mostly david ephgrave

I find it worrying, looking back on my Twitter feed, that I managed to post a tweet for nearly every minute of tonight’s final of Strictly Come Dancing. I was in the strange position this year (as I mentioned at 8:17pm) of liking all the celebrities left in the competition and consequently, not really minding who won, as long as Jay from The Wanted didn’t find a way of sneaking into the studio unnoticed to become eligible to participate for a time; I really didn’t like that man. Unsurprisingly, they all put in great performances, so it could have gone any way. I expected Danny Mac to win, as he was the most consistent and perhaps the best dancer technically, but also had a soft spot for Louise (and an even softer spot for her partner Kevin from Grimsby). When Tess Daly announced Ore was the champion, I was surprised but not disappointed (as I said at 8:50pm), as he’s a great performer, and someone I’d warmed to, despite finding him irritating on BB...

Twelve years ago, I toured the UK with a show called ‘Rock and Roll Heaven’. One week, we found ourselves stranded at Grimsby Auditorium. There are a few downsides to touring. One of them is having Grimsby on your itinerary. The town has very little to speak of, except for the Auditorium which isn’t ; it’s a sports hall, caught adrift in the midst of a deserted residential area. You could put together a strong case suing the venue for Trade Descriptions; a theatre, it’s not. Another problem with touring is finding somewhere to eat. You can spend hours wandering a city, trying to find a decent meal before you need to be at the theatre. The only options in Grimsby were chips, chips or chips (with optional fish). One day, we visited the neighbouring town of Cleethorpes. The streets literally smelt of gravy. It was as ominous as it was savoury. Whilst sitting in a café tucking into a round of fried breakfasts (which wasn’t much different from eating chips), we looked out o...