Today was a long,
yet eventful day.
This morning’s
show drew a nice crowd who were very responsive and happy to be there and
entertained. I felt a little out-of-practise, thanks to yesterday’s missed day,
but this was just a small background noise. It’s surprising how cancelling one show can throw your timing and make everything feel a little
strange. I’m sure no-one would have been aware of this except for me. My wife
was in today, and she didn’t notice anything.
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| Today's show, like. |
I walked out of
the door of Just Out the Box, dripping with sweat, to be accosted by the booker
of Just the Tonic’s daytime mixed bill show ‘Afternoon Delight.’
“Would you be
able to me a massive favour and emcee the show?”
‘Yes, I suppose I
could,” I said, after a moment’s hesitation.
So it was that
ten minutes later, I found myself backstage in Just the Big Room, about to host
the show. I was conscious of not wanting to repeat too much material I’d done
from the show the previous day, but there were inevitable cross-overs. It didn’t
matter, as the audience were on side. My favourite moment was convincing
everyone that the bricked-up door at the back of the stage was the venue’s only
fire exit, using a couple of snippets of mine and Glyn’s material as a kicking-off point.
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| Offstage and On-Stage at Afternoon Delight (13.08.16) |
I finished
Afternoon Delight pleased that I’d done it, but also glad of the break and the
chance to pick up something to eat. We decided to visit the Circus Café and
Bistro just a few doors from my digs address, where we
had enough to keep us going for the rest of the day.
After that, we
headed for Up Two Extra so I could tech Fraser’s show, which was packed to the
rafters. It was the busiest of his gigs yet – standing room only – and the
room was unbearably hot. It was a good performance, the heat dulled the
audience reaction a little, and made their reaction a little harder to force
out. It’s still in very good shape though.
Afterwards,
Fraser, my wife and I went downstairs for a drink and a chat (well, as much as
you can chat over unnecessarily loud music). Before Gemma and I came back to my
digs, for something to eat and to unwind. I really am bloody exhausted. Thank
God it’s bed time.