about taking down last year’s wall planner in Glyn’s and my office today and replacing it with a new one. There couldn’t really be a clearer symbol for wiping the slate clean and starting again. It's like going back to school after the summer holidays and writing your name on the cover of your new rough-book, or being desperate to use your new pen; even though you’d probably soon be over it, at that moment, the term was full of new possibilities and chances to reinvent yourself, like a much less drastic version of the Reggie Perrin opening credits. (I never stripped naked in class, by the way.) I’d be lying if I didn’t say there are some aspects to starting afresh that are intimidating, or even nerve-wracking; for one, I need to get working on a new show. However, putting up that wall planner reminded me was that I’ve still got plenty of time; I don’t need to employ someone to ghostwrite it just yet. ...

There was something satisfying about replacing the year planner in Doggett & Ephgrave’s office this morning. I arrived there after a chiropractor appointment to find that Glyn had dropped the new one off, before disappearing on his annual January jaunt, Company Managing the Market Theatre’s Adult Panto tour. I'd hoped to get my hands on it soon, as I wanted to start jotting down the various dates booked in for this year, to keep track of them (this being the purpose of a wall planner). Though the reason I needed it was practical, it was strangely cathartic taking the old one down. 2015 was the first full year of seriously gigging on my own, taking in my 30-minute ‘Work in (Hope of) Progress’ date at The Soho Theatre and my first solo hour ‘…and Ephgrave’ on the Brighton & Camden Fringe. It was a rewarding twelve months, but at the same time, it was good to see the back of it – so folding up last year’s Staples Year Planner and depositing it in...