Christmas tour notes, pre-Dowsing thoughts

A couple weeks ago we set off on our UK tour for my new show, Some Christmas Plays By Paul Richards. The title of course is very similar to that of my last tour show (which ended up at the fringe), although with the word 'Christmas' added in, obviously. This was all new material though, written specifically for the tour, although there were one or two similarities - the main one being the format, which I really enjoy - three plays in an hour, ticked off on a board when each one is done. The audience know where we are in the show...and so do I. Instant theatre, relaxed, chatty, a bit messy. I've come to realise that my shows will never be slick, they'll never be polished, but they tell a story, they entertain, they've got life to them, and this show was full of that because it's Christmas which is the best time of the year. And with each show I'm getting better at being relaxed and chatty, I've started to realise that audiences are generally nice people - they've paid a fiver to watch you, the chances are they want to like it. The other similarity to the previous tour show of course is that it was a show that featured just myself, as myself, and Hind Shubber playing all the other roles. We purposely decided against having a director for this show, a brave move that in another project would have cost us but we had a vision and working method for this one that wasn't really open to a third person. Rehearsals were good, the material seemed to really hold up - two longer plays with both of us, with a shorter one in the middle which is me solo, lashings of Christmas tunes, tour consisting of a few venues we've done before and a few new ones.

The night before our official opening night we previewed it at my mate Phill's house. Phill is a good friend and cracking host (I performed/recorded one of my lounge plays around his earlier this year), he had a good crowd in as always and the show itself was...nervy. Some bits clearly didn't work; the pre-recorded dialogue which was played whilst I was getting into costumes in between plays was too long and killed the momentum of the show, Hind's shoes were slowing down her costume changes, and most worryingly of all...my card trick actually worked. That wasn't in the script. The joke was that I can't do magic, but I accidentally did and, whilst it may have looked impressive, I was thrown by this completely. The next day, with issues solved, we opened properly at the lovely Bay Tree Café in Bury St Edmunds. I really like The Bay Tree - it's the third time I've performed there this year and it's just the perfect space for us, run by lovely people who promote the shows really well, we have a returning audience of people who like what we do and it was a nice start to the run. Performance wasn't quite up to top gear and audiences, even subconsciously, can sense that, but the praise and kind comments afterwards suggested that they had enjoyed it. The next day we drove down to Devon to return to The Art Café in Kingsbridge. I have family history in Kingsbridge and always have fond memories of visiting my grandfather down there back in the day (indeed we even drove passed what used to be his house), we were staying in the middle of nowhere and the trip from hotel to venue found us taking in some of the 'traditional' tricky roads which are always a bit of a mission. Parking was also an issue as there was some kind of event (Christmas lights being switched on I think) taking place that night, but Georgie and her team at the venue made a great effort to make us feel as welcome as possible. In front of a small audience the show was tighter and people seemed to enjoy it - I still found myself picking at bits of the script which didn't work but it was solid enough, if unspectacular.

Performance number four found us up in Liverpool to perform at Café D'Art. A new venue for us, and quite a trek up the country in blustery conditions (we saw some pretty terrible accidents along the way, some of them so bad it was difficult to be believe they were real), it was a strange night in the sense that it looked like it was going to be quiet but ended up being an absolute cracker - very busy, audiences crammed in, a real sense of vibrancy in the air. At times the audience treated it more like a panto...they really took sides with my character (as a result Hind got a bit of stick) but it's nice they cared so much and we could just feel it on stage - this was starting to work. Cracking evening, can't wait to go back there again. That show was the start of our few days up north, the rare bit of the tour which demonstrated a little logic in the planning. Next up was a return to Wilf's Café in Kendal, where we had first performed back in May. So nice to see some returning faces, people who like what we do, it's obviously what we're all striving for so it's nice that it actually happens sometimes. Due to demand we were booked to perform twice at the venue, with a break for some carol singers in the evening. A remarkably festive performance space, Charlotte at the café promotes the shows really well so ticket sales for both shows were strong. It's the first time we've performed this one twice in one night, and it only occurred to me during the second performance just how exhausting that is - it's a fast show, with costume changes and excessive enthusiasm, my energy levels perhaps waned a bit during the latter stages of the second showing but the audiences, as they were the last time we performed there, were quietly into it. They're very much a theatre audience, so the shows themselves were quiet but with strong applause at the end, we came away happy.

The Saturday found us in Preston; I enjoyed their fringe festival earlier this year and they booked us on the scale of our show back then. This time we were at the Korova Arts Centre. A new space, I just wished Cambridge had somewhere like this - dedicated studio theatre space upstairs, live music downstairs (on the night we were there it was a jazz duo, a day later it was Tom Hingley from Inspiral Carpets). Perfect performance space, the kind of space where you don't have to raise your voice to make an impact. We always knew ticket sales were a struggle for this one - can't be helped, Christmas is a time when everyone is busy and I'm not exactly a household name in the area. We did the show to 2 people - but they were both really nice, one of them was Tarquin who hosted our show in his garden at the Preston Fringe and it was great to catch up with him again, the other was a girl called Alice who walked in by mistake but laughed throughout and we enjoyed her company so much we ended up having a few drinks and grabbing a takeaway with her after the show. Surreal night, but performance-wise probably the best we've done it - even the song at the end, which was always quite bad, ticked the relevant comedy boxes. Hungover from the Preston fun (despite an audience of two I'd happily go back there with the new show, indeed it's already been discussed with Sam - their brilliant manager), the next day we made the journey down to Cranford, near Kettering. Another somewhat unconventional performance space, The Old Forge is a delightful café in a very quiet village. Another day of two performances in quick succession, I really felt like we hit top form in the first performance, it was the clear sign of a confident production, the intentional messy nature of this show received warmly by the locals. The second performance still worked, albeit with a slightly lower energy, the fact that the audience were so intimidatingly close to us didn't cause any problems because every single person in that room was so very nice. It also felt good because it was relatively close to home, so we could actually sleep in our own beds that night - being away is nice, but sometimes you need the familiarity. The next night we performed twice in Cambridge - I won't go on about it again because I've written a separate post about it here, it was nice enough - the performances continued to get more boisterous (cocky, even) and those who were there loved it, but that's the end of my Cambridge performances for a very long while.

After a three day break (in which I had a chance to fulfil some drumming/filming commitments), we hit the road again and back down the other end of the country to Bristol. I can't deny this was a tough journey, my back tyre was in a bad way and as a result I was in danger of losing control of the car on the M4, pumping air into it didn't seem to help the situation so it had to be changed. In a more dramatic light I'd say we're lucky to be alive, but then again - why say that? Nothing actually happened, the situation was resolved, it was a bit scary but we arrived at the venue in good time all the time. The Birdcage is a wonderful space - it has Costello posters on the wall, it's relaxed without being for hippies, it's really well run. At first it looked like the audience would just be Matt, one of my best friends who we were also staying with that night, but a few more came in and we did the show to 10 people or so - it was enough to make it feel like it was working, and it was great to see Izzy again too as she's somebody I'm used to seeing a lot but just don't. The performance was a bit slack for 10 minutes then we hit good pace, not a bad show at all. I'm back at the Birdcage next year as a drummer, playing for Fred's House as part of our album tour, I look forward to it very much. The final date of our festive tour found us in Halesworth. You have to drive through about seven villages to find Halesworth, including a farm track, but it's worth it when you get there - a small village (although I think somebody called it a town), our show there was a sellout and Polly who ran Tilly's with her mother is a cracking host - enthusiastic, business minded, all the things you need. The performance itself (filmed by Nadia) was tight and solid, it reminded me of the Kendal performances where the audience are very respectful, treating it like 'proper' theatre but it was a strong end to the tour. It was a tour that took in 1,600 miles, I can't deny there were points where Hind and myself needed space from each other but that's part of what touring is about. It felt like a really strong show by the end, something I was proud of (was less proud of it at the start of the run, though), I'm not the easiest to work with; I have a very clear vision and I'm not the best at delegating, so Hind deserves a medal or something.

Also on this tour, for the first time, I actually had merchandise to sell. A recording of, 'Short Stories For Lanky People' on CD - a show I'd recorded at CB2 in Cambridge a week before the run. I actually think this is the best thing I've done - better than the tour show itself, it's surprised me how well this concept works. It's a solo piece (well, collection of solo pieces), and this release is a pretty clear indication of where I'm heading in 2014. I'll be touring a new solo show in the first few months of the year, I'm happy with the way it's shaping up - it's called, 'Getting Lost In My Home Town' and it covers pretty much everything that's bugging me at the moment, which feels like a lot of things. I won't be doing this show in Cambridge, for lots of reasons.

Yet for a man who is continually fantasising about going solo for creative projects because of the obvious lack of restraints for creativity, it feels strange to be back with Dowsing for this next gig because it's the furthest removed from solo you could get - I mean, there's over a hundred people involved (in Fred's House it's easy to be happy because there's a sense we're all on the same page anyway). We're playing at the Cambridge Corn Exchange this Saturday and it's our fourth major show. Dowsing is a bit of an emotional rollercoaster, a rollercoaster that is loved by everybody involved in it. So many talented people are part of this show, it promises to be spectacular - the dress rehearsal tonight felt horrible for many reasons (not an excuse for my poor performance, but certainly lots of factors behind it), I found myself feeling frustrated and agitated throughout. But it's good to get these negative feelings out of the way now, by Saturday I'll be enjoying it again, hopefully.