Writer's Block

I got back on the stand up comedy horse last night with a gig at Funny Bones Comedy at the Tom Foolery in Bromley . Although I applaud all efforts to promote live comedy, I've performed recently in a number of venues that are inappropriate spaces for stand up. The Tom Foolery, although well named, comes under this particular category. Performing near the entrance of the venue when you have to compete against punters coming and going is not ideal. Neither is setting up a gig at the same time as a Literary Death Match event taking place elsewhere in the pub. Based on their website, Literary Death Match seems to be a lot more fun than me rattling off some self-depreciating jokes for the umpteenth time. It generally feels like a comedy night has invaded a pub rather than being a separate entity. The people who are in the audience are not comedy patrons but pub customers who happen to be present while some comedians are speaking. None of this is particularly helpful. It wasn't quite...

I've been inspired to revisit this blog after a ridiculously long absence. I was asked to do a gig at a performance arts evening at my old comprehensive, Charles Darwin School, in honour of the retiring headmaster Rob Higgins. I didn't always have the best time at school but I enjoyed going back and had a great show along with my comedy colleague and occasional friend James McPhun . Prior to the gig when trying to think of stories to retell, it struck me that there wasn't much I could actually remember from my school days. My dad told me that he had a similar problem with his memory in his youth and had taken to writing a diary. The upshot of this is that I'm going to try and write more. I want to have some sort of account of my life to refer to and look back on the future. Hopefully I'll have enough to say to write a couple of blogs a week. On Wednesday night, I went to see Jimmy Eat World at The Forum, playing their albums "Clarity" and "Bleed Ameri...