Kindle, Bury, 32

This week a collection of my plays was released as a Kindle book. This was supposed to happen in time for the tour just to help build ‘brand Richards’ and all that, although that wasn’t purely the only reason why it’s also called, ‘Some Plays By Paul Richards.’ Anyway, a few cock-ups later and it’s finally out there – the scripts for 10 plays I’ve been working on over the last 8 years or so, a couple of the Edinburgh shows, a few pieces that have done me proud, a couple newer plays. Much my to amazement it hit the starry heights of 42 in the Kindle comedy charts, which made me both happy and confused in equal measure.

Talking of, ‘Some Plays By Paul Richards’, we performed it again last night for the first time in a month or so. It’s amazing what a month off can do, the refresher rehearsal with Hind on Monday afternoon was worrying to say the least – how can I know a show so well but forget so much of it in the space of 35 days? I’m blaming it on the fact that in that time I’ve been working on two other shows, so my head is just full of other words at the moment. We dug in, got it together, and eventually it all came back to me, and by the final line-run in the car on the way to the venue we knew we’d probably be okay. In the end it was more than okay; we performed at The Bay Tree Cafe in Bury St Edmunds to a completely packed audience – a wonderful, wonderful audience who were just so spirited before we even spoke that we felt so comfortable, so welcome, it was a truly lovely evening in a fantastic venue. We’re up in Cumbria with the show tomorrow night, I needed this month off from performing it to work on the new stuff but equally, it felt great last night to be back with the ‘current’ show – and what an odd show it is...it’s the least theatrical show they’ll see all year, it’s virtually a solo comedy but we’re not brave enough to call it stand-up, yet somehow we seem to be winning people of all ages over (last night the audience ranged from 17-60) wherever we perform it. Last night was my final evening as a 31-year-old. I’m quietly confident things are moving in the right direction.