mostly david ephgrave

To mark Earth Hour tonight, my wife and I turned everything off (with the exception of the fridge) and settled down for a quiz-by-candlelight, with The Beatles Bitesize edition of Trivial Pursuit as our question-master. Anyone who knows me reasonably well will know my grasp of Beatles trivia is pretty comprehensive, although there's knowing stuff and then there's knowing stuff so, while I scored a more-than-acceptable twenty-one, my wife wound up with a fairly impressive twelve, proving that hanging around with me for fourteen years has some benefits. Finally, being with me makes sense: you can be quids-in on Fab Four facts; after all, what could be more useful in a crisis than knowing where The Beatles filmed the beginning of Let it Be (A.K.A. Twickenham Film Studios)?; it seems all the years spent learning this shit paid off.

My dad's been in hospital for a week now, and the latest news is he may need a operation tomorrow, though we should find out more in the morning. You reach a point with all this back and forth where you long for a time when everything wasn't built around health appointments. For someone from a generation that doesn't go to the doctor unless their face has fallen off - and even then it would be reluctantly - my dad has spent a lot of time at the hospital or the doctors' over the past few years. This is great in the sense he's being treated and getting help, but I do think it's conspired to make him more paranoid and careful than he used to be. When things are as they are, this could lead to putting too much aid in place, potentially too early. This is where my dad is at the moment, following a couple of incidents where he'd basically lost consciousness in a challenging situation - either on the floor or in bed. Consequently, he now has a pendant alarm and...

It's nice to see my dog get more and more used to being in a public place like a pub and not be phased by it. Today, I met my friend Stephen who'd come down from the Midlands for a catch-up, and during that conversation, Elwood lay on the pub floor, perfectly relaxed and totally on standby; if he had appointments to keep, he didn't let this show. While he's always been pretty accepting of whatever you expect of him - the dog, not Stephen - he's become even more so very recently, which is lovely to see. He knows we're his owners and he tries to please us. Previously, he would have taken longer to settle in a pub, if he ever settled at all, yet today he was quickly fast asleep, which meant I could relax too without worrying that he was on edge; ultimately, he's a very good boy. As for my time with Stephen, it was good to catch up. We briefly discussed the dates we're doing at Bath Comedy Festival next week - Stephen is supporting me there - and did t...

Once again, I find myself racing to get on top of things, yet falling short. It doesn't help that my dad's still in hospital with us no knowing when he'll come out; nor does the fact I haven't had time to look over material for my dates in Bath next week. On top of this, a combination of a couple of quiet or slow-to-sell Mostly Comedys have put me on edge, worried that I'm going to have to subsidise a temporary shortfall due to a lack of cash flow, and all this without considering the work I need to do for Edinburgh, but haven't had time to consider yet; is it any wonder I'm close to metaphorically pulling my hair out and who can blame me? The point is, I don't feel anyone's really interested in what I do, other than when I bring acts to Hitchin for people to be impressed by. And even that has a limit, particularly when it happens so often for some of the excitement and allure of who we get to rub off. Then to top it off, the money I take from it...

This evening, I quickly knocked up/off - depending on which seems more appropriate - a press release for the extra Mostly Comedy we've squeezed in on 4th April with Tony Slattery, in the hope it's not too late to be featured in the Hitchin Comet this week. It's more likely than not that I've missed the deadline, but I thought it was still worth giving it a go. Until very recently, I'd never missed writing a press release for a gig, but I don't think I've put one together since October last year, for the simple reason that shows keep selling out, making it less necessary. Plus I'd got bored of doing them; there's only so many times you can rejig the same information across a decade before you want to pull your hair out. I've since realised my press release is far-from-perfect - I missed off one of the acts for starters - but here's hoping it helps give the show a push. Here's what I wrote: Press Release – 24 . 03 .1 9 mostly c...

Much of today was spent preparing my dad's house for him to be sent home from hospital, for the sending-home-from-hospital to never come. In a way, we were pleased, as we were worried he wasn't fit enough to come back yet, following the state he was in on Thursday when he was taken in, not to mention the fact he hadn't had the scan on his leg his doctor insisted should happen when he was admitted. As it stands, he has a blood infection that's been treated by antibiotics, plus his leg's still slightly swollen. The initial story we were told when we phoned the ward to double-check when he was being discharged today was that he wouldn't be able to go home until Monday at the earliest so they can keep an eye on the infection or any reactions as a result of it, which led Mum and me to let out a sigh of relief; we'd rather know he was being looked after - and fed and watered properly - than risk him being at home alone until the care we've arranged is in pla...

Tonight's Mostly Comedy was a slightly lower key affair than usual but was a great night nevertheless with a lovely line-up. Tonight's lovely Hitchin Mostly Comedy line-up from left to right: me, Glyn, Norman Lovett, Bec Hill & Alison Thea-Skot. We weren't as busy as we have been lately - but then you can't always sell out - though we still had a good house. The bill was also one of the nicest you could share a stage with, with Bec Hill and Alison Thea-Skot rocking the first half, while Norman Lovett closed the night. I'm confident that anyone who knows the comedy circuit well would want to see a night like that; I know I would, even if I wasn't at such close quarters. Alison Thea-Skot displays the whole gamut of emotions at Hitchin Mostly Comedy (21.03.19). I'm glad it fell that way this week as all of the stuff with my dad has left me pretty weary and unenthused about performing. Today wound up being no better, with me receiving a call...