End of the decade

Well that all came around a bit quickly...the end of 2009 that is, the rest of the decade was a bit ploddy at times, to be honest. I'm in a reflective mood, mostly because it's just me sat in the office by myself whilst my workmates are down the pub (I declined their kind invitation as I'm feeling a little rough and want to be in good shape for the fun and excitement (hopefully) that tonight has to offer). So, a quick couple of stats I guess...2009:

I played 40 gigs - nowhere near as many as I should have played.
I played live with 7 different bands
I recorded 6 different releases in the studio, with 5 different bands - nowhere near as many as a so-called session drummer should have played.
I wrote 11 plays - not bad I guess
My work was performed 28 times, in 8 different venues

I finally moved out of my parents' house into my own space, I produced a 5-week cabaret show, failed really badly at trying to make a film and launched a record label. All in all, not bad; a 'B - ' I think. Next year, I want an 'A*'.

My goals for next year are far more simple:

TO TOUR WITH A BAND (the wheels for that are very much in motion)
TO TAKE MORE THAN 1 SHOW TO THE EDINBURGH FRINGE
EDINBURGH AND BRIGHTON FRINGE SHOWS NEED TO FUND THEMSELVES
TURN 'CRACKING TUNES' INTO A PROPER, MONEY-MAKING BUSINESS
DO LOTS OF STUFF FOR THE RADIO AS A PLAYWRIGHT

Should be a doddle, 2010 - you're all mine, bitch.

Christmas

So that was Christmas 2009, the last Christmas of a decade in which I grew up (although I think most people of my generation did, considering it covered the ages 18-28), made a few mistakes, did a few good things, failed on numerous occasions to grow a beard, discovered who Paul Richards really is, and eventually even started to enjoy myself. I've still got a lot to learn, such as cooking in general (I've lived in this flat since March and I've still not used the cooker yet, as much as it makes a very good table - and besides, microwaves are basically cookers anyway), and working out a proper schedule for washing my clothes (I tend to wash like, everything, in one go and have loads of clean clothes, then forget and nearly run out so my only available top-half clothing is my Polyphonic Spree t-shirt, which has never been my favourite, then I wash everything again - and repeat the process, get a grip of the washing, Richards). I think the next decade is going to be wicked. But there's a few days left of this one, and this may not be the last post of the year, not sure, depends if I do anything over the next few days I guess.

I enjoyed Christmas. The childlike glimmer still exists inside me, that I discovered again - it's only glimmers these days, as much as some of my work colleagues may argue as I do go on a bit about the joys of the season. There was just one point on Christmas day when, after the dog had been walked and breakfast was finished, we were all opening presents. The floor of my parents' relatively small lounge was covered in wrapping paper, and general treats, and I looked around to see my mum, dad and sister all smiling, at the same time - no matter how much we mature during the year, Christmas is a lovely, lovely thing.

After seeing friends on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day as I've already mentioned was nice, and on Boxing Day, as per tradition, me and my dad went to watch Cambridge United play. We couldn't get seats this time as it was a local derby and we were a little late, but we were keen to see the game so stood - for the first time - in the 'rough bit' of the ground. It was actually, genuinely, depressing - just looking around at the 40/50/60-something old men who turn up by themselves to shout - before, during, after the game, as if going to watch United play is the only excuse they have to hear their own voices. I'm no snob, and I can swear with the best of them - but it was c-word this, c-word that - it actually felt rather dated, the type of thing you'd see in a football documentary about crowd thug-ism from the '80's. They spent the whole time slating every decision the referee made, and to be honest - even though I was supporting Cambridge United at the game, I thought the ref had a pretty good match, but he could have been the messiah and the idiots my dad and I were surrounded by would have doubted his every move. I don't want to be like that when I grow up. Cambridge lost by the way, 3-1. £17 fucking quid to stand in the cold with a clueless bunch of idiots slating another clueless bunch of idiots. We'll be back next year, though, it's tradition after all.

After a second Christmas dinner, this time with my girlfriends' welcoming family, I went out last night to watch the 'Off The Wall' comedy night at the Boathouse in Cambridge with a couple friends. I was there to see Tim Key - who won the equivalent to the Perrier award this year at the Edinburgh Fringe. It was a 4-comedian bill, but you can see why Key is being heralded worldwide - a confident, alternative slice of comic-poetry genius. It was all very inspiring, as much as the other acts on the bill didn't really do it for me at all, although Brian Damage the compare is always a treat.

And then I finally succumbed; after 4 days of solid relaxation, of drinking far too much, of eating even more, of losing to my dad at Pro Evolution Soccer 7 times out of 11 games, I decided enough was enough and it's time to crack on with things again - I'd vowed to give myself a week off from anything creative, but can you really stop creativity? No, is the answer, just in case it wasn't a rhetorical question. I was up till pretty late last night writing fairly detailed synopses' of 2 new theatre pieces, and also an action plan for 2010. 2010 is going to be exciting I think, I had big plans for 2009 and I achieved about half of them, I reckon next year I'll nail the lot. And that's including growing a beard.

Christmas show - performance 3

Ahh, it's all over, the final creative project of the year. The third performance was actually superb (well, I was all over the place but I only had a small part), the show concluded on a real high. Partly because we had the perfect audience (the ideal level between enthusiastic yet respectful), and the packed house seemed to really enjoy our little festive piece. True, so in retrospect there were a few things wrong with the show - for starters it was too long with both pieces on one billing, and the energy dropped a little about half an hour into the second play (which is partly down to the writing), but I'm really, really proud of the team for pulling this show off under such tight time constraints - they all buzzed on stage, and I came away feeling chuffed for even being associated with it, let alone haven written it. I was toying with the idea of a 4th 'Alex' play as there still seems plenty of life in the concept, but what with Colin now in a serious play ('Clockwork' - which looks excellent), Victoria still living in London and Vaughan not too keen to be type-cast as arrogant American 'Buddy' for every play I give him, I think it's time to move on, would do me good to explore new territory, sometimes it's good to leave these things on a high - and the sold out performance last night did exactly that. The final project of 2009 then, a little messy, but a nice end to a pretty good year me thinks.

Christmas show - performance 2

I'm actually a little drunk. And the sad thing is, I had planned to have a big night out after the show this evening (as it's the last Saturday before Christmas and all that) and some of my friends who kindly made the trip over seemed keen too - then that damn snow started getting pretty heavy, and I decided against it and drove home whilst still legal. I got drunk watching 'The Football League Show', mostly watching highlights of Rochdale v Shrewsbury I think, or it may have been Yeovil v Exeter, or whatever - it's just football, the great thing about football is that I can just sit there watching the ball being kicked around and can be completely enthused by it all - I'll support the team in blue for these highlights, the team in red for the next 4 minute clip etc, football is great at any level. Anyway, the second performance this evening, this was the only night that on paper hadn't sold out, and then we lost one or two people from the audience due to the snow, we gained a couple along the way, but had a few spare seats tonight. Those who were there though were mostly from Burwell, they were Vaughan's crowd. We should have known what to expect really, it's the same as last year's Christmas show when the Burwell crowd came down, and indeed our performance of the fringe show in Burwell. I'm not sure if Vaughan's friends are a fair assessment of the small town/village/whatever it is of Burwell, but from what I know, everybody in Burwell drinks a LOT. They treated both shows like a panto this evening, even though the second show wasn't one - fuck they heckled at everything, in a positive way but still...come on guys, let us get on with the play. It was all in good nature, but at times I was slightly frustrated. But they're lovely, if pissed, people who support their man (Vaughan) a lot, and I respect that. As a result tonight's show was a little bit of a lively farce, I could get agitated and touchy about the script and to be honest at times I was/am, but it's Christmas, and we made a lot of people laugh tonight. It's not what I want for the future - obviously I still want people to laugh, but I want a solid, structured show. I've got big ideas for next year's Edinburgh show, which, whilst may mean a few changes here and there to the current working team (not that there was anything like a contract or anything like that, but this little team of ours have been through a lot together this year - Brighton, several Cambridge dates, London, Edinburgh), tonight wasn't what I want for 2010. Maybe I should just get out of my own arse and look at the simple picture; I write plays, people turn up and laugh at the jokes. That's all good, but I'm itching for something different, somewhere along the line. Equally, I thought of a new plotline for 'Alex' tonight and part of me wants to keep this character going further. The bigger part of me says 'no Paul, 3 plays is enough for the same character, it's been wrapped up in a nice year from Christmas show to Christmas show - this show is a perfect conclusion' but then part of me thinks this idea is a goodun and one more, whilst there's still an audience for it, is a good thing? After all, despite the snow, we've still practically sold out 3 nights in a venue that before I put this team together we couldn't even sell out 1 evening. I'm confused, so many ideas...so many of them probably won't work, but I know somewhere there's some potentially really, really great things. One thing I do know for sure is that in a theatrical sense I should probably never go on stage again, I've been shite for the last 2 performances. Even the 'awkward charm' thing doesn't work anymore, I've just been rubbish, but I'm glad I know that. At the end of 'The Football League Show' they played Bob Dylan's version of 'Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas' and for the first time this year, as I'm slouched in my little flat finishing a can of Holsten Pills, I felt incredibly festive.

First performance

I'm sat here in my little flat, snowed in, reflecting on last night's first performance of the 2 new Christmas shows. Firstly I should probably mention that I like the fact I'm snowed in, my car is stuck on the drive way so I can't really leave the flat, I've got just enough food (well, lots and lots of bad for me snack food at least) to keep me going for the day, and I can finally catch up on lots of things that need doing. Last night's premiere of the show was a slightly stressful affair, our panto cow was running very late and made it to the venue with about 3 minutes to spare, Vaughan - one of our key actors - fell over on the ice earlier in the day and hurt himself fairly badly, and Alan - our techie genius - broke his laptop an hour before the show that had all the music on it. All that, coupled with the tenseness surrounding the panto and it just didn't look like being a classic. But it worked; Juliette, who plays Goldilocks to perfection, seemed very unhappy with the tackiness of 'Goldilocks & The Beanstalk' and I understand her point completely; at times it's a ramshackle mess, at times that's intentional, other times not so much. And me? Well I'm an awkward, gangly rascal of a man on stage, winging every second of it. But as I say, 'Goldilocks & The Beanstalk' worked, because there's enough cheap but funny lines in the script to keep the audience happy, and there's plenty of enthusiasm too, and it's only 25 minutes long. The second half of the show, 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' made me a very happy, proud man indeed. The rehearsals suggested it would be great, but the performance itself excelled that - although far from polished, the confidence on stage just made everybody in the room feel that little bit more comfortable. I'm pleased it went down well too, sometimes we like things that audiences just don't, but in front of a sold-out house last night I'd like to think we made a lot of people happy. All in all, it's worked out rather well - but that's Christmas for you, things are just generally that bit easier for theatrical malarkey during the festive season.

The day after the dress rehearsal

We had the dress rehearsals for the Christmas show last night. In the last week or so things have changed rapidly with certain aspects of the production; Saturday's rehearsal for the first piece, 'Goldilocks & The Beanstalk' was a very tense affair, even I got angry and crunched my Red Bull can in frustration. The show itself has been taken to a different level, not a level which I've always been entirely comfortable with (I consider it to be written more of a darker/deadpan panto, instead it's a rip-roaring, all dancing affair) and I probably should have not been so vocal in my feelings. It doesn't really help that I'm in it, and although this is the third time in as many years that I've been on stage in one of my own productions, this is the first time I've been truly anxious and concerned about it. My confidence feels a little shattered after some harsh criticism from the director, it was probably warranted but I just felt the timing wasn't the best. All in all it's a stark reminder as to why I'm a playwright, not an actor. Apologies have been made from all concerned and last night's dress rehearsal was a little better, but the tension in the air really is not something I wanted for a jolly Christmas show. Still, it has all the hallmarks of being an audience favourite - there's a lot people will like about the elaborate performances on display. Hopefully. After that I sat in and watched the 'Fairytale Of Bar Hill' dress rehearsals and these guys have made my slightly rushed script look amazing. The atmosphere in the room was much happier, the team of Colin/Vaughan/Kevin/Heather is a team which should never be separated, why do I even think about working with other people when with this team I have gold dust? 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' is going to be great, I'm very proud, and wish we could take the Alex shows further now, there's still a chance, I just feel it deserves more of an audience outside of Cambridge. Maybe I can re-write the Alex plays, or write a new adventure, and tour it? This was supposed to be closure for the characters of Alex, Buddy and Laura, but my mind is changing rapidly because if something works this well, surely I'd be an idiot to stop it right now?

Either way, the show opens tomorrow in the tiny cellar of CB2 in Cambridge, it's on for 3 nights, 2 of the nights are complete sell-outs (with waiting lists for tickets), the other night (Saturday) is virtually there too. 2 very different shows, but despite the fact I'm aware the director for the first piece is watching my every move, I know it's going to be my creative highlight of the year.

Gig Report: Eureka Stockade @ The Globe, Cambridge

Date: 12.12.09
Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Globe, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Headline pub gig
Venue Vibe: Festive
Audience: Rammed, a selection of various Christmas parties taking place, and a few friends too
Set List: Heroes Fall, Violence, Erotomania, Broken Pieces, Resistance, Warm Hands, She Got Good, Sharks, Without You, Last Christmas, All I Want For Christmas Is You, Through Every Darkness, All Alone

A nice gig, this one. Two excellent support acts (Incredible Flight Of Birdman, and The Morning People) plus our longest set yet. It was billed as our Christmas special, so the hastily learnt Christmas covers near the end of the set were appropriate. Audience were fantastic, very lively, extremely kind - as they always are at The Globe. Performance itself was a little rough at times, we've only rehearsed once after a fair few weeks off, but the two new tracks (Violence and Erotomania) sounded full of life. A lively one, not our tightest gig, but with enough festive cheer to warrant audience demands for an encore, which typically we decided against.

Jiggery Pokery Cabaret - week 5

The final Jiggery Pokery, and also the Christmas special, was a jolly little affair. We pushed the boat out a little bit with this one - gave the bands a little longer, had more comedians than normal, because we knew it would be the very last one. In front of our biggest audience of the run (the place was rammed), it really was a bit of a treat. Returning comedians Jen Spencer and Andy Higson both did themselves proud with new material (Jen was particularly on form with her festive set), Helen Thorn - a hugely established comedienne who was performing for the first time since having a baby, demonstrated why she's so acclaimed in her homeland of Australia - her set was very Edinburgh Fringe, and littered with moments of genuine greatness. Musically the ever-consistent Lu kept things all Christmassy, and all-girl band Emerald Sky added a healthy dosage of classic rock to the proceedings. Couple this with probably the most enjoyable 'name that tune' round to date (in which both Kev, and Andy Higson, ended up 'singing' because of the tie-break situation) and Jiggery Pokery ended in real festive style. I'm happy - proof that this formula can work, it just took 5 weeks and a bit of Christmas cheer to get there. I'm really grateful to all the bands, comedians, people who made the cabaret idea work - it was an idea on a whim which went a little bit too far, I moaned about it a lot, but ultimately I'm very proud of it all too...

JIGGERY POKERY WEEK 5 - LINE UP
Kevin Wright - intro
Emerald Sky - 1 song
Jen Spencer - guest stand-up
Lu - 3 songs
Helen Thorn - guest stand-up
Andy Higson - guest stand-up
Lu - 2 songs
Name That Tune (with Emerald Sky, Lu, Kevin and Andy)
Emerald Sky - full set

Recording with Hodge

Spent the day somewhere in Norfolk recording, not entirely sure where I was to be honest - my trusty Sat Nav (also known as Patricia) got me to the right road, and then I got lost for about half an hour. After my initial frustration of not finding the place, I ended up at the Sickroom Studios which is, frankly, in a the middle of nowhere, down a very long farm track and with a handwritten sign to say that you've arrived at the studio. There's a reason though why so many great artists (notably The Broken Family Band) record there - it's an incredible studio. Old fashioned enough to have a vibe which modern, commercial studios just don't have, but with enough technology to produce an exceptionally good sound quality. And lots and lots of space, too, I felt I could really stretch out today. I recorded a track for Hodge, the bassist in The Damsons, who is a pretty nifty songwriter in his own right and his solo project is sounding really interesting. Our producer was Owen, who was in the legendary band Magoo (whom Hodge used to play for years and years ago) and a fairly intense, yet very friendly (apart from the stroppy cat which resides in the studio) time was had by all. Hodge is there for most of the week but my drum part is finally done, took about 12 takes, which is a lot for such a simple dance track, but I'm happy to report that it's been very worthwhile. When you come out of a studio session with leg ache you known you've worked hard, can't wait to hear the results.

Fringe 2010

I've decided to take a show to the Edinburgh Fringe next year - it's probably no surprise to those around me because I've done it for the last four years and constantly tell everyone that it's the best place in world (which it is). I was having enormous doubts though, mostly financially - I run at a loss at the moment and need to stop that, and theatre productions cost thousands. But it's what I live for, and I vowed to myself coming back this year that if I had an idea that was good enough, that excited me, I would somehow make it happen. I've had the idea for a while now, and yesterday whilst chatting to a potential actor, it came to life just a little more, and tonight whilst at a frankly terrible local music event, I discussed it even further with a theatre veteran (not from a potential collaboration point of view, but mostly for feedback) and she quickly made me realise it's so incredibly different from what I normally do, yet also refreshing, and even political. I'm going to write it, somehow, over the next week or so even if I'm running about all over the place because next week is fucking busy. Then I'll think about casting - some of the casting depends on how well this Christmas show goes, I'm sure it'll turn out great but from what I've heard there's a lot going on that will alarm the best of playwrights, particularly those precious towards ones own words. We'll see. Either way, I'm in Norwich to record with Hodge in the morning, yet this new play idea is keeping me awake. That, and the excessive caffeine, of course.

Christmas party, Christmas plays, Christmas gigs, Christmas everywhere

I'm knackered. Like, proper exhausted. I know it's because of the amount I drank last night, I've tried to deny it, but I've been getting lots of sleep this week and I'd like to think I'm in decent shape, so it must be the booze. I really shouldn't have drunk so much last night. But it was a free bar, and to be honest, compared to some, I barely drank at all. But I drank a lot - the wine, the beer, the vodka that the new-ish girl in the office insisted we all drank, lots of. But it's Christmas time, and we were certainly merry - we had JLS play our Christmas party and I've never seen so much security for an office Christmas get together. JLS playing at the Holiday Inn in Histon was very strange, but it must have been even stranger for them, bless 'em. Last year we had McFly play - working for this company has certainly helped me get to know my boybands, at least.

Anyway, things are roughly okay, I think. We had the first rehearsal of 'Goldilocks & The Beanstalk' last weekend, and even though I'm a rubbish narrator it's looking great - Pam is a superb director. True, she has so many ideas it's difficult to keep up with her sometimes, but she was on fine form and it's going to be great. A day later one of our actresses, Cara, pulls out due to a scheduling clash, and there's an element of panic in the air. Heather Yeadon, who is also in the other play that evening, has saved the day by stepping in. People, sometimes, are great. Rehearsals for that continue this weekend, we don't have many because the show is creeping up, but when Pam's in charge things generally get done. I have no idea how the other play, 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' is looking - seriously, I've been so wrapped up in other stuff I've barely had a chance to ask people how it's shaping up, I hope it's okay - it's a decent script, they're an exceptional team, but a little more communication is needed perhaps. Tickets went on sale yesterday, 26 have gone already which is a promising start. Generally I've been getting sick of promoting events recently, I might just have to get my head around the fact that my friends, sometimes, would rather stay in and watch television, or go to the cinema, or do anything that involves them not going to the shows I put on. I respect this, I respect them, but it still gets to me sometimes - I go to pretty much everything that my friends do if they're doing a show, because human beings need support sometimes. I know full well it's because I do a hell of a lot, and I can't expect people to turn up all the time, but I'm knackered and I'm thinking too much about it all. Next year, I need to be in a position where I'm not relying so much on friends and family to be the audience. It can work, I mean - in Brighton and Edinburgh this year my work was being performed to absolutely packed houses, constantly, of complete strangers, and I was a very happy man with this. Perhaps doing less in Cambridge is a better move? Or perhaps, and I know this is probably the right route of thought, I should stop giving a damn about the audiences and concentrate on the creative aspect of it all. Yep, that's definitely it.

I was having a slightly drunken, but rather inspiring, chat with my workmate Jack last night about the 'great Cambridge bands'. The Dawn Parade, Winter Kings, Broken Family Band etc, and we came to the conclusion that actually, right now, this little scene of ours isn't in the best shape. It's a cliche to have the 'where have all the great bands gone?' chat, but I think it was justified. Next year, hopefully, maybe, something will happen. Not that you can just form a 'great band', but personally I'd like to think I've got enough passion to kick something into life. Meanwhile, the Bryan Shore recordings sound superb - he gave me a CD of 9 of them the other day and I'm proud of some of the playing on those (and less proud of my drums on some of the others), and on Monday I'm in Norwich to record at the SickRoom Studios with Hodge - I've heard great things about this studio, can't wait to see the place, actually. Next Saturday we have the much anticipated Eureka Stockade Christmas gig - we were all pretty hyper about this one, but our bassist, Nathan, has drifted seriously out of contact, we're all a bit concerned. There's plenty of bassists out there, but Nathan is Nathan, we just hope he's okay, it's getting a little worrying now...

Meanwhile, on the commercial front, some of my older scripts are now available to purchase here: http://www.productionscripts.com/paul-richards-m-113.html which is nice, and Lu's debut EP, 'First Light', which she released on my label, has quickly become the biggest selling release on Cracking Tunes, at one point she was at 523 in the charts, which doesn't sound too high but there's thousands of albums being released all the time, it's a very respectable achievement.

I'm rambling, I should be asleep. Night.

Currently listening to: 'The Planeteer' by Julian Velard, 'The Best Christmas Album In The World...Ever' by Various Artists.

Currently watching: a fine selection of Christmas DVD's.

Currently eating: Jaffa Cakes.

Jiggery Pokery Cabaret - week 4

Sometimes it's difficult to convey the raw emotions of how a show went when you're writing it up a couple days later, but sometimes that's probably for the best. It wasn't that Wednesday's 4th offering was bad, no - far from it, it was excellent for the most part, but I can't help but feel it was a little flat. I think the main reason behind this was simply because it was almost too polished - the best bits of the Jiggery Pokery run has been where random things have happened, those little nuggets of unexpected madness. From an outsiders point of view, week 4 was by far the best the show has looked - everything went to plan. That's a good thing, of course, so I'm not sure why I'm feeling negative about it. Maybe it's because I'm no longer excited by it? Maybe I'm just tired and not looking at the very many positives. The Damsons, with myself on drums, opened the show, before David Trent returned for the second week in a row. David's a great comedian, I really, really enjoy his act, hence why I asked him back. He's so deadpan it doesn't always click with the audiences, but he's persistent and I really enjoyed his set again - the audience didn't seem to get it as much this week, but they were respectful enough. We then had Jude Simpson; a stand-up poet who, to be frank, has a CV that suggests she's above this level of event, she's a proper professional. Her act was superb, without question the cleanest comedian we've had, again the audience weren't exactly rolling about with laughter but I think, actually, that might have just been the audience because Jude is a class act and I almost feel guilty for not putting her on a bigger stage, which is what she deserves. Acoustic music came in the shape of Paul Goodwin, who is probably the best songwriter Cambridge has at the moment, he's criminally overlooked sometimes - his deep soul searching is a rare treat, he's downbeat, but the audience seemed to have got great joy out of his material, why he hasn't got beyond this city of ours baffles me. Then we (The Damsons) played a full set to end the evening. To be honest I didn't really enjoy it, the gaps in between songs were far too long and I felt restless, musically we were tight but I think at times we lost the audience. We're a better band than our performance (baring in mind performance is only 50% music) suggested, a much better band. Next week is the final Jiggery Pokery, it's also the biggest bill we've ever had, and the Christmas special. I've got a feeling we'll go out on a real high.

JIGGERY POKERY CABARET WEEK 4 - LINE UP
Kevin Wright - intro
The Damsons - 1 song
David Trent - guest stand-up
Jude Simpson - guest stand-up
Paul Goodwin - 3 songs
Name That Tune (with Hodge from The Damsons)
The Damsons - full set

Cracking Tunes

Just signed Ethan Ash (www.myspace.com/ethanashmusic) to my Cracking Tunes label. That was a good, productive lunch hour...

Jiggery Pokery Cabaret - week 3

Week 3, which was last night, was actually bloody good. Really proper good, actually. Some people don't agree with me (some people were offended by the second comedian, some people thought it went on too late) but in my head it was clearly the best the 'show' has looked. Mixing the band up with the comedy really worked - probably because The Lost Weekend, despite their angriness and general fiery nature on stage, are the friendliest and most willing band you'll ever meet. The audience - and there was loads of them, made up largely of strangers, watched comedians David Trent and Ahir Shah with such interest - I didn't know it could work this well in a pub setting, but when a whole pub goes completely silent to respect a stand-up doing their thing it was indeed a lovely thing. By far the best the comedians have gone down, and with the added treat of a sketch that actually works in this venue (written by Andy Higson), respectable acoustic music from Tom Tilbury and early-Costello-like itchiness from The Lost Weekend, my faith in the whole idea has been restored. In fact, now we only have 2 weeks to go, people are asking me if there's going to be more next year. There probably won't be, to be honest, but we're starting to actually make people happy, which is always nice.

JIGGERY POKERY CABARET WEEK 3 - LINE UP
Kevin Wright - intro
The Lost Weekend - 1 song
Sketch (part 1) - Andy Higson/Kevin Wright
David Trent - guest stand-up
Ahir Shah - guest stand-up
Tom Tilbury - 3 songs
Sketch (part 2) - Andy Higson/Kevin Wright
The Lost Weekend - 1 song
Name That Tune (with Ade from The Lost Weekend and Tom Tilbury)
The Lost Weekend - full set

Cabaret, christmas, thoughts and stuff

Well it feels like the cabaret show suddenly has a new lease of life, after I posted an advert on Chortle (a comedy website recommended to me by my friend Paul Kerensa) asking for a comedian for this week's show. In less than 2 days I've had offers of 8 comedians, it's difficult to tell who are actually any good but I think I've got 2 decent ones for this week's show at least, with a few more tucked away in reserve for future weeks if we get stuck. I'm going to try a few different things this week, make it even more of a 'proper cabaret', really mix the bands up with the comedians now we have plenty of both to play with. It could get messy, but if it works I think it will be a great show. It's a shame hardly anybody is actually going to see it - without wishing to go on a proper rant about this, ***RANT STARTS HERE*** I work bloody hard to put on shows and when people can't be arsed to go 20 minutes down the road to watch the best young comics in the country with some excellent bands for free entry it really frustrates me. Fuck it, lets all sit at home and watch TV instead, the highly moderated, safe version of what we're trying to create on stage. Clearly leaving the house after 7pm is not what people do anymore ***RANT OVER***

On a lighter note, the interest generated by the Chortle advert has made me realise how easy it could be to set up a comedy club, and be proper comedy promoter. I'll have a think about that for next year, without jumping into it like I tend to a lot these days.

Meanwhile, rehearsals for 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' have continued, and although one or two lines feel a little too crude for my liking (which is weird to think that considering I wrote them) I think it's a winner. We start rehearsals this Sunday for 'Goldilocks And The Beanstalk' - and when I say 'we', it really is 'we' because I'm the narrator for it. If I ever feel that I've taken too much on though I only need to look at Kevin Wright, not only have I got him acting in both Christmas shows, and hosting the cabaret night, he's now working on a stand-up routine for next week's show, I don't understand how he does it all, but he does and that's exactly why I like working with him. I'm slightly alarmed at how close it is until the premiere of the Christmas shows (they share one big festive bill) - they open on the 17th December, but everyone else around me seems to have a great deal of confidence about it all so I'm happy to put that in my 'it's all okay' pile for now.

Currently listening to: 'The Stage Names' by Okkervil River, 'A Swingin' Christmas' by Tony Bennett.

Currently reading: 'Look At Me, Look At Me' by Dom Jolly

Christmas show - first rehearsal

I'm a happy man tonight. This year's Christmas show was probably the most difficult thing I've ever had to write, simply because it was the third time we've used these characters, it's with the same actors who know me both at my best and at my worst, and it was also time to bring some sort of closure to these creations of ours so we can move on to other projects, without it being a cheesy happy ending or anything too miserable. Two of the cast (Heather and Kevin) have read the script already, but for Colin and Vaughan it was the first time tonight they'd seen it. As I say, I'm a happy man tonight. It works - big style, I actually feel a little bit smug about how good it's looking, already. Having the best cast around really helps things as well, and I think we're onto an absolute winner here. The banter as well was typically brilliant, it's been a couple months (since Edinburgh) that this team have worked together, and although we're sadly without the always brilliant Victoria Welsh, we have Heather back and the first hour or so of the 'rehearsal' was just spent catching up and enjoying ourselves. This little team has been together for a year now and I really, genuinely, couldn't have asked to work with nicer people, they're friends above anything else. From an artistic point of view, they completely get my humour, completely get what I'm up to with this script, and they're just so keen to do it, and enjoy it, and it's all rather lovely. We're booking the venue tomorrow, then tickets for it go on sale. This is real dejavu from about this time last year when we had this excited idea of putting on a Christmas show. The sweating and literally days of sat staring at a script that didn't work for a long time has really been worth it.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Cambridge University Radio (again)

Date: 19.11.09
Band: Eureka Stockade (trio set)
Venue: Churchill College, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Radio performance
Venue Vibe: A bit like 'The Boat That Rocked', only not at sea
Audience: The enthusiastic presenters (two of them this time), and they say lots of people online, I think I believe them
Set List: Resistance, Through Every Darkness

Back again for another quick radio chat and couple of songs, this time there was three of us; Andy, Rob and myself, basically Eureka Stockade without our bassist, Nathan, who was working. Good fun, the novelty of last week had worn off a little bit but I appreciate the fact that they wanted us back and we cruised through it in a gentle mind-tempo kinda way.

Jiggery Pokery Cabaret - week 2

I think it's starting to work out, this cabaret thing. The cutting of all sketches seemed to have helped, and the comedian/band thing seems to work - I think we just need more comedians, and more features that get the audience involved. Tonight's second show just seemed a little more confident. The audience, it has to be said, weren't there for the show we were putting on but largely seemed okay with us invading their Wednesday evening down the pub. Kev was on good form tonight as host - he was last week too, but this week he seemed more relaxed, he seemed to have more of a control over things. Acoustic act Alighting were as exactly what Alighting always are - delicate, but likable, nice tunes, very easy on the ear and the perfect way to start the evening. Comedian Jen Spencer, who I have to admit knowing nothing about before the show (all I know is that she's a friend of a friend, is from St. Ives and saw me in a band about 10 years ago), was superb. I know I said that about last week's comic too, and I don't intend to just praise people for the sake of it, but she was really very good - even better considering she wrote her set on the morning of the show. There was a very loud bunch of drunk Italians at the bar who talked very loudly over her entire set, but she didn't flinch once, there's a Victoria Wood quality to her that suggests she'll more than likely go onto much bigger things. The 'name that tune' session went well, Rob (from Eureka Stockade) enjoyed himself perhaps a little too much with the Britney Spears stuff but it all adds to the random nature of the evening. For some reason the soundguy insisted on there being a 10 minute interval, I have no idea why and for me it ruined the flow of an evening which, when it got going, was really buzzing along nicely. I'm not sure why he did this, wouldn't like that to happen again. It felt silly going back on for just a few songs, so Eureka Stockade (with myself on drums, obviously) played a slightly longer set than planned - 6 songs, and went down very well, much better than we normally do actually. And the loud Italians seemed to love every second of it, ironically enough, and I think we played pretty well tonight, which hasn't always been the case when we've not rehearsed as a full band for a couple weeks. Our set by the way, I think, was: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Without You, She Got Good, All Alone and our encore (yep, that's how well it seemed to go) was Heroes Fall. On the whole, as a gig - a great night, as a cabaret - likable fun but still needs a bit of work. Next week, perhaps, we'll get it right.

JIGGERY POKERY CABARET WEEK 2 - LINE UP
Kevin Wright - intro
Alighting - 3 songs
Jen Spencer - guest stand-up
Eureka Stockade - one song
Name That Tune (with Richard from Alighting, and Andy & Rob from Eureka Stockade)
Eureka Stockade - 6 songs

Cabaret thoughts

Last week's first show (of five) raised one or two questions about what works and what doesn't in a non-seated venue. As a result, this week's show - which takes place tomorrow night, just feels a little bit sparse. We've managed to find a comedian in time (the very enthusiastic Jen Spencer), got 2 good bands playing (yep, one of them is mine...how arrogant) and the 'name that tune' game, but I don't think that's enough personally. It's a tricky one, but I need more ideas for this. Well, I have ideas, it's just none of them would work in this envrinoment. It's all a learning curve for me as a producer I guess, just feels like a lot of effort at the moment for a show which I can't even see getting a huge turnout. Negativity aside, this run is a good thing I think - at the end of the day we're still giving comedians a chance to do their thing, we're giving bands the chance to play, we're giving the venue a little more bar trade than they would normally get on a Wednesday evening. I reckon if I do another cabaret show, in 2010, I could really make good things happen...

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ Cambridge University Radio

Date: 12.11.09
Band: Eureka Stockade (duo set)
Venue: Churchill College, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Radio performance
Venue Vibe: A bit like 'The Boat That Rocked', only not at sea
Audience: The presenter, the other act (Tracey somebody, she was very good) and they reckon lots of students listening in
Set List: Warm Hands, She Got Good

I actually really enjoyed this. We were asked to play a set at the station a few weeks back because one of our songs, 'Through Every Darkness' has been remixed as part of a project called 'The B-Side Project'. We assumed the gig wasn't happening, until Andy Brown, one of our two singer/guitarists, gets a text message at 6.20pm this evening saying the gig is on. Andy called around but two of the band, Rob and Nathan, had by now made other plans. As for me, my plans had fallen through so it was either play a gig or watch TV, and the telly signal is really bad around here so I took the drumming option. The studio itself was tiny, the presenter, a young lad in his early 20's was excellent, and we both felt very comfortable. It was nice that listeners were emailing in during the show, and it seemed to be a great novelty that there was a drummer playing tonight, myself and my ego liked this. It's the first time Andy and I have played a gig with just the two of us, as Eureka Stockade is very much Andy and Rob's band, with Nathan and I as the dependable rhythm section. It worked though, it was unrehearsed, but the two songs and interview were really smooth, and we've been asked back next week to play on the presenters other show. A bit of a late start, with the show opening at 10pm, but as far as unplanned evenings go I enjoyed that a lot.

Jiggery Pokery Cabaret - week 1

Hurrah. Home, knackered, and the night wasn't a total disaster. In fact, far from it - it was actually pretty good at times if I may say so myself. I seemed to spend too much time stressing about it, desperately seeking the audience approval. Part of me thinks it's a real miracle it works - the Cornerhouse is, after all, just a normal pub on a main road, sticking people on stage and making them tell jokes, and host, and read sketches, and play songs - why aren't the locals kicking up a fuss? But then again, it's a fucking good night's entertainment, for free entry, and part of me is annoyed that some of the content didn't get the rousing applause I felt it deserved. I think this was because we did no promotion whatsoever - but now, with a bit of tweaking, I feel 'Jiggery Pokery' has legs to be a decent night out in Cambridge, which was always the intention. Sadly the bits that didn't work were the bits that me and Alan wrote - the sketches. Carl and Heather did a superb job in acting them, but in a non-seated venue the comedy just gets lost, these things need to be saved for theatre audiences I think. That's a shame, because creatively that is the only input I really have. For this project though, I am just the producer I think, and occasional drummer when one of my bands is on the bill. Once I get my head around that, I'll be okay. And although the audience at times was a bit on the sparse side, tonight really did work - in ways which I thought it wouldn't do. The odd mix of having The Bomb Factory and Trevor Jones sharing a bill worked a treat, having Trevor do 'Name That Tune' was a real winner, Kev as the compare worked his arse off out there yet was brilliant throughout, and perhaps the biggest bonus of all was comedian Andy Higson - last time I booked him (for the Edinburgh fundraiser) he was completely ignored, tonight, with a fairly tough crowd, he was superb. I've even re-booked him for the Christmas special, comedy can work in this kind of venue, if the comedian is good enough to keep that audience occupied - Andy really is, which is great because I had no idea before the show he was that good. Phew! Trevor is a master songwriter, he deserved a more tentative audience but seemed happy anyway, The Bomb Factory were simply remarkable - it's never going to be to everyone's taste, but nobody dared dismiss it either, as my mate Marcus said 'they're more punk than those so called proper punk bands' - I know exactly what he means.

Next week, we do it all again. It's a little stressful, all this, but it certainly keeps life interesting.

JIGGERY POKERY CABARET WEEK 1 - LINE UP
Kevin Wright - intro
Trevor Jones - 3 songs
Stalker of the week (performed by Carl Fletcher, with Kevin Wright)
Andy Higson - guest stand-up
The Bomb Factory - one song
Celeb interview (performed by Heather Yeadon)
Name That Tune (with Trevor Jones)
The Bomb Factory - 3 songs

A good step in the right direction

Just been told one of my plays, 'Gone Midnight' (written last year) has been selected by Violet Microwave Productions for a professional radio recording as part of their new series, 'Voices Off'. I pretty happy about this, they had a lot of entries, and they seem to work with good actors, and it's all good for London networking. Recording starts early next year, my 30 minute piece will be episode 2 in their second series of 6 new plays. Hurrah, etc.

Christmas script - done

Hurrah! It's been a good weekend. Okay, so it started off with a slightly frustrating evening in St. Ives, I'm still not sure why I was frustrated by it, it's just all a bit routine by now. I'm 28, it's probably really very good I found it frustrating, I probably should have done years ago. I'm not sure, I don't want to be one of those 'town we grew up in' bashers like you see on Friends Reunited; it's not big and it's not clever to ever believe you are above your hometown, it's just sometimes a man needs a change (that's probably why I moved away, but I still keep coming back for some reason...)

Anyway, Saturday was a really good, productive day. Started writing at 11am, by 6pm I was still flying. A quick break to see Juliette and a Tescos trip and then back into it, I eventually finished by 11pm. The results? A Christmas play I am really proud of, and a decent re-write of last year's panto that nobody saw because none of my lot dared go to a rough pub in Peterborough to watch it. It's all good really; 2 shows, one billing, 3 nights at CB2 in Cambridge, Christmas is all wrapped up nicely. Of course there's work to be done, like the guys for 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' need to rehearse the thing at some point, and I still need to find a couple cast members for 'Goldilocks And The Beanstalk' (although managed to find my perfect 'cow' tonight in actor David Geaser, whom I got chatting to at the ADC bar), but the difficult, brain straining bit of writing is now done. My brain feels exhausted, but in a rewarding kind of way. Bob Dylan's Christmas album helped a lot, as did the damp, festive weather, and the chocolate Hobnobs currently residing on my desk. I actually really think the Christmas script works as well; it tells a message, there's a bit of humour, and structurally it all came good in the end. The stressing was worth it, only hope my beloved cast like it after all this.

Tonight I was the MC for WriteOn's final evening of theatrical performances. Why I was MC I don't know; I'm the least likely person to do this. I'm a drummer, and a playwright, I do not go on stage and talk. It's probably because they know I have the inability to say no to anything, a theory proved again tonight. Luckily, I had a lift, so I could have a few drinks. I certainly wasn't drunk on stage, introducing the plays and running the somewhat intimidating feedback session, but I was certainly a few pints in at least. I received a lot of praise for my skills as host; word is my understated, floppy-haired British awkwardness added a whole new dimension to the evening. I tried to explain that I was awkward for a reason (the reason being I was petrified - it's really scary having 50 people all hanging on to your every word), apparently awkwardness, and modesty is all charming, and they're keen for me to do it again next year. Something here just isn't right, but I'm happy to go along with it for now.

Christmas script

It's the 4th November and I'm really struggling with the Christmas script. It's the fucking 4th of November, this isn't good. I've written about half an hours worth of material for it so far but it just feels like a slightly overlong beginning from a play that needs to launch at some point into a great explosion of festivity. I think the very beginning of it is great, and I know how it ends and it will surprise people a bit. It's just the 40 mins or so of material in the middle which I'm really, really struggling with. I know the point I'm trying to make - there is a purpose, it is a love story after all with one or two twists. I know the characters really well, they're a joy to write for. It isn't working. It would work if I put Santa Claus in there and went down the surreal route of last-years show (which talked of injured reindeers who had trials at Stoke City, to be saved by a magical character called The Great Alfredo Junior The Third, among other things) but that was last year's show - this is this year's show. I refuse to use the 'abusive Santa Claus' trick AGAIN, people will think I've run out of ideas. I've got loads of ideas, it's just a shame none of them work for this piece. This is the third and final outing for my creations, Alex & Buddy, the actors who play them (Colin and Vaughan) deserve a decent script, a good send off all round. We're missing Victoria from the acting team but Heather is back and she's great - this should be a doddle, and of course Kev is back as narrator. What is my problem? It's the 4th of fucking November and the script isn't ready yet, and I've hit a creative wall, just at the wrong moment. I'm going to put it aside, and come back to it with fresh eyes. Like I've done 3 nights in row. What a loser.

Studio, plays and stuff

Is this the busiest I've ever been? Probably, actually. I'm enjoying it, I think, although I'd like to enjoy other things at some point (sleep, etc). Maybe at Christmas? Actually, no, that looks like it's just all going to go a bit crazy, next year though, I'll slow down just a little, just because I feel like I need to sometimes. The studio sessions have continued nicely, a couple weeks back I recorded with Bryan Shore which was a nice informal session, this weekend I was in the studio for the Eureka Stockade album sessions which were really successful. All drum parts for our forthcoming (and as yet, unnamed) album are now in the bag which is a good feeling - I worked very hard on Saturday, started recording at 9am and we were still there at 6pm. I had good fun though - the songs are good, I have enough room for creative expression yet equally if something isn't right I'm pointed in the right direction by whoever wrote it. In fact I'll go as far to say that these recordings probably have my best playing to date - I love recording at Half Ton Studios, I love the fact there wasn't any time restrictions, I love the fact I know these songs inside out so feel very comfortable with the whole process. Over the next few months all manner of guitar, bass, vocal, strings, piano, harmonica parts are being recorded for it so it'll be a while before it gets a release date (we reckon next April) but my work at least is done. Still looking to find time to record 'Clowns' but we've had all manner of delays with this, hopefully before the end of the year though this will be another one in the can for an early 2010 release. In the meantime I've done a couple things with the Damsons, an horrific radio Cambridgeshire gig and a very short, nothing of a show at the Portland Arms, there's a lot more to this band than we're showing to the public I feel, hopefully time will sort that. Now just working like crazy to try and get my Christmas cash-in band, The Snowmen some shows, it's been a lot trickier than I thought, this might go in my 'bad idea' pile soon, we'll see. In the meantime the endearing appeal of The Matt Corrall Band still confuses me a touch - I mean I'm really happy with the way it's been selling, but it's been selling really, really well judging by the chart positions, it's all rather lovely.

Saw one of my favourite bands play last week, The Wave Pictures, they're superb, just thought I'd mention that.

As a writer I'm starting to hit my stride again, if in a rushed kind of way. Last night my latest play, 'Sugar Sugar' premiered at the Larkum Studio (ADC Theatre) with WriteOn, I wasn't sure how it would go down to be honest - the more I analysed the script in my head beforehand the more I picked out it's flaws, one by one. Fortunately, the audience didn't bother to do that, not everyone liked it (as is always the way) but there was some lovely things said, particularly from the cast (who were excellent, I might add) to suggest this piece has legs for the future. Next up is the 2 Christmas shows, neither of which have been written yet - which considering it's November isn't a good thing at all. 'A Fairytale Of Bar Hill' is nearly done, the panto will follow shortly - I just need a couple nights in to write them, that's certainly not on the cards this week, frustratingly so.

Ah yes, and next Wednesday sees the launch of our new cabaret night, Jiggery Pokery Cabaret. I'm still stuck for comedians for other weeks, but at least the line-up for the first week is sorted - there will be comedy from Andy Higson (and whatever else me and Alan and write), live music from Trevor Jones and The Bomb Factory. All in all, looks like a cracker. Just need to make sure people turn up now, and that I can find enough acts for the rest of the run...

Gig report: The Damsons @ The Portland Arms

Date: 22.10.09
Band: The Damsons
Venue: The Portland Arms, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Opening for a charity show
Venue Vibe: Relaxed
Audience: Sparse, friendly
Set List: Be True, Going Places, Goodnight Baby

A quick three songs, opening a charity event for the Mashi Foundation. We dashed over from Radio Cambridgeshire to play this one, on stage very early and generally we were far more controlled/relaxed than our radio set. Nice evening.

Gig report: The Damsons @ BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Date: 22.10.09
Band: The Damsons
Venue: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire Studios, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Radio - live set
Venue Vibe: Tense
Audience: No idea
Set List: Be True, Going Places, Goodnight Baby (plus interview)

A really odd show, this one. Such is the nature of these things what we could hear was limited, as a result I often felt like timing was a bit suspect, especially on 'Be True'. As a result we all felt a little uncomfortable with things. Listening back on iPlayer though we actually sounded okay, pretty good actually...the show can be heard here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p004vbgv/The_Audio_Files_22_10_2009/

I Like Drumming.

It's been a while since I've updated this, but it's been a while since I've had a spare half an hour to sit down at home, drink a beer and write about myself. Not long back from an ideas brainstorming session with Alan Morgan, one of my two co-writers for the forthcoming cabaret show, Jiggery Pokery (the other being Gytha Lodge, who is currently too wrapped up in rehearsals for her own show, Flash Jordon, which premieres soon then hopefully she'll be back on board). Alan's a great person to bring in when I find myself in situations like this, a bit like the 'I'll Drive Tonight, Darling' show earlier this year - I was committed to putting on a show, dragged in the boy Morgan and somehow together (alongside a frankly remarkable cast and director) the show was a rousing success despite the fact we had about 3 weeks to put it all together. This time round I have 5 shows - a 5 week run, which begins mid-November time, it should be a bit easier as we have the option to put on bands and guest comics, it's just the bits in between we need to write. I've been feeling feeling a bit cocky about it all, to be honest, as the vision in my head of a crossover between Vic Reeves' Big Night Out and Later With Jools is all very logical to a nutcase like me, but as soon as I try to explain it to anybody it just doesn't really work. Tonight was good though - I'm very clear about what I'm writing, Alan is very clear about what he's writing, and now it's the fun bit - booking the bands and comedians. I'm really excited about who we can get - been listening to the superb Gabby Young (like a female version of Joe Jackson, only younger, a woman, and with more brass/latin/jazzy bits) today, we (Dear Old Blighty) supported her years ago in the cellar of CB2 before she suddenly got really established - heard her incredible new album (a freebie from work, which makes it sound even better) and if we can get artists of that calibre on board - you know the type - the kind of artists who are probably too big for it, but aren't - then this show is going to be a real treat for everyone who dares venture down to the Cornerhouse pub in Cambridge on a winter Wednesday evening...

It's been a been a stupidly busy couple of weeks. But in a good way. My good chum Kerry from Dear Old Blighty suggested we meet up for a chat a couple weeks ago. We do this a lot - we're both naturally very creative individuals, and we both have lots of ideas, but for some reason we just never really collaborate. True, so we've written a set of songs that we started performing this year at the Strawberry Fair etc and those songs have an album title of 'Songs About Darling' but Kez seems off the idea of recording the rest of them let alone releasing them, which is a bit of a shame as I think they're beautiful, and apart from that our ideas have ranged from writing songs for various female singers, a Kinks covers band and Dawn Parade: The Musical. None of which have happened, but all of which have been discussed in detail whilst it's clear we're actually just enjoying chatting, like a pair of old women. This time round though it was a bit different. Meeting upstairs at CB2 Restaurant and eating what is probably the most expensive burger I ever wish to purchase, we actually got a project on the go. It came mostly because Alister seems to have drifted out of contact, the impending deadlines for recording a Christmas album was getting all too near and I suddenly found myself with a pile of lyrics with no songwriter to work on them. Kerry liked the idea almost instantly, I went away and wrote a load of better lyrics, and suddenly a whole new project, Busker In The Winter Snow, was born. A week later we were at Kerry's Haverhill pad recording it in the most lo-fi way possible; a tiny jazz kit set up in the kitchen, an upright piano, and a real limit on the amount of microphones available. In between watching Blackburn Rovers verses Arsenal, we recorded the 'album', which eventually ended up as a 6-track mini-album, Kerry very much took the lead on certain creative aspects of it during the rest of the week as I rushed around with other projects, and we just scraped the deadline for getting something to the distributor in time for the Christmas market. Busker In The Winter Snow will be released on 30th November on my Cracking Tunes label - snippets of the album can be heard here: www.myspace.com/buskerinthewintersnow

A day after my chat with Kerry, my old chum James drops me an email. It's been a while. We occasionally play in a 'band' called The Losers together - 'band' actually being a sometimes acoustic guitar and loud drums duo. We both drifted a bit during the year due to other projects, but James fancied a jam, we chatted a bit on email and suddenly we were booked in to a recording studio to record a 5 track CD...in time for that elusive Christmas market. We were lucky enough to book ourselves in to the brilliant Zoo Audio Studios in Milton (where I've previously recorded with The Deadlines, Under The Streetlamp and the Name In Lights charity single) at very short notice. Zoo is an odd place - it's hidden behind a hairdressers, the drums are recorded in a room so small you lose your knuckles getting your bass drum through the entrance and spend the session with the door handle digging into your back. But the results are always excellent - because Andy Cross the engineer is a brilliant, brilliant engineer - you don't pay for the studio, you're paying for the knowledge of somebody who gets the job done to a high standard but also really quickly. What's even more of a miracle is that in our bid to make the EP sound like a 'proper' band I searched around for guest musicians and my first 2 ports of call were both available - Jon Ford (my former band mate from Siskin, and The Deadlines, and all round nice fella) on bass and Bryan Shore (my workmate who has played Glastonbury, toured the US and is an all round nice fella) on lead guitar. Suddenly Losers were a band, and James's quirky little ditties sounded like proper songs. One rehearsal, and 6 hours in the studio (plus however long it took James to mix it the next day) later and Losers: EP1 was ready and just scraped the deadline for getting something to the distributor in time for the Christmas market. EP1 will be released on 30th November on my Cracking Tunes label - snippets of the EP can be heard here: www.myspace.com/musicbylosers

These little studio projects have been great fun, I'm starting to realise being a session drummer is actually the best thing in the whole world. If only people would pay me for it... on top of those sessions I also spent a couple hours recording drums for Rob Toulson last week - Rob's a good friend (and band mate) and had to give a lecture on drum tuning in New York. Next up I'm back in the studio on Sunday with Bryan, returning the favour for him guesting with Losers. Bryan's recording some solo songs soon, looking forward to laying down some grooves for him, he's a great musician - that was really evident this time last week when he suddenly had to improvise over a bunch of songs he's never heard before, should be a decent project. Meanwhile, next Saturday we record the music for 'Clowns' - my new audio spoken word musical - that reunites myself and Kerry with Claudia McKenzie and Marcus Hood for a bit of improv recording with a vague structure. At the end of the month recording sessions start for the Eureka Stockade album - these will be big, polished efforts compared to my recent 'bash it out' sessions, the album itself won't be complete until some time next year but it promises to be a grand affair, with strings and all that malarkey. Also, at some point before the year is out I'll be returning to Stag Studios in Witham, Essex for PROPER PAID DRUM WORK, not sure who with just yet but got a text from Steve at the studio who has some session work lined up for me, looking forward to getting back there as it's a nice studio (was there a lot with The Lunar Pilots, before I left them) and it's the second time Steve has got me session work - the last time was with a band called Pablo Joe and I really enjoyed myself (and was a bit flattered by how much they paid me, to be honest). I like drumming.

www.crackingtunes.com is looking good all of a sudden, such is doubling our artist roster in a week what with Busker In The Winter Snow, Losers and Lu all having releases in time for Christmas. Need to plug these releases somehow, adding shit-loads of friends on Myspace doesn't seem enough somehow, and I'd like to think all of these acts have a certain commercial appeal - to very different audiences. Lu in particular has a Tori Amos thing going on with her EP that I'm releasing for her ('First Light' - can be heard on www.myspace.com/luofficial), I'll be drumming for her at some point (starting next weekend, actually), you could see that coming, right? I'm a drummer, we're allowed to play in lots of bands. Lots.

Right, sleep I think, I've rambled far too long. Still need to write this year's Christmas show (we all met at Colin's at the weekend and finally watched the DVD of 'On the 12th Day Of Alex' and remembered how much fun we had with that - I need to double that fun for this year's show as the expectation has gone a bit high all of a sudden) and a panto in time for Christmas. It's all good doing the whole 'write it in October, actors learn it in November, it's performed in December' routine, but not when October is slipping by and the writer is knackered. But it's been a good year with plenty of challenges, there's time for a few more yet.

Currently listening to: Gabby Young & Other Animals - We're All In This Together; The Wave Pictures - If You Leave It Alone; Elvis Costello - Spike
Currently watching: Drop The Dead Donkey - series 3 DVD; Peep Show (TV); lots of football.
Currently reading: Tony Hancock - the definitive biography.

A weekend away to discover 'Great' Britain

Well that was nice. A couple days ago, that is. After all the manic running around of trying to keep my various projects up to scratch and feeling frustrated along the way (life at the moment seems to be endless rehearsals and admin, when I really need to be playing more gigs and actually sitting down and writing properly, not grabbing the odd half an hour here and there to try and bash out a 'masterpiece') I took my girlfriend, Juliette, away for her birthday. There were several reasons why I felt like making an extra effort this time round; for starters it was her 25th birthday, which as a number looks important, another being that she's been pretty down recently, and another being that I'm probably pretty difficult to go out with - let's be honest, I barely see her, let alone have the chance to show any kind of romantic side. So, with a bit of Google action, I planned a short tour of Pride & Prejudice film locations, because she loves that film/story/TV show, she does. First destination was Burleigh House in Stamford, before the long trip up to Derbyshire to see the gardens of Chatsworth House. Now, I'm not a connoisseur of these places normally, but those gardens were, simply, out of this world, the kind of place where you physically struggle to believe you are not in some kind of film set or some vivid dream where the world is just a bit nicer. After that we stayed in the Peak District, and the next day made the very long trip to Wiltshire to see Stourhead Gardens, which to be frank wasn't as good as Chatsworth, but as I say, I'm no connoisseur and the chances is are I could have just been knackered because, as much as I love my little Ford Fiesta, I'm not convinced the leg room sufficed for what was eventually over 15 hours worth of driving that weekend. Juliette seemed over the moon with every second of it, I thoroughly enjoyed myself too - and let's be honest, it was a treat for my loved one, I wasn't actually expecting to have fun myself. But I did - simply because it got me away. Away from staring at a screen, away from a dingy dark rehearsal room. We travelled across Great Britain, seeing the bits of our glorious country that are often ignored by the media purely because of their sheer beauty. England is a beautiful country, I had a reminder of that this weekend. Every country has it's lesser impressive areas but that could be said about anything (I live in a lovely little flat but Christ, my bathroom is disgusting sometimes), I feel fortunate to have breathed some of the good air that is often overlooked. I also have my Sat Nav to thank for this, for taking us on the occasional less than obvious route. On the way home we listened to radio recordings of Galton & Simpsons Playhouse, the short play of theirs, Impasse, is simply the greatest radio play I've heard in years, even though it was written in the 1960's.

Anyway, back down to the cracking on with attempting to achieve stuff. Got 2 play ideas out of the weekend, need to start finding the time to have nights in to work on them, or else this blog could purely end up being a series of rants from a writer who barely has the time to actually write. One of them is for this year's Christmas show - as previously mentioned last year's show was a creative highlight for me. As much as I said to Colin (Woodham, actor) on Friday night I think I've written enough for the characters of Alex & Buddy (Colin plays Alex), I've had a u-turn, now I've actually thought of a lovely plot for Alex. This Christmas, the character of Alex will be killed off, on stage, but not before there's a bit of a singalong and some nice festive touches. There's also the panto to work on, and of course the Christmas album which I'm working on with Alister Bunclark - the deadline for that (if we are to make a Christmas release date) is getting stupidly close and we're nowhere near done yet, but it's a challenge, I think we'll get there, even if it takes 24 hours in Half Ton Studios with a bottle of whiskey to help us along our way.

Meanwhile, I've signed London singer-songwriter Lu to my Cracking Tunes label, she's very good, do check her stuff out: www.myspace.com/luofficial - she can belt out a tune or two, and looking forward to releasing her Christmas single, at least she's got it recorded in time. At the end of the month we'll be recording the background music for my 'Clowns' audio musical around Kerry's pad, pretty much in the same way we recorded the Matt Corrall Band album, although with a bit more direction. I'm also going to be busy in the studio recording the Eureka Stockade album at the end of the month (well, my bits are being done then, the album will be ready about February time) as well as recording drum parts for Bryan Shore's album - Bryan's a great musician and friend who has been in lots of decent bands over the years (notably The Shivers) and will be interesting to see what we can do with this. Still a little lacking in the gig department though, although The Damsons have been rehearsing a fair bit lately (with our new smaller line-up, having lost a guitarist to artistic disagreements during the summer) so hopefully we'll be out there soonish...

Ah yes, and our Cabaret night, Jiggery Pokery Cabaret, has now been confirmed for a five week run, starting on Wednesday 11th November, expect all manner of messy craziness wrapped up in a heap known as entertainment. Personally, I can't wait.

Currently listening to: Okkervil River (yep, still), Julian Velard, Elvis Costello
Currently watching: This Life box set, Maid Marian and her Merry Men DVD, Peep Show
Currently reading: Tony Hancock: The Definitive Biography

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ The Cornerhouse

Date: 23.09.09
Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Main support
Venue Vibe: Cosy, safe
Audience: Really nice although only about 10 of them. Considering we played without Nathan our bassist and sounded pretty weak it was a miracle they put up with us, they did though for some reason or another
Set List: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Without You, Heroes Fall, Warm Hands, She Got Good, All Alone

First attempt at lyric writing for a Christmassy song

Hardly 'Simply Having A Wonderful Christmasstime' is it?

Busker In The Snow by Paul Richards

Busker in the snow
If only someone told you
Of their admiration for what you do
Your persistence or your craziness
Whatever it is, you deserve a hot drink or two
Busker in the snow
Is it passion or just mindlessness?
That you are trying to express
I can’t claim I thought too long about this
But either way you deserve a little respect
Busker in the snow

Busker in the snow
You crazy fool, someone would shout
Before eloping into their expensive car
With heating and safety all round
Busker in the snow
Thank you for the show you gave me
As I was stood outside freezing, waiting
You’re better than the commercial dross
Even though you’re covering most of their songs
In your set, only you’ve added some soul
Busker in the snow

Busker in the snow
Respect where it’s due before this weather kills you
I’m not sure which will be the first to go
Your dignity or your frozen body
Either way, they’ll be missed by me
Even though our meeting was limited to a glance of an eye
I’m sorry that I
Was short on change
But if you’re still alive by the next time I’m shopping
You’ll do well out of me, that I promise you
Busker in the snow

Puking, album released, christmas and stuff

On Sunday evening I was sick a fair bit, shortly after the Eureka Stockade gig at the Soul Tree supporting Charlotte Hatherley (the bird from Ash, who didn't bother to watch our set so I made a point of not staying for hers). I actually played really poorly on the night - sometimes the moves just don't really come off the way you planned, and you're forced into labouring any fancy frills in the hope something spectacular comes off. It never does, of course. I was in time though, and the audience probably didn't notice/didn't care that any of the more intracate parts were going slightly tits-up. But I'd like to feel it was actually because I was playing ill as to why I drummed so badly. Or maybe the hangover from Kevin's party the night before? Anyway, tighten up, Richards. Although unproven, I'm pretty sure my random bouts of vomiting was related to the chicken I had for dinner that evening, I hope it was that - just so I know to myself not to ever buy chicken from a garage in Trumpington again, and move on. Being off work for two days is damn-right depressing. Not specifically being off 'work' as such (as much as, weirdly enough, I'm enjoying office life at the moment), but just not doing anything at all with my day. Still, managed to scribble down a few script ideas whilst I was lying there so something good might have come of it at least.

Meanwhile, Matt Corrall Band album has been released - worldwide, and we're all plugging it like crazy. The Eureka Stockade EP is still the biggest seller on my Cracking Tunes label with 27 sales, come on Matt - you can beat this! And make the poor indie label owned by your drummer a few quid in the proccess. People are talking about it on various blues websites I notice, which is good because we've not told them about it, so clearly the word is getting out there somehow. It does still make me chuckle a little the amount of promotion we've done with this one - a fair few hours on myspace and a few emails etc, considering how quickly the album was recorded, but maybe the slapdash route to recording is the way forwards?

Got told the other day I was only allowed to submit one script to this season's programme of new writing at WriteOn in Cambridge. WriteOn is strange but friendly group, with a pretty big following these days. When I first joined, four years ago, it was very much a place to try out new material, but these days the audiences and expectations seem a little bigger and you almost feel bad throwing in just an idea, they seem to want a complete, polished script. Doesn't stop me trying things out though, at the end of the day it is just a Cambridge audience, mostly made up with fellow writers, directors and actor friends who know what you are capable of and accept the fact that not everything is going to work, so in theory I shouldn't care so much. But the thing is, I do - if my work is in front of an audience, I want that audience to be enjoying it, and there's every chance there may be just one person there who will only see one Paul Richards play ever and if he sees the absolute stinker, he may well think Paul Richards is an absolute stinker. And then I get myself into a mess - because I've written 2 new plays, but due to time restrictions this year they can only put one of them on, and suddenly I'm thinking about the potential audience reaction, not what benefit a performance would do for my writing. The plays are 'Sugar Sugar' - a relatively twee, safe comedy with a little twist, or the very recently complete 'Sweden' - which is about guns, and sex, and men who eat other men as a way of disposing the body - the kind of play that shows Paul Richards is willing to push boundaries and isn't just the guy who writes awkward comedies about awkward people in awkward situations, despite what his 4 Edinburgh Fringe productions might suggest. And what did I submit for the new season? 'Sugar Sugar', of course. I annoy myself sometimes. But there was every chance 'Sweden' would have been slaughtered there, and I'm cool with that, for the reasons mentioned above. But with that thinking, how will I ever know if 'Sweden' works as a play after a good few weeks work on it? Will it ever see beyond a folder on my desktop titled 'new projects complete'? Hhhmmmm...

Anyway. Christmas is looming, and I'm now gearing myself up for creatively my busiest one yet. Obviously there's the Christmas show to write - last year's 'On The 12th Day Of Alex' production is still, by some few million miles, the best thing I've written, and I'm keen to top that this year with something along the same lines. Also, I'm keen to develop a panto I put together at short (very short) notice for the Glass Onion in Peterborough last year - 'Goldilocks And The Beanstalk' - I reckon a new draft of that will be nice and tight and should be performable if I can get a few actors together and stick it on somewhere. Also, the cabaret night I'm starting soon (more details very, very soon - just putting on the finishing touches) with award-winning writer/director Gytha Lodge should see the end of the run around Christmas so we'll have a big Christmas special for that. Ah yes, and of course Alister Bunclark and myself are going to have a Christmas hit single with 'I Never Built A Snowman', hopefully, well you never know you're luck, we're gonna try anyway - a good old Christmas jaunty tune with bells 'n' shit, could be a winner with the right promotion, we start rehearsing the song next week and recording a couple weeks later (with hopefully guest vocals from the fantastic Kate Jayne Ward, if she's up for it, hope so because lets face it - neither of us can sing...). Best get some Christmas tune-age on my headphones then and brace myself for a busy old festive season. I, contrary to the song, don't wish it could be Christmas every day, but as a writer/musician type dude I'm getting used to having it for at least 4 months a year.

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ The Soul Tree

Date: 13.09.09
Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Soul Tree, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Opening for Charlotte Hatherley
Venue Vibe: Friendly, welcoming
Audience: Attentive, appreciative without overdoing it
Set List: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Without You, Warm Hands, Heroes Fall, She Got Good, All Alone

Gig report: Eureka Stockade @ The Globe

Date: 05.09.09
Band: Eureka Stockade
Venue: The Globe, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Headline
Venue Vibe: Very friendly
Audience: Extremely enthusiastic, very keen
Set List: Through Every Darkness, Resistance, Without You, Heroes Fall, Warm Hands, Broken Pieces, Sharks, She Got Good, All Alone

London, the final performances of the play, and brilliant nights

Maybe it's because I've been reading an Elvis Costello biography that I'm so inspired, yet equally feeling a bit fiery at the moment. Costello's work rate is enviable - and his creativity is beyond belief, and even reading about it has given me a kick up the arse. I know I do a lot of things, but to be honest - I really could be doing a lot more, I'm barely scratching the surface. I probably need to change my attitude though in the office, just a little, because I'm getting a little stroppy at times, and I don't mean to be. I can't blame that on the book - but it's the frustration that I feel I should be making a living out of writing and drumming that creeps in, especially after the artistic bliss that was the Edinburgh Fringe. A man still needs to pay the rent though, and I do appreciate the work all the same.

Anyway - not entirely sure why I started this post so negatively, because I am on a bit of a high at the moment. For tonight was a fucking good night. On Friday evening (which I still consider to be last night, even though it's officially Sunday morning as I type this) 'With Arms Outstretched' started the first of two London performances. The venue, The Hen & Chickens, is a brilliant place - you can see why the likes of Stewart Lee still perform there - it's small enough to feel packed with only a handful of people, yet with a lovely performance space, perfect for the kind of show I like to write. It's central, next to a tube line, and has a slightly tatty vibe to it which I really like - the kind of vibe that reminds me a lot of what the Boat Race in Cambridge used to have, you just know legends have passed through here. Friday's performance wasn't bad - especially good because the guys once again have had a week off and not had a chance to refresh with a rehearsal. True, so the energy levels weren't the best it's been, and the odd line might have been stumbled upon, but there was no reason for members of the team to feel so bad about it. The problem genuinely is - they've set themselves such high standards over the last month or so, it's virtually impossible to keep it at that level every single time, as much as the desire is there to do so. Lovely audience too - just 20 of them, but they took to it well, and I went home happy. Today was the last performance, but I was stuck with a dilemma - I was booked to play a gig with Eureka Stockade at the Globe in Cambridge, yet, after all we've been through as a team, it would just be wrong to miss the final, final, final performance of the play - I just had to be there. Somehow, I scraped both. Dropped off my drums at the venue at 4pm (my bandmate Rob very kindly later set them up for me, and even soundchecked the kit for me), headed into London, had some dodgy grub at the venue (great venue, but the food wasn't the best, to be honest), and watched the final performance. I almost felt emotional - this has been a good play for me, my reputation seems to have grown because of it, it felt like such a shame it was the final show but all good things have to end somewhere, and where better to end it than a venue as fantastic as the Hen & Chickens? The final performance started with an exceptional amount of energy - the guys were really up for it tonight. It was going so well until the fire bell rang, halting the show for a bit, causing much awkwardness. It was a false alarm, literally, but did stop the show for what felt like a lifetime (but was about 5 minutes). Still, the energy returned, the audience were again lovely (London audiences = chirpy bunch), and the show ended on a true high. I felt strange - and I know the guys did too. It's been a tough run - Cambridge (x 2), Edinburgh (x 7), Burwell and then London (x 2) not to mention the 4 months of intense rehearsals beforehand for the actors, and before then the 3 months of writing and re-writing for me, aided by a wonderful director. We've all put our souls into this, I feel rather sad it's come to an end. Sadness - or just relief that we're all still friends after such adventures, and that it didn't completely go tits up like most of my Edinburgh shows have done? Elements of the show will return; Kevin as a narrator will be back for the cabaret show (more of a compare, but the same style), I will write more for the characters of Alex & Buddy - simply because I love writing for them (and Colin and Vaughan play them so well), but with Victoria off to drama school this team will dismantle slightly for a while I guess as we move on. We've done well - but whilst the London dates were a superb end to a project we're all so proud of, the cracks were starting to show, it's ended at completely the right time, which is most refreshing. Straight after the show ended at 8.30pm I ran out of the venue, and one tube stop later I was on the train back to Cambridge.

9.52pm I was at Cambridge station, by 9.56pm I was at The Globe - 4 minutes early for my gig. I must be honest, I felt very good dashing in, changing the heights of the cymbals briefly, and then going straight into tonight's gig with Eureka Stockade. And the great thing was - just like the last time we played The Globe, it was a cracking gig. Probably the best we've ever played actually, with the help of a brilliant promoter (Sam Inglis) and brilliant soundguy (can't remember his name), the best sound we've ever had, the new material went down a storm, the audience were so up for it - an all round cracking show. Some people in the audience know the words to the songs better than we do; it's a simple, small thing, but on any level, to know somebody is caring that much to not only turn up, but to singalong and enjoy it, is a really flattering and lovely feeling. These are the kind of days I live for, I feel lucky sometimes, tonight was one of those nights.

What with all these projects on the go, I can't remember the last time I had a really, really good nights sleep. I'm exhausted, but the adrenaline continually bounds me over the finishing line - I'm not just limping over it, I'm proper leaping. I probably need to look into the sleep thing at some point, but the week ahead suggests that's not on the cards just yet. Still, if Costello can do it...

Cracking Tunes

I'm fatigued and frustrated at work, then Steve - the website genius, sends me a link to the now live website for my record label:

http://www.crackingtunes.com/

The timing of it must have been a sign...

Gig report - Summerhouse @ Cornerhouse

Date: 30.08.09
Band: Summerhouse
Venue: The Cornerhouse, Cambridge
Type Of Gig: Pub/venue
Venue Vibe: Merry, very merry
Audience: Good turnout, very drunk
Set List: I'm really not sure. The evening was Jo's birthday; Jo runs several local venues and is pretty much responsible for most of the good things that happen on the Cambridge music scene. She's also a musician herself, playing with her band Summerhouse, and at her birthday BBQ on Sunday her band reformed for a special show. They were without a drummer so I was asked to guest, and it was a cracking night. Ended up 'winging it' for nearly an hour - I did not know a single Summerhouse song or even what genre of music they play, but the audience didn't seem to mind and it's up there with one of my better gigs of this year...

Moving on

The post-Edinburgh blues have been typically difficult to digest. From going from being a proper, fully-fledged producer/playwright strutting around the greatest arts arena in the world, to being back in the office where the work is fun but I generally don't move my legs for 8 hours is difficult to adjust to. Still, I've been doing my best to keep busy, and the Edinburgh show itself isn't done with just yet, last night our production of 'With Arms Outstretched' ended up in the tiny village of Burwell. Burwell is an odd little place; just out of the way of Cambridge, past Lode but before you get to Fordham. Geography lesson aside, it really does have a nice little atmosphere going on. The venue felt like a school hall, and smelt of the WI, who are regulars there. More traditional am-dram rather than the dark indie theatre underworld scene I try to associate myself with, but a highly enjoyable evening all the same. 42 people in the crowd, taking the tally up to 341 people in total for this show so far, and that audience laughed at everything - just such a jolly bunch. More of that please, and I might actually start to think my work is actually funny...

I know I've said it before, but actors do amaze me. Last night they went straight back into the show after 2 weeks off, with no rehearsals and merely a quick line run whilst eating a takeaway. It was the best the play has ever looked - these guys are so fresh, so sharp, I get the feeling I could keep this run going for another 6 months and they'd still preform it with as much enthusiasm as the premiere. Colin, Kevin, Vaughan, Victoria - I salute you. London is the next destination for the show - and sadly the final destination, but fingers crossed we can end things on a real high note. We're at The Hen & Chickens Theatre in Islington. For the first time, I've not booked the venue - the venue have booked us. Our/my stock is rising, it's a genuine sign, I'm thrilled. We're there for 2 nights, and unlike the more unconventional venues we've have to produce the show in previously, this is a 'proper' theatre, with fixed, rigged seats, full lights, PA, it's what the guys deserve after all their hard work. This is also the venue where The Mighty Boosh got spotted, and where Frankie Boyle still performs on a regular basis. We're not in the big league yet, but we're edging closer to things that are just a bit better than what we've had before, which is really good for morale. To cap it all off, we didn't even get a slating from 3Weeks Magazine for our Edinburgh run, and lets face it - they slate me every year. We got a 3 star review from them, not flattering but hardly insulting either, which will do me for now. Although not sure if the term "mildly entertaining" will help sell the show if put on a flyer.

Writing-wise I've kept myself busy, still working hard on my debut novel, 'Johnny In The Real World', which seems to be working well, if in a long-winded-process kinda way. I've also finished a new play, 'Sugar Sugar', which is a typical Boy Richards awkward young man kind of affair, whilst dealing with the difficulties of diabetes at the same time (I sit next to a diabetic at work and get some really useful insights from him). I was really happy with the play, and then on the same day in which I'd finished the first draft I got an email from a London producer contact who was asking me about my latest work, I foolishly sent it to him. Foolish because I didn't stick to my 'four week rule' of coming back to a draft four weeks later and re-reading with fresh eyes. Two days after I submitted the script, I had a re-read and I'm not keen on it at all, in fact as a play it doesn't really work on many levels, and even on the bits where it does work structurally the dialogue just drags. Amazed I didn't spot this the first time round, and now concerned that I've just sent a very useful contact a pile of shite. Oh well, at least there's still the cabaret evenings coming up which I'm putting on; a cross between Vic Reeves' Big Night Out and Later With Jools Holland, with more than a hint of Generation Game thrown in, a glorious, bedazzling hour of entertainment that will both shock and excite at the same time, and all recorded for a weekly podcast. That show is called 'Jiggery Pokery Cabaret' and is going to run for 6 weeks in a Cambridge venue, very, very soon - going to sort out the exact dates tomorrow. Exciting - but coming up with 6 hours worth of entertainment is a hell of a challenge. I'm meeting up with fellow writer Gytha Lodge next week for an ideas session, and in a couple weeks time I'm also having a creative chat/piss-up with my old mucker Jack Gibson, so I'm not in this alone, at least. Looking forward to booking the bands and other acts to go with the show too, I think it's going to be absolutely brilliant.

Elswhere, my record label, Cracking Tunes, is set to be a proper label soon, we have a fancy logo and everything, and had dinner with the website designer on Thursday and crackingtunes.com should be live in a couple days time. Now just need a few more bands to my roster, signed my mate Bill Campbell last night though, whilst drinking whiskey, it's how all good deals are done. In the meantime, I've been doing a bit of Myspace promo work for one of my acts, The Matt Corrall Band, and the response has been more amazing than anything I've ever done before - turns out, right, everyone loves the blues, he's actually got proper 'fans' now, not just people wanting to get their friend stats up. Even more amazingly, Vinnie Zummo - former guitarist with Joe Jackson, has asked to collaborate with us! It's all gone a bit crazy, considering we're not actually a proper band, more the case of 5 hungover mates jamming in the studio and releasing the best bits, but if it takes off I guess none of us will say no to taking it a little further.

Musically in general actually I think things are getting back in shape after a slow few months; Eureka Stockade are supporting Charlotte Hatherley from Ash next month - I'm looking forward to this a lot, as well as talk of heading back into the studio, and we've got a few other gigs in the schedule too which is nice. With The Damsons I have a BBC radio session booked in, and elsewhere I've been offered a reasonably well-paid dep gig in October, and also a couple other studio projects, positivity all round.

So, Edinburgh might be done with for another year, but keeping the Edinburgh vibe going, in my head, at least, has proved a little easier than I had first feared. Hurrah!

Edinburgh Fringe 2009

Back from Edinburgh, with that familiar sense of both elation at the achievements of my team, and the odd feeling of dejection that I'm back in my tiny flat in Cambridgeshire that has a leaky toilet and a faint smell of bins. Maybe it's always been like that, I am in the fens, of course, but maybe I just didn't notice because I was so wrapped up in that horrible hole known as 'routine'. I've been out of my routine for the last 8 days, and there is nothing like a shock to the system than the Edinburgh Fringe. I feel inspired by what I can achieve; the reminder that the world is actually yours for the taking. Well, that's the feeling you get when you're there, but somehow, having barely been back 'home' for 24 hours, that already seems to be drifting from my consciousness. I must keep this Fringe buzz going, psychologically. For when I'm at the Edinburgh Fringe I feel I am the best version of me there is available.

About this time two weeks ago there was no way I would be taking a show to the Fringe again; too much admin, too much hard work, too much expense - and for ultimately very little satisfaction. Well, so it appears about two weeks before the festival starts. But within hours of arriving in Edinburgh, being handed a handful of flyers by fellow show producers, glancing down the Royal Mile at the spectacular, colourful and often damn-well strange activities of the greatest artistic event on the planet, I have very little doubt I want to do this again - next year, and then year after that, and so on. Even in the Scottish drizzle, after a 9 hour car drive, the warm glow that can only be generated from so much creativity frantically battling for your attention hits you like nothing else can. For those un-initiated, it's probably a little intimidating. But when you embrace it, you realise your own world stops for a bit - however long you're there for, and you will be entertained. The outside world changes all the time, but despite the constant media cynicism, The Edinburgh Fringe will never change.

Our venue, The Grape, had given us a lot of concerning thoughts before our arrival, simply because nobody knew anything about it. I was told a day before travelling by Sarah Pearce, compare for 'Comedy At The Grape', that it probably wasn't designed for theatre; there was no stage and very little space. From the reviews I'd read online, it was apparently going to be a shit hole. On arriving at the venue, weary after a day of travelling up from various bits of Cambs, we had to check on Google maps that we were actually in the right place, because The Grape was actually rather lovely. True, so it was by no means a theatre venue as Sarah pointed out; we had no stage lights and poor old Alan our resident techie genius was behind the play which made things a little difficult for prompting him with music cues, but it was clean, the staff were friendly and probably a lot more comfortable for the audiences than the preview dates. Unconventional, but nothing is conventional at the Edinburgh Fringe. I've attached a short video of our venue, shortly before the 6th performance of the play. I've got a small camcorder and filmed a lot of random nonsense during the run, most of which I imagine the team won't be too happy about me putting online. That doesn't mean I won't do at some point though...

Accommodation-wise we (me, Alan, Pam, Rachel, Victoria, Colin, Vaughan and Kev) started off in the same flat, and then after night one, some of us (me, Alan and Pam) moved over to my friend Steve's flat, realising he had lots of room and realising that the late-night liveliness of certain members of the team would get frustrating a few days in. Night one at 'The Fun House', as Colin later named it, found me angry and frustrated at lack of sleep and throwing my mobile across the room (narrowly missing Vaughan, I didn't realise he was sat there) as I'd been driving for 9 hours and couldn't get to sleep because of the partying of those crazy young actor types. I was rather happy when Steve mentioned he had 3 spare rooms and offered us a chance to stay at his, even if it was, again according to Colin 'The Mediocre House'. That's not to say morale wasn't good though; for a majority of this latest run this cast were by far the most easy to work with I've ever had, we all drank a lot, every night, yet somehow we were still out flyering every day at a reasonable hour (apart from Friday's show - Thursday evening went just a little bit too far). Also, despite the fact this cast are without question the biggest social drinkers I've ever worked with in any form of project (music, theatre), their performances every day were 100% consistent and virtually spot on, which is nothing short of amazing (apart from Friday's show - Thursday evening went just a little bit too far).

Audience-wise, at the Edinburgh Fringe I always set a target of getting at least 15 people in a day, which is still tough considering there are 2000 other shows wanting the same thing. With my second show, 'Frank's Aim Is True' (also starring Vaughan) a few years back we barely hit 5 a day. I'm very happy to report the following audience attendance figures for 2009's show (capacity was 46):

Saturday: 46
Sunday: 36
Monday: 21
Tuesday: 34
Wednesday: 29
Thursday: 24
Friday: 36

Still can't find any press reviews for the show online, even though I know there was at least one reviewer in the audience. Playing 'spot the journo' is a game I like to play, and I'm certain I spotted one of 'them' on the Tuesday. I don't care anyway if they liked it or not - because the audiences seemed to, and as much as a cliche as it sounds, that does actually mean a lot to us. Although a good review would be a bonus as the show next heads over to Burwell for a final Cambridgeshire performance, before 4 nights in London at the start of next month. A good review for the flyer might help things a little.

As always for the fringe I try to catch as many other shows as possible. Due to the fact I was fortunate to have several friends join me for the trip at various times a lot of my time was spent in bars catching up, not actually watching as many other shows as perhaps in retrospect I would have liked to have done. Still, for the record here's the shows I did catch:

Pappy's Fun Club: Somebody should snap these guys up/give them knighthoods/give them the respect they deserve. 5th time in a year I've seen them, 5th time I've come out of the show with near stomach pains for laughing so much. Incredible, incredible, incredible. The introduction of 'Dean' is inspired. 10/10
Stand By Your Van: Chuffed I got free tickets to this. Produced by Menagerie Theatre (from Cambridge), I thought I'd hate it - it was the best piece of 'theatre' I've seen at Edinburgh in years. 9/10
Comedy At The Grape: As always with a mixed-bill of stand-ups it's varied in quality. Lots of enthusiasm all round and some good stuff there, but that woman with the deep voice freaked me out a bit. 7/10
Venus And Mars: Written by my friend Julia Bolden, a decent hour of lunchtime comedy, the least demanding show I've seen in a while and that's a good thing, honestly. 7/10
Matt Kershan: Went on a whim, whilst a little drunk, as wanted to get my 'show stats' up and he was on in 10 mins next to where myself, Steve, Rob and Vicky were drinking. Venue far too hot, very uncomfortable. His act was very 'nice', never a classic but worth a punt. 6.5/10
Farenheit 451: Sorry, I didn't understand this one. I only went because my friends went along and I didn't want to be a loner. Often confusing, 'physical theatre'. 4/10
Improlympians: I usually hate improv but they were in the same venue as us and very friendly. Actually really enjoyed it. 7/10
Luke Tulson: Felt sorry for him - hardly any audience, and a lot of his act revolves around talking to the 'crowd'. Glad he still didn't pick on me though. Struck me as being a genuinely nice bloke, and a decent act. 8/10
The Bone House: Weird shit, whilst pissed. Dull, not sure how you can call this theatre. Annoyed that I was the only person in the room who hadn't worked out somebody would get shot at the end. 2/10
God: A play by Woody Allen. I know the Edinburgh Fringe is for new works, but you can't go wrong with a bit of Woody every now and then. Lovely show, well performed too - 8/10.
James Shepherd At The Piano: Likable, witty songs, some great moments, went on a bit. 7/10
A Personal War: Stunning, heart-breaking theatre, even more incredible considering it's a true story. So happy I saw this - I didn't want to but our director insisted it was worth an hour of my time. Really, really was. 9/10
Newsreview: How can you not like The Newsreview? The longest-running sketch show of the Fringe (30 years). Often hilarious and great performances. The Jade Goody stuff was a close bit to the bone, the Michael Jackson stuff predictable. Bloody funny though. 7/10
Trevor Lock: Like a turbo-charged Harry Hill, I was at times intimidated by his performance but he's a true talent, deserves to be massive. 8/10

Anyway; back to our own show, With Arms Outstretched, I'm really happy with the way it all turned out. The cast were perfect for their selected roles and embraced them, their commitment to the project was encouraging, and they helped make it my most enjoyable run up there so far. The script held out pretty well too - I think snappy, short scenes is the way forwards. Also, on a rather brilliant note, a random theatre company from Sheffield approached me half way through the run saying they loved it and want to perform the play themselves. I'm happy, and chuffed, but not getting too carried away just in case they were lying. Hopefully more on that soon.

I am actually really happy, looking back at the videos of the week that has just been, as much as the exhaustion of yesterdays drive home is still hitting me hard. I like putting on shows, I love my friends who came up to either see it or just meet up with for a drink (in no specific order; Steve - who I ended up staying with all week, Kerry Dear Old Blighty, Rob Toulson and Vicky Hoffman, Chris Reed, Pam Daniel, Paul High, Carl Fletcher, Tracy Harris, Rachel Peck - who became our head flyerer during the run, Emma (surname I've forgotten) and her husband), putting on a show is so much easier when people believe in you. I need to move on. The Edinburgh Fringe is like Christmas - I love it, but I know it can't be Christmas every day. 'With Arms Outstretched' has 5 performances to go before we archive it. So far, including the previews, 299 people have seen the show, and we've turned away at least another 10. Now, if all my plays were seen by that many people, surely someone somewhere will like my material enough to really help push me on to the next level? Even if they don't, I have big ideas that are well above my station, and I'm going to have a lot of fun over the next few months seeing if they actually work.