Tuesday 10 April 2007

What a month it's been! I've had my 43rd birthday, did some gigs abroad, spent some time with my wife and Sunderland AFC have gone top of the league!

Yes, I was 43 on April 5th. I got some lovely presents and cards. A couple of cracking books from Lorri along with other goodies

There have been a couple of strange gigs this month worthy of comment. I did three shows in Spain, mainly to the same people every night. This is always difficult to do. I tried to split my set into 3, 20 minute spots but there is always a running gag that gets spoilt by that and of course certain gags run into each other. I also had the situation when in the middle of a story thinking "Have I already said that?". They went well though and it looks as though I'm going to be asked back on a monthly basis through the season.

One of the strangest gigs I've experienced recently was a tiny comedy club in Lancashire. I'd been asked to do it by a friend of a friend and as I would be working with one of my favourite comics (Greg Cook) I though it would make for a nice evening. The venue itself was a fantastic real ale bar. Unfortunately there was no stage space, the bar was a narrow area separating the two rooms. There were wide screen TVs at the back so we had the experience of playing to some people who had there backs to us and were still enjoying it! Bizarre. I thoroughly enjoyed Greg's set and the chat we had before the show. I didn't particularly enjoy my bit, though the crowd seemed to. I'd really thought I'd left the shouty Mackem Motormouth behind. The years I spent in shitty little pubs in the corner of the room, battling against Sky TV and rowdy customers was a godsend. Maybe I am the man to be able to do challenging gigs like this, maybe I'm getting old, but give me a comfortable, seated and appreciative audience anytime. Having said tha,t as a club on the circuit it is different and an experience for any comic wanting to play to an intimate crowd.

Easter was nice, it's an important time for me. A sa Roman catholic I fasted until absolution on Good Friday, luckily this year that wasn't too late and I enjoyed my lunch and meat free dinner.
This Friday See's me do the gig of my dreams. I'm playing in County Durham as apart of "A night with Niall" I'm so honoured to be sharing the stage with a hero of mine, a gentleman and a fantastic Chairman of SAFC.

We are top of the league as I speak, automatic promotion to the Premier League looks likely and in January I would have been happy with a top ten finish. We beat Southampton away yesterday, a tough game and it showed that this team, along with class and skill has a never say die attitude that we're all thankful for.
FTM!