So...that was 2012 then

Yep, it's that time of the year again. The foot is well and truly off the gas, the many items on my to-do list are ticked off, it's nearly time to pack my bags and badly wrapped presents and head home for Christmas. This will be my last blog post of the year (I do have one gig left - next Friday at the Black Bull in Godmanchester with Trevor but I won't write it up - I can tell you now what I'll more than likely be saying about it...'such a lovely gig, great fun to be in a band with Alister Bunclark again' etc etc), so as per tradition it's time to have a bit of a look back at what I've done over the last 12 months. Because yes, clearly it's all about me. But hopefully this does serve as some kind of justification for not seeing friends as often as I should do, for my excessive Red Bull drinking and the fact that I always look just a bit tired. I have no idea how long this post will be, but I imagine it will be a bit rambly, and very self-indulgent. Sorry about that. Anyway, 2012 - here's what I went and did...

I entered the year with a renewed sense of ambition; looking back to my first post of 2012 in January I had shorter, tidier hair and vowed to eat less pizza. I didn't stick to either of those things as the year progressed, in fact - I've eaten like a horse (a horse who likes pizza, bacon and microwave beefburgers) and my hair is a shambles, but it's always natural to start a new set of 12 months with unachievable goals. But it was a good launch into the year - I woke up on New Years' Day around a friends house to a text message saying that the FLAMING JUNE release I'd played congas on had won an award - the FATEA award for our EP, 'Nerves Of Steel.' Flaming June have played a big part in my year, Louise has changed the line-up a bit, there's been some cracking gigs, and just recently I nailed my parts for the forthcoming release which is out next year. Also in January, THE BRITISH IBM were born - a lovely bit of re-branding there, it's the band I'm in with Aidy and Dave, and alongside the name change we started rehearsing new material. At the end of the month, the three of us started recording sessions at Half Ton Studios, and our self-titled album was eventually released in July. It remains my favourite album I've been on, and the singles (especially Animal) had brilliant promo videos too - it's difficult sometimes to big-up projects you're a part of because we're all modest and all that, but I'm so proud to be on this one. Also in January I played my first gigs of the year with TREVOR JONES and also a show with JON ORCHARD. I spent a lot of February working on new material, including a 6-episode YouTube sitcom called, 'The Oscar Pike Diaries' which we never actually got around to making but I'll use this material somewhere along the line next year, played a wonderfully surreal London gig with Trevor (and band) and meetings also started with IZZY REES/NICOLSON (she uses her maiden name for acting stuff) and GRACE WILLIAMS about Edinburgh plans. I didn't quite realise at the time just how much I'd be working with Izzy on stuff this year, the poor girl must be sick of the sight of me. More gigs with Trevor in March, and it was a month where things started to get proper busy, where all the plans started to take shape. We hosted two rather fun fringe fundraisers; at the Cornerhouse in Cambridge we put on a gig called '100 Songs In 5 Hours' - the plan was to simply try and have 100 songs performed before closing time, no reason for this apart from the fact it just made it more of an interesting gig. It was a great night full of my favourite bands, 84 songs were played in total. Our second fundraiser was a newly written murder mystery which I'd bashed out in double quick time, MY UNFUNNY VALENTINE: DEATH OF A COMEDIENNE - it starred Izzy, Grace, Alan Stewart, Vaughan Allanson and myself, plus we had live music too. It was a nice show, with good food at The Missing Sock, not a rousing success, but nice enough. The same weekend as both fundraisers I played the part of Darren in a short film called MR ABERNATHY - it's a quirky and highly entertaining little film by CHRISTOPHER DANE and really nicely produced. Also in March I went on my good friend Marcus' stag-do where it was clear I am useless at shooting things, and played my first gig of the year with EUREKA STOCKADE. The month ended with my play, PROBABLY THE GREATEST GOAL EVER SCORED running at The Horse in Waterloo for 2 nights, that team did a wonderful job. April started with the news that 'Greatest Goal...' had been chosen to be performed for a further six nights at The Horse which made me happy - this time as part of the APRIL SHOWERS festival; it was a joy to watch, I just kept on going to see it. Played my first gigs of the year with The British IBM - in Stockton as part of the Stockton Calling Festival, and also played live with Flaming June and Trevor Jones. Both EDINBURGH FRINGE shows were confirmed and MICHELLE GOLDER was signed up to direct 'Greatest Goal...', it was a big step deciding to take two shows up there - considering how tough it is to even take one, but it was a challenge that excited me greatly, and at incredibly short notice I got asked to drum for THE WEDDING SINGER - THE MUSICAL at The Mumford Theatre in Cambridge. I'd never drummed in a musical before, and although preparations were rushed and stressed, it worked really well and I was really glad to be part of a show of that scale. I turned 31 in May, which panicked me a bit, finally nailed the scripts for the Edinburgh shows, played some more gigs with The British IBM, recorded with Trevor Jones and started rehearsals with the complex and challenging (in a completely positive way) beast that is DOWSING FOR SOUND. June was just crazy. Some cracking gigs with The British IBM (including a really nice show at Proud Camden in London), Trevor Jones (including a BBC session), Flaming June and Eureka Stockade, and the biggie - the Dowsing For Sound show at The Corn Exchange in Cambridge. It was an occasionally magical, exhausting, thrilling, emotionally demanding gig unlike any of us have ever experienced before (my thoughts in full are here: http://theboyrichards.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/gig-report-dowsing-for-sound-corn.html), still not entirely sure what to make of it all but there is nothing like Dowsing For Sound and I wouldn't swap it for the world. A couple weeks later we played a less stressful set at the Ickworth Race For Life festival - I also played with two other bands and did the relay dressed as Santa, like you do. On top of all of that, my really old play CRACKERJOKE WRITER was performed at The Welwyn Drama Festival. July was soon among us and so were the fringe previews, I returned to my role as Oscar Pike for a second year running with a new show titled THERE'S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WRONG WITH OSCAR PIKE and this was on a double bill with our own production of 'Greatest Goal...' - the show opened in Bristol, before a couple nights in Cambridge and a show in London. Rough around the edges, but with plenty of life, it was a project that we had to push through with not as many rehearsals as we wanted but seemed to go down well everywhere, and this little team of myself, Izzy, Grace, Michelle and our soundman Alan worked really well to bring it all to life. In between the previews, I gigged with Trevor Jones and Eureka Stockade, and I also drummed for another musical - this one a show simply called THE SOUND OF MUSICALS which ran for four nights at the stunning New Wolsey Theatre in Ipswich. A week later, I was off on tour with the British IBM to promote the release of the album - our first electric tour (the one last year was acoustic), this was perhaps more testing than the last one but we came out of it with some good memories - we played in Middlesborough, Leeds, Boston, Leicester, Manchester, Warrington and Birmingham. If you're in a band you really should be on the road, yeah? I'm hungry to do it all again. In August the British IBM played a BBC radio session and I also gigged with Flaming June and before we knew it the Edinburgh Fringe was upon us. With both 'Greatest Goal...' and 'Oscar Pike...' up there, it was an exhausting time - of course we made mistakes, our marketing wasn't great, audiences weren't exactly packed, it was without question the most difficult fringe I have ever done...but I'm still fond of these shows, proud of what we did up there, it is still the most magical place in the world and within weeks of returning Izzy and I met up and formed Fat Fox Productions with next year's Edinburgh very much one of our priorities. A week after the fringe it was LODESTAR FESTIVAL time where I'm the Director Of Theatre. Lodestar is always one of the highlights of the year and I'm lucky to be able to book some fantastic comedy/theatre for them, Helen Arney in particular was brilliant this year. Alongside all of the fun, we did 'Oscar Pike...' in front of a healthy audience - it felt like it was the best performance of Oscar, like we had finally done it justice, and a lovely way to say goodbye to this character. It was probably the first time where I felt like an 'actor', and I say that in the loosest sense - because as we all know all I do is play myself anyway, but I just got a feeling it was starting to work, that I was starting to get the hang of it. Also at Lodestar, I wrote a script for Bristol-based blues band, THE OUTLINES, and the result was an alternative musical called YOU DON'T MISS YOUR WATER which was performed on the Sunday of the festival. Another project which perhaps was written and put together a bit too quickly for comfort, but worked out pretty well I'd say. Later that month I started recording with Alister, Steve Calder and Clare Calder for a project that would eventually emerge in time for Christmas, as well as recording my parts for the new Flaming June release, and I also played live with Trevor and The British IBM. October was very gig-heavy, playing all over the country with the British IBM, Flaming June, Trevor Jones and a very cold outdoor show with Dowsing For Sound, alongside working on new script material, and the launch of our regular Fat Fox Productions new material evening, THE FOX DEN in Cambridge. I also lost my wallet and went slightly mad for a week as a result, but wrote a play I'm really proud of. In November I toured that play ('The Wallet') with another new piece, 'Man V Ants' with my first ever solo-ish show, SOME PLAYS BY PAUL RICHARDS. It was a scary step, I know I'd had quite a lot of stage time already but still - me on stage chatting for an hour really could go either way, just so much to learn if anything else. It was a step that was perhaps not on my to-do list, and the circumstances as to why I chose to do it probably aren't suitable for this blog, but - thanks to some brilliant direction from Izzy and some lovely acting from CLAUDIA McKENZIE who made her acting debut for the tour as my landlady, Pauline, it was eye-opening and I thoroughly enjoyed doing it, more than I thought I would - I just seem to get an odd pleasure out of being completely out of my depth. The show was performed in Norwich, Brighton, Wales, Bristol and Gamlingay, I reckon we'll do it all again soon. Also in November I found a little time to write the Christmas show, we put on another new material night, played the last British IBM gig of the year in Birmingham (this followed a really fantastic filmed session in Nottingham) and there were also live shows with Flaming June - the radio gig at The Maltings in Farnham was particularly enjoyable, plus a recording session with THE PRISONER OF MARS. And so here we are...December. A frenetic end to the year, with recording sessions with Trevor Jones resulting in our festive single, A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE, finishing off the audio bits with Izzy for our story/music Christmas album, TINSEL FACE (the music bits were the tunes I recorded with Ali, Steve and Clare all those months back) which is now available as a download, gigs with Trevor and Flaming June, and - as per tradition, we put on a nice and childish Christmas show, this one was called MARTHA AND MARVIN'S REALLY QUITE EXCITING CHRISTMAS ADVENTURE and ran for four nights.

It's not been a bad year, you know, can't really complain. As always there was things I wanted to do but simply ran of time (releasing my novel - which is still being proofread so will be out finally early next year, recording the radio sitcom, Technically Single etc) but I've probably done enough to warrant a few days off. Two tours, one as a drummer, one as an actor/writer, various festivals in various places, and worked with/met some really amazing people, you know who you are. So, some stats:

This year I have played 71 gigs with 7 different bands
I've drummed on 4 albums, 3 EPs and 4 singles
I've written 11 plays, and my work has been performed publicly 56 times


For every gig and show there's an anecdote, countless hours spent on the road and in late night service stations, the occasional crisis, the more than occasional glimmer that good things are really starting to happen. They are - and I'm quite excited about hitting the ground running for 2013. Lots of friends have supported me this year, and that's not just turning up to the shows - it's listening to me ramble on in the pub about ideas, and plans, successes and failures. A lot. Now look...I know it's been said, many times, many ways, but Merry Christmas to you. See you next year, I've got a feeling it will be a bit of a busy one x

Martha And Marvin's Really Quite Exciting Christmas Adventure

The Christmas show ran for four nights last week, after a reasonably intensive rehearsal period and you could argue and even more intense writing period before that. A day after it finished, back in the office, a friend accused me of 'lacking in the festive spirit' as I sat wearing a Santa hat but refusing to even offer a glimmer of cheeriness. I'm sure my lack of festivity was relating to the show - but not because the show can't be considered anything but a complete success - I really don't have any complaints at all - but because I've been doing the whole Christmas thing since early November and if anything I probably hit my peak too soon. Bugger. Because Christmas Day is on Tuesday - somehow I need to get that feeling back, and quick.

But back to the show. We ran for four nights, and when talking previously about this production my fear was that it was all going to be a bit too easy, a bit too safe. Maybe that's because subconsciously I felt the script may very much have been all of those things, but the production itself was far from an easy ride. Due to everyone elses commitments rehearsals were barely featuring a full team, in fact - on the Sunday, the day of the opening, when we had a full 6 hours worth of rehearsals booked in before the first performance, we'd only rehearsed twice as a full cast beforehand. The rehearsals were beautifully manic, messy but with so much energy, lines were dropped and remembered all over the place but the enthusiasm was always going to make up for it, and although it did look like we were cutting it fine there was always the sense that we would be okay, in the end, somehow. And we were, of course. Four nights; really good turnouts throughout (especially for the first and last shows), the first performance was slightly too messy for my liking, the middle two were perhaps too tight and if anything lacked the nervous excitement, the final one was as close as it was ever going to be despite a slow-ish first 10 minutes or so. The guest bands were all equally outstanding and I'm indebted to them for going along with it all because, you know, this isn't an easy gig - but they 'got it', and were each rewarded with healthy applause from our little crowd. Izzy, Steve, Hind, Paul and Elisa, plus Alan our legendary soundman, all worked incredibly hard to make their characters as likable as possible, we've all worked together before, we know how this works, and it does, very nicely indeed. Not wishing to single out praise or anything, but I did realise over the last week or so how fun Hind Shubber is to be in a show with, and not entirely sure why that was the first time in ages we've worked together because there's a really nice understanding there. Audience-wise I feel very lucky to have so many friends able to make it - from my long-term regulars Marcus, Jack, Andy, the Gamlingay lot, Vicky, Rachel, Rob to people who have only started seeing my work this year - Liz, Cathy, Rohan, Cara etc, lots of people, happy Paul.

My only reservations coming out of this run were the safety of the script. My close friend Jack was (typically) brutally honest when he said that - whilst he laughed throughout the show and found it very entertaining, it was the third Paul Richards Christmas production he's been to and he's starting to see the formula. He's right - there's the family element to it, the (intentional) mass of cheap jokes, the slightly dodgy Santa, the crisis, the happy ending, the big singalong. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this at all - it's all brand new material, a lot of work has gone into it, and each year they are better because each year I am a better writer. More jokes, more twists. And people enjoy it - which is probably the most important thing. As this year progressed I've started to experiment more as a writer, the tour show in particular demonstrated a darker side - but the Christmas show was back to what I know will please people. It pleases me too, to a certain extent, but I'm still not entirely comfortable with it. Or maybe, just maybe I'm no longer as festive as I used to be hence why I'm not enjoying it? That's a horrible thought, I'm off to see some friends and act childish, that normally helps.

My favourite tunes and albums of 2012

It's that time of the year again, where compilations and lists are made, and everyone over-analyses the year which is just about to pass. I'll be doing that about my own year shortly, as soon as this Christmas show is out of the way (first performance last night was a cracker though - and to be honest, I didn't expect it to be). As always, I've made myself a little playlist/compilation type thing of my top songs of the year, a quick reminder that it's been a good year with some outstanding stuff being released. I managed to fit 17 songs on there, no excuses for having two David Ford tracks - the man is a genius. Thought I'd might as well share it with you, just because I'm trying to distract myself from doing something else all the more productive. So here you go, my favourite tuneage of 2012:

My favourite songs of 2012 in no particular order:
BRENDAN BENSON: Bad For me
ALPHABET BACKWARDS: Sunday Best
MADNESS: My Girl 2
DAVID FORD: What's Not To Love
GUILLEMOTS: Up On The Ride
JOE JACKSON: I'm Beginning To See The Light/Take The 'A' Train/Cotton Tail
ANDY BURROWS: Maybe You
THE WINTER KINGS: The Great Pretender
GLEN HANSARD: Bird Of Sorrow
DAVID FORD: Every Time
BEN FOLDS FIVE: Do It Anyway
JACQUI & GEOFF: Uh Oh
RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: Perfect Man
DEXY'S: Nowhere Is Home
GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR: Arlington's Busy
HUE & CRY: Carlos Takes A Fall
CRYBABY: I Cherish The Heartbreak More Than The Love That I Lost

As you can see, a lot of older artists on there, and a distinct lack of brand new acts with the exception of Crybaby and Alphabet Backwards - that probably has something to do with where I'm looking for new music these days, or more to the point - where I'm not looking. Something that perhaps needs to be rectified for next year, but still - the above does make for pretty awesome listening all the same.

Top albums of the year? Oh go on then, if you insist...

My top 5 albums of 2012, in order:
1. CRYBABY: Crybaby
2. DEXY'S: One Day I'm Going To Soar
3. JOE JACKSON: The Duke
4. BEN FOLDS FIVE: The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind
5. GRAHAM PARKER & THE RUMOUR: Three Chords Good

So again, very much continuing the theme of more established artists returning, rather than new acts emerging - with the exception of Crybaby. Their/his self-titled debut album is an absolute gem; dark, thoughtful, intense but oddly uplifting at the same time - I've had it for most of the year but keep coming back to it. Dexy's comeback album was a surprise joy - a complex and sometimes challenging record that I adore, Joe Jackson's Duke Ellington tribute album, The Duke, was another one I was uncertain about but have been strangely addicted to (the drumming in particular is superb), whilst reforming acts Ben Folds Five and Graham Parker & The Rumour have both produced top quality releases that have been on my car stereo repeatedly.

Anyway, that's my thoughts...

Tinsel Face

Ages and ages ago I had the idea of recording a storytelling Christmas album. The reasons behind this were fairly simple; 1) because we'd just formed Fat Fox Productions and needed a more of an online presence so an audio recording to be released on Bandcamp can't do any harm at all and 2) because Christmas is awesome and I thoroughly enjoy working on festive material. I started writing bits of it in a hotel in Warrington, near Manchester, whilst on tour with the British IBM. Excited by the brief notes I had made, it was clear that it also needed music - so in October I assembled some of my finest musician friends - Alister Bunclark, Clare Calder and Steve Calder (plus myself on percussion things, of course) to record funky versions of classic, and most importantly - copyright-free Christmas music. With double bass, brass, strings, piano and percussion we spent a day at Steve and Clare's house recording with some equipment borrowed from my good friend Paul Malpas and after several long hours we had nine nicely recorded tracks with some pretty diverse arrangements, Alister then mixed them and got them back to me in good time.

I then buggered off on tour with the solo-ish show with Claudia for a bit, and then had to write the Christmas stage show, which opens tomorrow...somehow, Tinsel Face - the project which we started so early on, got nudged aside and it was in danger of not happening in time for this Christmas, which was a shame given the work of the musicians involved and also the fabulous artwork of Liz Bone who spent weeks on making us an image that matched my festive desires. But obviously - as you know - it is possible to make time for something if you really want it to happen. Little things had to be changed - for example I originally wanted the story to be told by two voices, Izzy Rees and Alan Hay, but Alan then got cast in a big production of Oliver, and there just wasn't anybody else I felt would be suitable, so when I finally got around to writing the rest of the short story it was written purely for Izzy's voice. The story itself was written over two late evenings before being edited, and last weekend Izzy recorded all 9 chapters of it, using my iPhone, in a small hut at the end of her garden. She was really on form, good job too - because time-wise I left this one awfully late, and did most of it in one take (looking back on the recordings now, only two of the nine chapters were second takes).

This evening I have spent pretty much the whole night cleaning up the recordings, fitting the music in around it, and seeing if it all gels together. It really, really does...I know I'm perhaps not thinking straight because I'm hungover to buggery after last night's Christmas party (this was always intended to be my night of 'rest', but as you probably know - I get anxious when in comes to resting time), but it just feels so nice. It's twee, it's gentle, it's oddly poignant at times - but it goes somewhere, it tells a proper story, and the musical interludes between the chapters keep it lively, almost like an audio cabaret. And it doesn't outstay it's welcome either - not being arrogant or anything, but it feels like it's a really nice 46 minute listen. I think perhaps the fact we didn't use proper studios to record, and the fact that things were left slightly late, somehow meant we put more effort in, I reckon I've put more hours into this than I have the actual Christmas stage show. It feels like a very homely project.

As I write this it's currently uploading to Bandcamp, the chances are by the time you read this it'll be live - so here is the link: fatfoxproductions.bandcamp.com - we're selling the whole album for a measly £2, or if you're coming to one of the four performances of our Christmas show we'll give you a free download code. Quite sad that this was my last project of 2012, a year of lots of projects, but it feels like a satisfying one to end on.

Gig report: Trevor Jones @ The Royal Oak, St Ives

Band: Trevor Jones (duo)
Venue: The Royal Oak, St Ives
Date: 09/12/12
Audience: Small, friendly
Set: Lots and lots of songs
Notes: Sometimes all it takes is a quick cover of 'Leaving On A Jet Plane' to win over an audience, and that's all it took on Sunday. After a very quiet start, it felt like that rendition seemed to break the ice a little with the small gathering in the corner, and the gig was further enhanced by an unplanned onstage jam with local harmonica legend Vic. A quiet gig, largely due to the fact that our set clashed with the final of The X-Factor, but we must have been enjoying ourselves as we played for 2 and a half hours without really paying much attention to the time. The duo thing works a treat in situations like this because it allows for a certain amount of improvisation. However, in last night's rehearsal I was reminded as to why I like the full band thing too, as we had our first session with the legendary Alister Bunclark (a regular collaborator of mine and one of my best friends) on piano, alongside Sammy on guitar and Tony on bass - the five of us were creating a very mighty sound indeed.

A very good Sunday

I enjoyed yesterday. As the year edges to a close I have naturally become a little reflective about where I am, where I want to be, what I've done, what I've forgotten to do this year, and plotting excitedly for 2013. It's going to be a big year for me; my ambitions are higher than ever, there's a kind of make or break feel at the moment. More on that another day, because this year isn't over yet and anything can happen in the next few weeks...well, within reason. But part of my thought process has been the drummer v writer struggle - what actually am I? Is it possible to do both? Where should my priorities fall when push comes to shove? Well, Sunday didn't help at all, but I guess that speaks volumes really about how lucky I am to have these many varied opportunities present themselves to me - in that drummer v writer struggle I know completely what I am - both. Of course.

Up early-ish on Sunday morning (but was still fashionably late) to record percussion for Trevor Jones' festive single. This was all a bit last minute - on Tuesday at the full band rehearsal, Trev - high on morphine due to back pain, played us a Christmas song he'd written a while back. We then carried on rehearsing the usual set ahead of a forthcoming show, but the song stuck in my head so I emailed him the next day suggesting we record it quickly, acoustically, and just get it out there. Trev discussed it with his management and they agreed, and it was also quickly noted that there was already a good solo recording of it knocking about already, so yesterday we just needed to add the extras, mix and master. It's called, 'A Very Merry Christmas Everyone' and it's a jolly little three minutes, on the folky side of things but beautifully well crafted and it was easy enough to lay percussion on this. We spent a couple hours getting that right, and then it was mixed and mastered before I received it via email later in the afternoon. It was set-up for release today and should be out in a couple days time...now we just need to let people know about it...

 
I went for lunch around my parents house afterwards as they are conveniently close to Farm Studios and my Dad seemed sceptical about how quickly this all came together. I then played him the track and he pointed out that Trevor is a "clever one" and that's pretty much the answer as to how this has worked out so well. It's a fantastic tune - but the production of it all and the way it's presented is equally as impressive and it's a privilege to be working with somebody who is not only this talented but equally somebody who is as keen as I am to get things done.

After lunch and then dinner with my parents (my mum likes to 'feed me up' - even if that means two meals in three hours) I headed back into Cambridge where my play, Toxic Tornado was being performed by WriteOn at the ADC Theatre bar as part of their Naked Stage season. Toxic Tornado has been knocking around for a while, only once previously given a public airing in a very ramshackle new material session last November. Heavily re-written, I sent this one onto WriteOn for consideration and they did me proud. Really proud. I know a lot of the WriteOn team, and they made a clear point of having a full cast/director work on my piece who I've never met before. I was slightly worried, I may have slipped into something of a comfort zone recently when it comes to casting but you know how it is - I know who 'gets' my material, I don't see the problem with having a regular pool of actors. But last night was just a wonderful thing; my play was the last on of four, the other three plays were excellent - and I haven't felt this proud in a long time about something I've written...yet it wasn't necessarily a script that on paper I was that fussed about. Christina the director - amazingly making her debut - added a new lease of life to it all, and the cast had clearly worked their backsides off because the every intricacy was nailed, remarkable considering the short rehearsal period. Every now and then at WriteOn you spot an actor who you just know you must work with - a couple years ago I noticed Izzy in a play and liked her comic timing (although I didn't actually get working with her until I started chatting to her at a Dowsing For Sound event months later), last year it was Grace who we ended up doing Edinburgh with this year. But last night I just sat there and felt that about all four of them; Amelia, Eifon, Emma, Mark - so much talent, enthusiasm, dedication - and understanding of the piece, every beat was nailed. And most importantly they're all lovely people too, a joy to chat to afterwards, there's a mutual admiration and a knowing that our paths will cross again very soon. The play itself went down a storm, the audience were a happy bunch, I drove home feeling like a very good playwright. And as much as I do a lot, and perhaps sometimes highlight successes on here, I often don't feel like that.

It feels like I'm living a double life at the moment - like many an aspiring creative person does; the routine 9-5 in the day, the artistic thrills, ups and downs of evenings and weekends. It does feel like the contrast is bigger than ever though, and not in a good way. 2013; I know it's four weeks away yet, but it's really time to push things. I had a very good Sunday, yesterday, I know this can be done.

Gig report: Flaming June @ The Mill Road Winter Fair, Cambridge

Band: Flaming June
Venue: The Mill Road Winter Fair, Cambridge (Cambridge 105 live broadcast)
Date: 01/12/12
Audience: A scattering of cold people, coming and going
Set: Stop The Ride, Rumplestiltskin, New Song, Nerves Of Steel, Little Love In A Cruel World, New Song, Psycho, Wednesdays And Weekends
Notes: That was a cold one. The Mill Road Winter Fair in Cambridge is a joyous thing because the full vibrancy of the city we live in is on full display - in a really Christmassy kind of way. In fact, I'll go as far as to say that when it's the Mill Road Winter Fair it's officially the start of Christmas, which can only be a good thing. It was freezing cold out there today, not my preferred conga playing conditions, but very well spirited and our set (today as a duo) was being broadcast live on local station, Cambridge 105. It's very rare for a radio session to be more than a couple songs, but we had a half an hour set today and played in the bitter conditions in a little tent right next to the main road. Played well I think - Louise did especially, I never fully warmed up but was in time so people didn't notice anything particularly wrong. Perhaps the thing I like most about Flaming June is the fact Louise really keeps me on my toes; she put two songs into the set today that I'd never even heard before, slightly daunting for a radio broadcast but it keeps things exciting and she's certainly prolific. As our stage was in between a main road and a path we had a lot of passers by, many of whom stayed for a couple songs before seeing what else is on - that's to be expected with so much happening at the same time. And as always for these things it's nice to bump into briefly people you know but didn't expect to see - Shaun 'Comfy Badger' Esgate, Eva from Dowsing For Sound, Jacqui from Jacqui & Geoff, Liz's mate Daphne (who came to the new material night last night and also the Norwich performance of the 'Some Plays...' tour), my parents' next door neighbour, and at least three people who I vaguely recognised who wanted to chat to me afterwards about things we blatantly have in common if only I could remember who they actually are. Full credit to Izzy, Jack and Hodge who stayed for the whole set in the ridiculous weather, their support entirely appreciated. A very different gig, but good fun all the same.

New material night - November

Last night we put on the second of our regular Fat Fox Productions new material sessions - feels like a while since the last one but it's only been a month or so. In that month I've toured the solo-ish show with Claudia and then written the Christmas show, which is now in it's second week of rehearsals. Meanwhile, my fellow Fat Fox-er Izzy has been to India, so as you can imagine this wasn't the most prepared show we've ever put on. Add the fact that we lost a comedian (due to lack of actual new material) and guest musician (due to the fact he's done his back in and was high on morphine) and you could be forgiven to assume this wasn't going to be a particularly strong night. But strangely enough, it was - material wise we staged two festive monologues I've written, 'The Sleigh' and 'The Date With Santa' for the first time, and sandwiched in between them was a play I wrote entirely on Wednesday evening, 'Love & Legalities.' Izzy worked hard last night - she was on stage for pretty much all of it, as well as hosting, but she kept the audience interested throughout. 'Love & Legalities,' also featured myself as (wait for it...) an awkward weirdo, but it worked a treat - really happy with this piece actually, especially as it was written so quickly, I'll give it a re-write, un-Christmas it a bit and try and do more with it next year I think - there's potential for that little love(ish) story to grow. It wasn't supposed to be a Christmas-themed show last night but I'm so wrapped up in festivity that it was what we came up with, and considering it was the last day of November the audience seemed up for it too. The audience looked like being 3 people at first; Liz and Julia from work, plus Julia's mate. But, mostly thanks to Liz plugging the show (she seems really enthusiastically into our new material concept, which is lovely) loads of her mates turned up, as did a couple of regulars, and we had a good 15 people in which felt worthwhile. Socialised with pretty much everyone who came to show afterwards too and it was just a lovely little evening.

These new material nights are great for me as a writer, simply because it forces to me to write lots of new stuff, and quickly too - and we've established that I work best under ridiculous deadlines. And Izzy is perfect for these sessions too because she's such a good actress and will act any script you throw at her, I guess all in all this understanding between writer/actress is what makes Fat Fox Productions work so nicely; 2013 is going to be brilliant.