The Cambridge shows

We're currently mid-tour (will write up a full blog about how it's been when it's all over at the weekend, but it's been good - really good at times), it's an exciting thing - but last night we had the hometown performances, something that always concerns me. We had to do it - financially more than anything, because local shows generally help top up the kitty (no accommodation/petrol costs etc), but I can see why other acts struggle with the concept of performing in front of people they know so well. The joy of touring is that you are forced out of your comfort zone; I'm not sure there is a bigger thrill than winning over an audience who don't look like they are going to enjoy it...meeting new people, performing in different and often unconventional spaces. Back in your hometown the chances are the audience will be people who know you already and they'll find different things funny in the show because they know you personally; they'll laugh at the fact Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer has an addiction to Rustlers burgers because they know that in real life, previously at least, I've quite enjoyed microwave snacks - whereas a neutral audience will find it funny that Rudolph eats such a thing in the first place; on tour the audience cringe (and laugh) at the plight of a lonely office worker so desperate to impress that he ends up reinventing himself as Enrique The Spanish Elf - in Cambridge a lot of the audience will just see it as Paul - their mate, in an ill-fitting costume. It's still comedy, it still works on either level, but there's something about performing in my home town that doesn't feel right anymore, it's like we're not on a level playing ground before the show begins. Merchandise is another example, for this tour I've started selling a CD of a recent live show, Short Stories For Lanky People, not being arrogant but it's a cracking little show that one, but why would my friends buy a CD of me ranting for an hour when they can just meet me for a beer down the pub and hear me do it in real life?

The other danger of course is dwindling audience figures - when you've been performing in the same space naturally you can't sustain a run of sell-out shows and I've done far too much in Cambridge this year. People start to miss out on the odd show because they know you'll be back again soon...I can't complain, I've got friends who perform twice a month in this city, they have been for a couple of years now, yet I still haven't managed to catch a show. We had about 30 or so in last night, which is still very respectable and it was great to see new friends (Guilliaume, Adam, Natalie, Jessica) and old friends (Heather, both Vicky's, Griff, Gaff, Marcus, Leigh, Jack, Rohan, Andy, Amy, Dan, Julia, Alan), not a single member of the Dowsing Sound Collective which saddened me slightly as the audience sing-along bit was written for them but so be it (I shouldn't really be writing a tour show with specific audience members in mind so that's a learning curve right there). Last night was enormous fun - terrific vibe in the room for both performances, I'm so incredibly grateful to those people who keep turning up to see my work and I genuinely believe this show is the best thing I've done this year by some distance (Christmas always brings out the best in me and it's a frantic show, we cram a lot into 70 minutes but with a sense of poignancy too which has perhaps been missing from some of my recent work, I come off stage completely exhausted - which is always a good sign). There was also the sense that it was a bit of an annual Christmas party, for a lot of my friends now the Paul Richards festive show is part of their routine, it was great fun and I drove home happy. But yep, time to make sure my Cambridge performances are strictly an annual thing.