Today I was
deeply surprised to find out one of my jokes had made it into The Telegraph’s
list of 20 Funniest One-liners from the Edinburgh Fringe.
 |
| STOP PRESS. |
It’s fair to say
I’ve never had this level of coverage for something I’ve written myself, even
if it’s just a few words, and it’s a hugely encouraging prelude to my Edinburgh
run. I know these lists are arbitrary but there’s still a tiny sense of
accreditation about the whole thing, particularly for someone who in his
darker, less confident moments questions if he’s even a comedian at all; today,
in a small way, a member of the national press said I was, and that’s
a small achievement.
Why is someone else confirming you’re a thing so important? My problem is I’ve always been a bit of a ‘Jack of all trades’ type, with the secret assumption this makes me a master of none; I’m an actor / musician - which sounds like a compromise - who’s wormed his way into writers’ groups and runs a comedy club by accident; playing host to a lot of big names while constantly questioning if it’s a world he fits into himself. Taking my first solo show to Brighton in 2015 and my second to Edinburgh last year were small steps from the shadows, but not without the same old self-doubt creeping in; it’s hard to believe you’re a thing when so much of what you do (playing instruments and writing comedy) was entirely self-taught.
Today’s mention in the Telegraph was a tiny step up for me; a moment when a recognised source deemed something I’d written worth relaying - and while the tangible outcome is equally tiny, it’s still a metaphorical plus-point in my head; maybe I’m not just a blagger after all - and who cares that a joke about a woman who died 481 years ago isn’t topical?
Why is someone else confirming you’re a thing so important? My problem is I’ve always been a bit of a ‘Jack of all trades’ type, with the secret assumption this makes me a master of none; I’m an actor / musician - which sounds like a compromise - who’s wormed his way into writers’ groups and runs a comedy club by accident; playing host to a lot of big names while constantly questioning if it’s a world he fits into himself. Taking my first solo show to Brighton in 2015 and my second to Edinburgh last year were small steps from the shadows, but not without the same old self-doubt creeping in; it’s hard to believe you’re a thing when so much of what you do (playing instruments and writing comedy) was entirely self-taught.
Today’s mention in the Telegraph was a tiny step up for me; a moment when a recognised source deemed something I’d written worth relaying - and while the tangible outcome is equally tiny, it’s still a metaphorical plus-point in my head; maybe I’m not just a blagger after all - and who cares that a joke about a woman who died 481 years ago isn’t topical?