Leicester

Having spent most of January writing like a psychopath (is there any other way when you're against the clock?) including two Sundays where I didn't leave my office (spare room) for 14 hours, it was time to finally launch the first of my many new productions for the year. Titled simply, There's a Band Playing at the Social Club Tonight, it's my love letter to working men clubs that, whilst I still find a little intimidating (it's not the 1970s, after all), I'm glad still exist in certain small towns. It tells the story of a slightly posh, middle-class drummer, having to perform at one of them, feeling very out of place but gradually understanding the warmth and friendships that make up such places.

The plan for this show was to make it as music-heavy as possible, like the audience were actually at the gig that's featured in the story, so they can really feel like they're part of it. It's also a chance for me to show off my drumming chops, especially whilst band stuff is a bit quiet. It's the closest thing I'm doing to stand-up this year and had to tick the 'comedy' boxes to justify it being part of the festivals that have booked me for it, yet I also didn't want it to be cynical and dismissive of 'the other world', the plan was always to go gentle, warm and, well, nice. 

As always, I book in a bunch of house previews to try out the material, in front of friends, before going public. The first one, around Jane's house, just didn't work at all - it was flat, underwhelming, no flow at all. I got back that evening and tweaked it, a lot, and the next afternoon I was around Jon and Shirley's house, where the structure seemed better and the narrative at least worked, but it was till lacking in energy. Later that evening, fired up and a little anxious aware that it was only a few days off going public, I was round Fergus and Sara's house and, in front of a lively audience, it seemed to gel. The ending still didn't quite click, but there was enough there to suggest I could survive. 

I went home, tweaked it again, and three days later I was at the Leicester Comedy Festival. I love this festival but I've had mixed fortunes there over the many years. A few years back, my show as a hit and I was nominated for an award. Last year, I did a new hour and it was a total disaster. 

Amazingly, a few who came to last year's car crash of a show came back to see me this time as they actually enjoyed it! 

Having arrived really early, I ran my lines for two hours solid in an NCP car park, the bigger than expected audience arrived and instantly I knew I'd be fine - they were a kind, chatty, up for it bunch. They wanted to like me, and I wanted to do well for them. 

The show ran exactly how I planned it, with a hint of chaos, but with another structure to reign it back in whenever I felt like it was creeping dangerously towards improv. The promoter described it as "flawless" and I drove home cocky, aware that this show didn't even exist three weeks ago...

Keen to build on it, I added a couple of new bits and took it straight into another house show to try it all out, this time in Essex, around my mate Chris' house. Always a lovely audience, but the show didn't land at all that evening, which serves me right for getting ahead of myself. A show can't just be a winner from the off, everything needs nurturing. I got lucky in Leicester that things clicked and the audience were with me, but that can't happen every night until the show totally settles.

Still, it's all there, and by performance 20 it'll be a banger. One new show in the bag, then, but arguably the easiest of the lot.