mostly david ephgrave

Last night I dreamt a trailer for The One Show. Either my subconscious has reached its peak of dullness or the BBC are pumping adverts into my head. The commercial ran like a premonition (or a prelude to a 30-minute one). I didn’t visualise a TV. It was as if someone had jammed a SCART lead through my cerebral cortex. I hope no-one does that. It would wreak havoc with the pins. I can’t remember what they were trailing. I’m not sure who was their special guest. All I can see is Chris Evans and Alex Jones sitting on the sofa, talking to my soul. Thank God it wasn’t Matt Baker’s shift. That would be nightmarish. The dream must have been spurred on by the fact I saw some of yesterday’s show. They were interviewing Jeremy Paxman. The tension in the studio was palpable. Even his friendliest answers came across like accusations. They should've threatened to overrule him twelve times and see how he likes it.

Last night I had a couple of dreams relating to mine and Glyn’s comedy club, Mostly Comedy . In the first the stand-up James Acaster was not a real person, but an actor playing a part – and in the second, the cockney legends Chas & Dave came up to Hitchin to play for us.  I’m now determined to make my dream a reality (the second one, that is). I watched an excellent documentary about them ( ‘Last Orders’ ) on BBC4 about a year ago. It was one of those programmes that you switch on by chance before bed, only intending to watch a few minutes, then find yourself engrossed. I’d never realized just how far-reaching their careers were. Did you know that Chas did stints in both Jerry Lee Lewis and Gene Vincent’s backing bands? He also jammed with Paul, George and Ringo at Eric Clapton’s wedding in 1983; the only time The Threetles ever played publically after John’s death. Also, Eminem’s 1999 breakthrough hit, ‘My Name Is’ is built around a sample that...