It rained yesterday and I liked that a lot, this hot weather has a knack of slowing me down. Anyway, it hasn't slowed me down too much because these have been a busy few weeks, so now when I finally get a chance to a have a weekend in which I'm doing very little (apart from a friend's leaving drinks last night, reviewing a gig tonight, being a good son for Father's Day and finishing new script material for next week) I feel a little restless. I'm enjoying myself though, I think. The last few weeks have seen me play a good few gigs (gig 'reports' below, but in short I didn't really enjoy any of the Cambridge shows, but the out of town stuff has been brilliant), the Oscar Pike performances at the ADC which I still feel was a little under par on my behalf (but well received all the same, in Edinburgh we'll do alright I think), do some record label work (Tom Tilbury's excellent album, 'Skull Island' is now available on Cracking Tunes, Jon Orchard's debut is next) and lots and lots of new writing, both by myself and also with Rich Conway.
At very short notice, I've agreed to put on an evening of new material next Friday in Cambridge - my mate had the venue booked and realised he couldn't fulfil it, so instead of cancelling I excitedly agreed to take the space instead and try out some new material. Perhaps, given that my new material is so very new it's not suitable for public consumption just yet, this was a foolish move, but it's deadlines such as these that keep me working and I'm pretty happy with some of the stuff I've been coming up with recently. Next Friday we'll be trying out three new plays, well - hopefully three - just need to re-write one of them this weekend, and having spent so much time on the Oscar Pike script, re-writing, learning etc it feels nice to get some new material out there. My favourite piece is a play called 'How About You?' - yes okay, so it's a typical Paul Richards romantic comedy set at a party, but I'm really happy with the touching conclusion, ending plays has always been a struggle, but this one feels very satisfying. The other two pieces are both scripts I've had for a long time but never really pushed through, but a re-write or two later and I think they're both so outrageously different I'd like to give them a run-out. They're called 'Trying To Like Joanne' and 'Some Kind Of Family Business' by the way. Just need to confirm a couple more actors now - Izzy, Clare and Kimberly all replied really quickly and I really appreciated that, but no male actors so far, and the last thing I want is for me to be up there again...
The whole writing process still confuses me somewhat though, which considering I've written countless plays over the yeara is probably an odd statement. But I've had this idea for what could be my best ever project for ages now, it's called 'Your Magnificent Flaws', and even last night - whilst at drinks with friends, I felt the need to leave early to get home and add some more dialogue to it. But as it stands it's a pile of rubbish, which is a shame, but maybe like two of the three plays I've got going on next week in time it'll grow into something.
The next few weeks or so look particularly manic - next week I've got a radio gig with Flaming June, recording congas for Bryan Shore, recording a podcast with comedian Andy Higson and then the new material night. After that, in between intense rehearsals for plays, and with the Dowsing For Sound band/choir, there's a festival with Flaming June followed by a week-long tour of the UK with Aidy, then my other new play - 'Probably The Greatest Goal Ever Scored' gets it's first airing by WriteOn at the ADC Theatre Bar, then it's the Secret Garden Party, then we start filming our YouTube series - 'Some Plays By Paul Richards' (to be filmed by the excellent Emily Blickem), there's a massive gig with Dowsing For Sound, and then suddenly it's August, where I return to my role of Oscar Pike for the Edinburgh Fringe. In between that there's other gigs, and everything needs rehearsing, and I still need to write the musical for September's Lodestar Festival, it's titled 'Relationships, Eh?' - but at some point there needs to be more than a title. Anyway, back to trying to relax, not that I'm clearly any good at that.
Currently listening to: Bill Wells/Aidan Moffat - Everything's Getting Older, Rilo Kiley - More Adventurous, Joe Jackson - Live Music
Currently reading: Nothing at the moment as my head has too much going on already, but I'll get back to the Dawn French book at some point
Currently watching: Family Guy, Friday Night Dinner (on 40D), and underrated sitcom, Coupling, whilst on my exercise bike
Currently eating: Junk food, I need to get my diet in shape soon
Currently missing: The football season
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