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