Skip to main content

Keep on Running.


I did a gentle run-through of my solo show this afternoon.

It was interesting seeing how the material felt, having not touched if for a few weeks. Intriguingly, I found myself enjoying the stuff that doesn’t involve projection the most. This may be because the non-technically assisted bits are more story-led than the slide stuff, or because I know them better. Either way, it gave me a small confidence boost about the show.

There shouldn’t be too much to do before my Camden run, in theory. As I haven’t had many gigs in the last month, I don’t intend on making any big changes from what I did in Brighton in May. There’s lots I want to do to my solo stand-up in general over the next year, but there isn’t an immediate time-frame for that now. I want to allow what I’ve put together to settle, before I mess with it too much. It may not be as cohesive as I’d like it to be ultimately, but it’s early days. I only started performing solo towards the end of last year - and I don’t want to run before I can walk. It’s still an experiment as to whether I can hold a space on my own, and I’m still learning the best way to approach it.

I had intended on using Camden as a chance to invite industry people to see me. I’m not sure whether I’ll still do this. Being seen too soon can be detrimental (something that happened to Doggett & Ephgrave in our early days). There’s no need to rush. I’d like to be in a position to take a show to Edinburgh next year that’s polished and ready – and then invite the industry types. To paraphrase The Simpsons, “That's a problem for Future-David”.

Popular posts from this blog

Shakerpuppetmaker.

Have Parker from Thunderbirds and Noel Gallagher ever been seen in the same room? The resemblance is uncanny. So much so, I think something’s afoot. If my suspicions are correct, I've stumbled across a secret that will blow the music and puppet industry wide apart. In the mid-60s / mid-90s at least. It doesn’t take long to see the signposts. There’s the similarity between the name of Oasis’ first single, Supersonic, and Supermarianation, Gerry Anderson’s puppetry technique. The Gallagher brothers would often wear Parkas . Live Forever was clearly a reference to Captain Scarlet and Standing on the Shoulder of Giants to the size difference between Noel and his bandmates. The more you think about it, the more brazen it gets. It’s fishier than Area 51, Paul is Dead and JFK's assassination put together. The only glitch to the theory is scale . According to Wikipedia, Anderson’s marionettes were 1’10” and Gallagher is 5’8”. How does he maintain an illusion of avera...

'...I'm Gonna Look at You 'til My Eyes Go Blind."

Over the past week or two, I’ve been on a bit of a Sheryl Crow kick, largely thanks to rediscovering her cover of one of my most-liked Bob Dylan songs. She has one of my favourite female voices, yet despite this, I only own one CD and that’s just a single (her '97 release ‘Hard to Make a Stand’); on that basis, you can only imagine how much of her back catalogue I’d own if I hated her (it would fall into minus-figures). Dylan, conversely, takes up more of my collection than anyone else, save The Beatles and Paul McCartney’s solo work. He’s one of those artists who, when you get him, you really get him - and once I’d tuned into his style as a student, I'd time and again be blown away by his lyrics; he’ll have more jaw-dropping imagery in one track than other people fit in a whole career. These days, I mostly listen to music in the morning when getting ready, and more often than not, this will consist of a suggested YouTube playlist when I’m in the bath, r...

Stevenage: A (Tiny) River Runs Through it.

If ever a river was mis-sold, it’s the Roaring Meg in Stevenage. I just walked past it on my way to the retail park that has taken its name. They’re similarly uninspiring. The river is less of a roar and more of a dribble; cystitis sufferers produce greater flow. The retail park is soulless. What was once a thriving enterprise is nearly devoid of atmosphere, save an underlying essence of emptiness and despair. With a Toys R Us. When it was first built I was excited. Back then, the thought of a bowling alley, an ice rink, a Harvester and a Blockbuster Video within a small surface area was enticing. I celebrated many birthdays on site. There was an indoor cricket pitch there for a while where I once had a joint party with a friend. Why someone with an almost pathological fear of sport would agree to such a venture is beyond me, but I did it. Now, there’s very little at the Roaring Meg of note. The river would be a metaphor for the shopping ce...