Well, that's been a manic few weeks, which can only be considered a really good thing as I start thinking too much if I just sit around the flat all day. Last weekend I headed over to Somerset with my lovely young lady, the stupidly talented actress Juliette Burton, for a well-deserved break away. And what on paper doesn't actually look like a break - a cycling holiday, was really what I needed. Lovely accommodation, good food, nice weather and more importantly the realisation that my body can actually cope with fairly demanding sporting activity, which is a relief as it's been years...
Last week was completely dominated by all things Brighton Fringe. Firstly the worrying dress rehearsal, followed by the surprisingly very good Cambridge warm-up date and then the run itself. The run was just a three performance type thing, over 2 days, but on the whole our show 'A Little Light Theatre' was a bit of a success. Which surprised me greatly as I still don't think the first half of the show, the under-par comedy 'Breakers' was that good - even Heather (Yeadon, one of the actresses) explained to me later on that she felt like calling me during one of the early rehearsals to check that I actually want this script to be performed because it doesn't really work. The confusing thing is though is that the audiences seemed very much to enjoy it. 3 performances in 2 days is not an easy task, especially with slightly suspect scripts provided by yours truly, but my team - my wonderful and lovely and faithful and hardworking regular team of Colin, Vaughan, Victoria, Heather, Sarah and Alan made it into a very enjoyable hour or so of theatre, I think. We had a good time whilst there too, the late night drinking games of 'I have never' and the seaside pier fun are among my most enjoyable moments of the year so far. Edinburgh will be better though - I know it will be, it's a better play for a start. But all the same I came back from Brighton late on Sunday evening and looked back on the video footage of the run (I tried in vein to make a 'tour movie') and couldn't help but be flattered by the amount of faith people put in me - the trust actors have in my work gives me a warm feeling, I just know now that Edinburgh needs to do their talents justice. The review from Broadway Baby, a theatre magazine, described the second play in our show as "incredibly entertaining" - that'll do nicely for my next flyer...
Meanwhile, Edinburgh rehearsals start next week with Pam Jenner taking charge, I've just nailed the third and final draft so we're all on schedule. Our sketch show, 'I'll Drive Tonight, Darling' which I've co-written with Alan Morgan starts rehearsals this Friday night, directed by the impressive Anita Lehmann. Sarah Ingram who directed the Brighton show wants me to resurrect my play 'The Healthy Option' from 2 years ago as she directed it originally and loved it and believes we can do more with it, 'Mega Value Mickey' - a short duologue I've bashed out goes on in Cambridge early next month and I'm now finding the time to write a full-length comedy drama play called 'A Right Fidget' (new title, courtesy of a chat I had with my work mate earlier). I know there's still the radio thing to do, and I need to chat more to the US publisher who is keen on 'The Knowledge Of Beauty' (last year's Edinburgh show), plus podcast stuff, but you know...as a writer, things are in decent shape.
And they are musically as well too. This Friday it's my final show with The Lunar Pilots and to be honest it'll be a slight relief to get it out of the way, whilst on Saturday me and Kerry play our first gig as 'Rory Bullard' - and we're very excited. We've even set up a Myspace page with some rehearsal recordings: www.myspace.com/rorybullard - Rob Toulson from Half Ton Studios is going to be recording us properly within the next few weeks, but as far as actual songs go I think we're gonna do alright, I'm keen to throw all of my musical energies into this project. I've been let down a lot before with bands (the hope, the expectation, the sudden lack of rehearsals when band mates just disappear) but I know Kerry, I've known him for years, and we trust each other. Rehearsals are frequent, the rapport is uncanny, I'd like to think we can produce a collection of songs that we'll be really proud of. I've been thinking a lot recently about why I started to not think favourably towards The Lunar Pilots, a gut feeling that I couldn't understand. Ultimately, I think it's because the band was being run as a business, always thinking commercially in mind, which I appreciate, but it's just not how I want to work any more. Working with 'Rory Bullard' has gotten me all excited again, creatively, and if something commercial does come out of that it's a bonus. Although talking completely commercially, I'm recording an harmonica-led blues album with Matt Corrall in a couple weeks time; the German blues market is there for the taking...
It's all good you know, apart from the fact I turn 28 this weekend. I intend to celebrate on Saturday night at the Edinburgh Fringe fundraising gig I've put together - we've got some brilliant bands playing including The Winter Kings, who are like just simply the best band in Cambridge...things, probably for the first time in a while, are really rather good.
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