Tough week, this

I was expecting to be writing a review of the second Cornerhouse Comedy Collective show this evening, instead I'm sat back at my parents' house reflecting on what has been a tough week. For the sake of my family privacy I can't go into details, but a member of my immediate family has been in hospital all week - having had a big operation a couple weeks ago which has gone horribly wrong, so this week the surgeons have been trying to fix things. It's difficult not to feel angry; that person goes in for an op, and two weeks later they have to go back in for a much bigger, serious op just to repair the damage from the first one. Human error - it can happen any time, in any profession, but when I cock up at work (which let's be honest, is plenty of times) it can't cause physical damage to somebody. That's probably why I'm not a doctor, I'm not brainy enough and certainly not brave enough, but human error scares me when one of the people I am most closest to in the world, if not the closest, has to suffer very badly when somebody gets it wrong. It's been a tough week. I've pulled out of every commitment, be it theatre or music, and if anything all this has reminded me that I probably have too much on - I've had to pull out of a lot, which ultimately just gets stacked up to next week, and I doubt I'll be at my best for much of it. Every thing I've pulled out of though has been met with great friendship from those who know the situation - people are lovely, people do understand I'm stressing a bit. Have no idea how the Cornerhouse comedy went tonight, although I must mention Michelle Golder who I called at 5pm realising we were both an act and a host down, she stepped in and took control for me - I owe her beer, lots of it, not many people could do that. A friend, who went to the show, text me "dude, you forgot to hire the audience", which suggested it was an awkward night for the comedians who have generously travelled a fair distance to do a gig in front of what is most likely to be (judging by the Facebook page) 3 people - I've promoted the comedy show a great deal, if people don't want a comedy night in Cambridge they won't turn up, it's as simple as that, so let's not bother in the future, it's just a waste of everybodies time. I got that text whilst visiting in hospital. The person I was visiting had come out of the major operation successfully and was even a bit chatty, next week we may even have them back home with us. I'm relieved, nothing else feels anywhere near as important right now.

Gig report: Flaming June @ High Barn, Great Bardfield

Band: Flaming June
Venue: High Barn, Great Bardfield, Essex
Date: 14/10/10
Audience: Folkie types, lots of them, lovely
Set: Rejoice, Stop The Ride, The Insane Ex-Girlfriend Parade, You Do Moody So Well, Wednesdays And Weekends, The Wizard, Under My Skin
Notes: A really good gig this one, one of those proper good gigs that are fairly infrequent but are an absolute treat when they do pop up. I sensed it would be though because High Barn is simply the most beautiful venue I've ever been to, let alone played. It's not massive, but it's got a lovely big stage size, the whole barn thing they've got going on not only looks special but enables it to have great acoustics, and the whole vibe of the place is artistically inspiring. The sound quality on stage was great too, partly thanks to the venue but also thanks to the excellent soundman who was patient and worked with us to create the best sound possible. The gig itself was part of the folk evening - we were the guest band, before (and I assume after us but I left shortly after our set) everybody sat off stage and sang a song or two, it was joyfully gentle and good spirited. Then we took to the stage area for our invited guest slot and it really worked tonight - we're well rehearsed which helps, and on a personal level with it being my second gig with the band I'm now really comfortable with the set and can start to throw in the odd artistic flourish. The more I start to understand the songs Louise has written the more I like them, they've really grown on me - they're a tad eccentric, often quite narky, but always littered with a full-on sense of energy, at times it's like being part of some dark cabaret show. I love it, anyway, and tonight on a big stage in front of a receptive, large-ish audience, it all came together nicely. Drive home less fun - why can I never get myself home from somewhere which is apparently 32 miles away from my home? Well obviously I did get home eventually, but it took nearly an hour and a half and the route my Sat Nav took me on was just crazy, and I swear that wasn't an 'exit' I came off to get onto the M11...anyway, mustn't let those niggly things mar what was a top class show.

Gig report: The Trip 35's @ The Boot Inn, Histon

Band: The Trip 35's
Venue: The back room of The Boot Inn, Histon
Date: 12/10/10
Audience: Sparse, far too polite
Set: A Good Storm, Free Parking, 4.59pm, Jim's Routine, The Simplest Of Things, Missing Each Other, Teddy Sheringham
Notes: Our first ever gig as 'The Trip 35's', and by 'we' I mean Rich Conway (vocals, guitar), Chris Lilley (fiddle, vocals) and me (congas, spoken word stuff). Having recorded the album in the summer we've been besieged by various problems, such as family illnesses and all of us being far too busy, so went into this gig with merely one rehearsal. It showed. We were certainly more than a bit rough around the edges, and the spoken word stuff I do on two tracks only confirms that some things are best left as audio projects as those bits didn't work at all. Saying that, the songs are nice, and little glimmers of real energy (such as when Chris went into a fiddle tangent at the end of 'Teddy Sheringham' and raised the tempo considerably) suggests that with 3 or 4 rehearsals we could be a really good live act. On Tuesday, sadly, we weren't, but the audience were still lovely. All 7 of them.

Slow Puncture @ WriteOn/ADC Theatre

It's been a while since I've submitted any new material to WriteOn, the Cambridge theatre group who do lovely things for new writers such as give their work performances. The main reason behind this was because I'm keen to avoid routine, I am getting routine at the moment - and I think this could be dangerous for my creativity. At the last minute before the submission deadline though I couldn't help myself and sent over my very latest short script, I think just to keep my name out there, just to see this piece performed and - perhaps more truthfully, I just love the nervous tension of watching my own work on stage. The piece itself was a monologue called 'Slow Puncture', it's about a slow puncture (oddly enough), and a man who can't change a tyre and accidently gets himself into a bit of a tangle by thinking that the girl driving in front him think's he's following her. He's awkward, thinking far too much, spirals off into brief moments of fantasy and panic, before there's a polite modest conclusion. Typical Paul Richards play really, and perhaps my fears of writing with a sense of routine are fully justified, but I've certainly nailed that akward young man character totally now, having written for 'him' about 15 times in the last couple of years. And the audience all seemed to love it, one person even said it was the best thing I've ever written. I asbolutely don't agree at all, but I'll happily take the compliment anyway.

First ever 'Cornerhouse Comedy Collective' show

I didn't really want to be the producer of these shows, I say that in all honesty - I commit to a lot by accident, and this one suddenly ended up being something I've ended up doing. But the need for a new regular run of comedy in Cambridge is needed, I think, after the demise of the excellent 'Lol-a-thon', organised by my mate Andy which was always something I enjoyed. Tonight was the first ever proper comedy show at the Cornerhouse, and due to the fact that I've been wrapped up in a family serious operation thingy all week I've not had time to promote, so it's a miracle anybody turned up at all. A couple of the comedians looked at the stage, and then looked at the function room around the back and suggested we do the show there instead; it's a tiny space, with no PA, but it worked. It really worked tonight. We had acts from East London, Yorkshire, Portsmouth, and a few more local people performing in front of an audience of 11 people. But it worked. Tiny space, friendliness all around, a really good vibe in the air, all 6 acts were amazing so those who did turn up were treated especially well. It shouldn't have worked at all, tiny audience, venue probably not suitable, but sometimes if people want to have a good evening, they will, and tonight both the audience and acts were on the same side and it was a lovely thing. Looking forward to the next one now, this could be the start of something both special, and time consuming.

Gig report: Aidy @ Oxjam, Cambridge

Band: Aidy (duo set)
Venue: Oxjam @ The Haymakers, Chesterton, Cambridge
Date: 01/10/10
Audience: Good crowd for an early set, enthusiastic enough
Set: Not sure
Notes: A very quick 20 minute gig to open at the very worthy Oxjam event at the Haymakers, raising money for Oxfam. Playing as a duo, with Aidy on acoustic guitar/vocals and me on a single conga, we briskly bashed out a few songs to kick things off. Nice easy gig, that one.

Gig report: Aidy @ BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

Band: Aidy
Venue: BBC Radio Cambridgeshire (studio 1)
Date: 31/09/10
Audience: Probably thousands (on FM radio)
Set: Pain In My Heart, Prettyish, 3 Years
Notes: Confused by the fact the BBC moved studios, I was a bit late for this and was lucky that I still ended up playing despite turning up as the radio show started. It was the last ever 'Audio Files' show to be broadcast on a Thursday, it's a show which has been great for the Cambridge music scene and one which I've had the privilege of playing with both Under The Streetlamp and The Damsons in the past. This one seemed far more informal than previous events, the atmosphere was nice and because of this we played pretty well I think. 3 songs, good vibe, much enjoyed.