Wednesday 30th September 2015

Popped into the office for a bit to do some freelancing writing and it was all a bit odd today. Just me in again, and then I get info from the bosses mum that the boss is probably going to be closing the company down, so I send him a reassuring email telling him he doesn't have to do that, and that it'll all be okay, and he replied saying it probably won't be. Not being blunt, but I'm just a freelancer, who is happy to turn up and do an honest few hours work a day before doing something I'm passionate about, this has all gone a bit weird. Later on I get another email from the boss saying sorry, and that we'll probably keep going as a company. 

Anyway, my beard growing is going well. Which would really bugger up Inadequate Man when I perform it again as that's one of the key jokes, but luckily it's another 3 weeks or so before I drag that show up again for a final hurdle. 

Really confused that 4 different am-dram companies purchased the rights to a play I wrote in 2004, within the last 3 months. One of them even won several awards for their performances of it at a festival. It's a diabolical play, seriously - I thought it was great back then but I was young and stupid, now I read it and I'm offended that it's still signed to a publisher. Got over fifty quid today in royalties for that shit. It's so bad. Seriously, what is wrong with people? 

Finally worked on the credits for the film...there's a lot of people in it, and a lot of people to thank. Certain I've missed somebody important. Karen had an amazing idea for a final little bit at the end, which relates to a bit earlier on, and I think it'll be great. She's a good editor, this one, she actually cares about the content rather than just lumping it all in. This film will do fine, you know. 

Worked on and finished all the lyrics for the Christmas musical; some good stuff there I think, and some less-good stuff. Really want to do a panto, and there's a gap in my diary for 20-22 December that would be perfect for it...

Tuesday 29th September 2015

A productive day in which things got cancelled beyond my control but that made room for other, you could say, more pressing matters.

Mostly writing the lyrics for the Christmas musical - it's really come together nicely now, I'm over half way there, at least. Still not feeling festive enough.

Also spent more time with the family (dad still struggling) and had a meeting about a series of six adverts which will be filmed later in the year. Agreed to take the lead in all six installments, which is great (for the bank balance if anything else).

The stuff that was cancelled (meeting at the cinema and band photoshoot) have both been rearranged for next week.

Monday 28th September 2015

A day of family stuff; mum wanted to look at a bit of Great Yarmouth she might move to when dad goes. It's all a bit morbid, it's all very stressful. The three of us went down - dad should not be travelling in his condition, he's in a really bad way at the moment, things have got worse over the last few days.

That pretty much took up the whole day. Met up with Esther in the evening to go over 'Make or Break...' stuff, we're performing it on Sunday and she's new to the band. Then showed her the '50 Ways...' film and whilst she was really enjoying it I could sense that somehow, perhaps, it didn't meet her expectations.

I don't know - there's a lot of pressure on this film to be good, isn't there? I've never had a project that has warranted attention before, it's all a bit worrying.

Sunday 27th September 2015

Long trip to Bognor Regis for our 27th and final festival of the year. I don't like festivals, I can't wait to play indoor gigs again. Wasn't bad though - despite the tired journey, our sound was excellent, a sound crew that actually cares, hurrah! We stormed it today. Set: Hold On, Face in the Water, Fine Life, She Says, Standing Next to Me, Ghost Town, Gotta Get a Message to You (cover), Shut Up and Dance, Beautiful You; Somebody to Love (encore, cover).

Long drive back, in which there were many arguments about the route we should take and as a result we went around in circles.

Got back eventually, showed Edd (housemate/landlord) the '50 Ways...' film and he seemed to enjoy it, but he's one of those nice people who enjoys everything.

Not quite in control of these projects at the moment, especially the Christmas ones. And still haven't seen 'Inadequate Man' even though it was on telly last week. Could do with a day off perhaps. Or more Red Bull.

Saturday 26th September 2015

Up early and dropped my car off for it's first ever service (it's nearly 8 years old, has done 160,000 miles). Was dreading this day.

I was right to dread it; that was fucking expensive. £600 quid...but apparently it was a death trap. It's all fixed now but still, ouch.

Got back and watched the first full edit of '50 Ways...' - absolutely love it, Karen is an editorial genius. I want to show the world this!

Evening gig with Claudia and band was great fun, nice vibe, nice songs, no pressure.

Friday 25th September 2015

This freelance post probably won't last, you know - sometimes you just get that feeling. I'm doing my bit, I'm working hard, but there's an odd vibe to it all.

As my reindeer costume has arrived I tried it on, now that the full tour is booked up. Doesn't really fit properly; not wishing to sound too crude about this but my bollocks will look massive.

Washed so many of my clothes, changed bed sheets, basically just spent 2 hours preparing myself for the life onslaught of the next few weeks. Need to write those Christmas lyrics by next Wednesday.

Evening covers gig with G+V, bit sloppy in the first half, stormed it in the second. It really is hard work hitting a wooden box for a living, not sure if it's healthy. Still, got two re-bookings out of it.

Thursday 24th September 2015

Not going to go on about the traffic, but seriously? An hour and half to make a 25 minute journey?

Anyway, enjoyed the freelance stuff today - writing the dialogue for a 'chose your own adventure' app is perfect for me, the day flew by.

Confirmed the Wales performance for my Christmas show, and did some lyrical work for the musical.

Realised that my musical idol is doing a big signing in Liverpool. Booked tickets. This artist is so big I couldn't get through the management to arrange a 'sacking' but...look, I know the film is virtually made, but to get this one shoehorned in somehow...all he has to do, whilst signing my book, is say 'no' when I ask him if he needs a drummer. Could happen, maybe?

Evening recording with Dowsing was long but brilliant - great songs, brilliant musicians. An absolute pleasure. Not being arrogant, but as a rhythm section, Gav and I were shit hot tonight.

Wednesday 23rd September 2015

Got really frustrated by traffic this morning; an hour and a half to get to the office to do 4 hours freelance work.

Everyone seems to be excited about the film. Apart from me. I'm really worried about it. Mostly because everyone is really excited about it. To be honest, if it had gone straight to YouTube everyone would love it, but the expectation is so high. Too high. Even the cinemas who haven't seen it but have booked me to put it on there are excited by it. It's because of the catchy title, isn't it?

Christmas is a bit close. I know I said that before, but it's even closer now. Just me in the office earlier so I whacked my festive playlist from Spotify on, nice and loud, in the hope it would generate some festive ideas. Then the boss walked in to pick up his phone charger. Bit awkward.

Hind's been in touch, she's fully committed and signed up to the Rudolph show now, that's a relief.

Family stuff was shit today. So shit. I hate it.

Dowsing rehearsal was nice; Andrea knows how to cheer me up (beer), the songs are working well.

Tuesday 22nd September 2015

Did a few hours in the office, agreed to a few more 'final' performances of Inadequate Man. Looked at the calendar and realised just how close Christmas was, and panicked a bit. Need to write the Christmas show, need to write the musical. On a plus side, need to listen to Christmas music, hurrah!

My car needs repairing, I think. You shouldn't have to put more water in every day, I'm no mechanic but I even I know that.

Afternoon meeting with the cinema was terrifying, because it very much signaled my move into being a movie producer...yet I have no idea what I'm talking about. Got away with it, and agreed in principle to have the premiere at a whopping great screening with a capacity of over 200. It was made on my fucking phone. Can we really go through with this? I think we might have to.

Watched some of the proper edited scenes, have agreed with Karen that it's not quite snappy enough at the moment, just needs an extra kick of life. She works so quickly, though.

Then off to the local TV station to film 2 pilot episodes of the quiz. Was great fun, mostly because I was lucky enough to handpick those who would be involved; Izzy, Griff, Vix, Marcel, Claudia, Chad, Justin, Jo, Mike - and the team at the station are always really easy to work with. First episode was a bit shaky, second one was much better. The producer said afterwards how much he enjoyed my presenting style and that it worked the way he hoped it would do. Looking like I'll get a full series out of this, which is both great but also, with this schedule, the last thing I need right now.

Monday 21st September 2015

Replied to a load of emails about the Christmas show and ordered my reindeer costume. Getting slightly frustrated that the actress I'm supposed to be doing this show with is just so out of contact...maybe it will be a solo show, after all. She accepted the offer to be in it, but doesn't reply to my texts, Facebook messages or emails...seriously, what is wrong with some people?

My little car is really, really struggling, bless it.

Double booked for Thursday night - a gig and studio session. How did I let this happen? Can possibly still do both?

Did a few hours in the office, freelancing but nobody is in - it's just me in, by myself, every day, which is fine (great, even) but not sure if I'm doing the 'right' work.

Spent a chunk of the evening writing the quiz for tomorrow's two pilot episodes filming and did a bit more work on the shiny, fast new version of 'Make or Break...' - rehearsals start for that next week. Yep, you heard. We're actually rehearsing this one.

Sunday 20th September 2015

Quite happy about all the film stuff; I've sent the link to the trailer over to all of the 'names' in the film and they've all loved it - their responses have been fantastic. I'm confident Karen will 'make' this into a proper film, there's quite a lot riding on it for her, too, as she's trying to get her name out there.

We were so great last night, you know. As a band. There's been some tension recently, mostly thanks to my own insecurities (there's a of shit going down at home still, I call home twice a day - morning and evening, to see how dad is, but that's no justification for my odd behaviour recently) but on stage we're so good, there's no weak links, so tight, so fiery, everything I want in a band. I think we're all happy, I've made an extra effort to be nice but sometimes I just seem stressed and they can see that. We're all so close to each other, too. I reckon if we end up doing this 7 nights a week rather than sporadic touring things would have to change - less drinking for a start, but at the moment it's like a weekend away with your mates.

We all agreed on the album name for the second album today, that was a nice moment.

Really keen to do a Britpop panto, or, as I'd like to call it, a 'Branto.' But I have the solo show and a musical already, a panto would be too much? Vikki told me off for trying to do too much at once. But you know, life is short, isn't it? The stuff with my dad proves that. I need to do everything. And bits of me are doing odd things at the moment. For example, as I'm sat here now, writing this, my right foot is bleeding. No idea why, I've been wearing those trainers for a while and they're a good fit, I wash and all that but no...loads of blood, everywhere. It's just a bit strange. Lots of little things like that keep happening to me.

Maybe it is this lifestyle, especially with band stuff; we drink a lot when doing out of town shows, we eat a lot of fast food, we drink a lot of energy drinks. We put on a good show, though, as the people of Bradford found out. I've heard lots of bad things about Bradford but I thought it was quite nice, what I saw of it. Outdoor festival, no cover whatsoever, lots of hints of rain but we got lucky. Guy before us was an instrumental acoustic guitarist, nearly lost the audience. We got them back on side; not as spectacular as yesterday but we were pretty solid today, we're on good form. Set: Standing Next to Me, Take a Ride, She Says, Bluebird, Fine Life, Fire, Ghost Town, Shut Up & Dance, Marathon Man, Gotta Get a Message to You (cover), Another Universe, Somebody to Love (cover), Beautiful You.

Long drive back (Gaf drove, he loves driving the van), quite sleepy. Showed Vikki an odd story I wrote on my phone a few months back called, 'The Allocation of my Heart Beats' - a depressing but lovely piece, and she liked it. I'll use that in the collaboration album I'll be doing with Nathan; you know - that electronic dance and storytelling album concept we thought of a few months back.

Too many projects.

Saturday 19th September 2015

Up far too early for a Saturday after quite a boozy Friday. Got woken up by Griff waving a can of Blue Spark (Tesco equivalent to Red Bull) in my face...they know how Richards operates.

Back in the van, which is proper luxury (but costs the band kitty £230 a weekend) and off to our first show of the day. A gaming festival, the type of festival where men wear tweed jackets and shoot things in fields and dogs are a impeccably groomed because they are a status symbol. We've played a few of these events recently, can't say I enjoy them. Was supposed to be two gigs at the same event, but due to various technical faults the festival ran two hours late and we had to put our set all into one, which we were happy with because we were keen to get it out of the way. We hung out with an all-girl band for a bit backstage (they were also on the bill) which in theory should have been rock and roll and the stuff of a biographer's dream but in reality I was hungover and grumpy and starting looking at Facebook on my phone mid-chat as my bandmates did the whole nicey-nicey thing. This is why I'm single, not that I stood a chance with any of them anyway.

Didn't like that gig; I don't like that soundman, We've worked with him a few times now and he's one of those 'let's make drummer jokes' type of techie; mid-50s, has a caravan he calls 'the shag pad' and lives in a different era. I wasn't rude to him today, but didn't make eye contact and, whilst remaining professional, made it quite clear we're not friends. Big audience, but totally subdued throughout - I thought Vikki was great because she really gave it everything still despite not getting anything back, she's a true actress. Can't remember the setlist, but it was long and we flagged a bit. A few people came up to us afterwards and heaped great praise on the band, but we weren't that great.

Slept well in the van as we headed to Worcester to play a festival we played at last year and enjoyed then so we were all looking forward to it. Instantly a much better set-up; for starters it was indoors, which helps, and also they had a soundman who wasn't a cock. Set up the drums early, went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, walked around town for a bit, and that back for the gig. Julian - our super fan, bought 16 people with him! We changed the set around a bit to keep it fresh. Best gig we've played in a long time, we were absolutely on fire tonight - just really on it. The audience were on it too, a fantastic gig, a rousing standing ovation from all at the end. We needed that. Set: Standing Next to Me, Take a Ride, She Says, Bluebird, Fine Life, Fire, Ghost Town, Shut Up & Dance, Gotta Get a Message to You (cover), Bonnie & Clyde, Beautiful You; Somebody to Love (cover, encore).

Buzzing, we went back to our digs, drank a load of beer, and eventually we all dozed off. Evening ended with me, Vikki and Ali chatting about women till the early hours.

Friday 18th September 2015

My car really is on it's last legs, you know. Today it struggled making a simple trip from Cambridge to Histon - just coughs and wheezes the whole way, and was still burning hot an hour later...that was a 20 minute drive. I've put it through hell (well, 160,000 miles without a service), it comes as no surprise. Hang in there, old girl.

Spent a few hours emailing independent cinemas about the '50 Ways...' film with a view to touring it in February. Yep, touring a film - that's how I roll. I'm thinking about it being a 30 minute talk/comedy thing, and then a screening.

Did a few hours in the office, just me in, drifted a little, listened to a lot of Deacon Blue. What a band.

Have decided to really, properly grow a beard. I need a change of (facial) direction.

Got offered an amazing venue for my solo Christmas show, the venue is in Wales and ties in nicely with everything. It's the kind of venue that is so nice you feel weird even asking for a show there, but they've offered me the day I want. And with the Beccles one sorted too I'm pretty much booked for the full tour now (tour also includes Bristol, Southampton, Norwich, Newcastle and Shepreth), just need one more northern night for the Newcastle one to be financially viable.

Had a meeting with the people at the very small theatre, and agreed to bring the musical there. The room is so small, but it can work for various reasons; there's a projector there, so instead of having a large cast, let's pre-record/film the chorus line and then only have a cast of 4. This could change the way musicals are done because we are utilising technology! Also, capacity is so small, but they're cool with us putting on two performances a night. Should be fine...

Then met up with the band, we got into our huge hired van and headed to somewhere quite near Telford. Not sure where that was, but it was about 3 hours to get there.

Checked into our digs (a house we've rented for two nights) and chilled out, ahead of the early start tomorrow. Drank quite a lot of beer. Showed the guys my rough demo edit of '50 Ways...' on a DVD, first time I've actually sat through the whole thing myself. Although only a rough edit it was clear how things will turn out with the polished version; the first 45 minutes or so are mostly utterly sublime, but you can feel the dip in tempo a bit before the big guns come out at the end. Gaf had some amazing suggestions for it, which I'll email to Karen. At the end of the day the footage is great (and the scenes with Izzy are surprisingly good - they don't feel laboured at all which was a fear, they really do actually get some laughs), but the key is in the editing. This is why I love my bandmates so much - they're such honest people, they laughed at the right times but also didn't just laugh for the sake of it.

We carried on drinking and then watched that IT Crowd episode with the gay musical which is, without doubt, the finest 24 minutes in sitcom history.

Thursday 17th September 2015

Last night was another late one 'editing' but my rough cut is all done now. Amazingly, it times at just 72 minutes, which is perfect and unexpected considering there's a lot of footage in there. 

Now I've had a break from it, I really want to do my Inadequate Man show again - I have one lounge show coming up (a mate's housewarming) but would be quite nice to go on stage properly and bash it out a few more times before the madness of the Christmas shows kick in...sent over a hundred emails today trying to get just a run of four or five shows. This is the last time I'll do things this way; the next tour I'll book is for the Make or Break... show which will be for arts centres/bigger venues. They'll reply more than these cafes/unconventional venues do because I'll basically be hiring the venues.

Agreed to a meeting about those commercials, the writer seems really excited about the scripts. They've offered money, I'll go along with it.

Dropped off the hard-drive around Karen's house with all of the footage on, all scenes numbered to correspond with my excessive notes. Felt quite sad handing this one over, and also slightly worried because she's a real filmmaker. 

Spent some stressful hours with my parents. Dad is doing "really well" according to the nurse, but he really isn't enjoying being alive at the moment with all the pain he's in. 

Went to see 'Legend' in the cinema with Rebecca. Intricate, brilliant film, that makes me realise that cinematically at least my own film might be the theatrical equivalent of You've Been Framed. Bit worried now.

Wednesday 16th September 2015

The little tour I've been offered could work, you know, I just need to discuss it with the guys. It doesn't clash with anything, but feels like I'm cheating on them a bit by playing with another band.

It's just gone 12.30am and I'm still editing the stuff from last night. This film is falling way behind in schedule now, but it's only because I want everything to be perfect. I guess deep down it's because I'll be handing over the control of it, the film that has been 'my' project for so long, suddenly in the hands of a professional. She can have it next week, exactly a week later than planned.

Did some hours in the office but ran out of work to do as the other guy was off again.

Tried to get some more gigs for G+V, and tried to fill in those gaps in my Christmas schedule.

Evening, a proper stand-up gig, but I've never claimed to be a proper stand-up. Was being filmed for local TV, but they already have plenty of me doing this and last year's Edinburgh show, so decided to give them a load of new material instead. Odd, tense atmosphere beforehand in the (shared) dressing room; the free beer was nice but that doesn't take away from the fact that deep down, without ever admitting it, all the comedians were competing a little with each other. I openly offered to go on first, which confused everyone.

The MC for the evening died on her arse, which didn't exactly set things up for me. I opened with a new story, which was weird, and didn't work, and it was very awkward. Audience were very nice, I made a joke about it being new material, did the Grace song and won them over. I've had that 'song' for nearly two years, I can't keep relying on it. Wasn't my finest ten minutes, to be honest, some of the new bits (in particular where I get the audience to have a conversation and I provide a background drum groove to their chat) really worked, the stuff about dating less so. Annoyingly, because of the other acts on the bill, it'll probably get a bigger audience than normal when broadcast...should have just played it safe and gone done a 'best of' like I did at Alex Fest a couple months back. Confusingly, the headliner, who I can't name on here, really died on his arse - more than I've seen in a long time to the point it was cringy. Goes to prove that even the best can misjudge a room completely.

Tuesday 15th September 2015

Been editing since 9am, As I write this it's now Wednesday, 12.43am. Still editing. I'm not actually editing for the final cut of the film, either, no - that's Karen's job. I'm just wanting to piece it altogether myself first just so I can see how long it'll actually be and if the plot flows with all of these sackings. A demo, basically.

I've spent the day working on the film, looking at each scene individually, working out which bits to cut, which to use, and it made me really happy. I've been through a lot with this movie, and over the last year we've filmed some proper magical moments. There's so many great bits there, you know, we'd have to do something really wrong to fuck this up. The thing I like about it is the range of material - there's some real bloke-ish, thuggish rock stuff, yet also some beautiful classical music. Today has confirmed to me though that this will work, as much as I don't envy Karen's task of (re) piecing it altogether no matter how extensive my notes are.

Popped out for a little respite - and made a promo video with G and V for our covers project. Filmed some songs outside, and as Vikki started editing it, Griff, Al and I played football on the Playstation for a bit (I lost all three games) and we had pizza. A lovely few hours.

And then back to the editing. I can't work out if my PC is slow, or my editing ability is. Either way, nearly 1am, nowhere near there yet, but I have made a promo whilst waiting.

It's one of those days where I tried to stay focussed but could see my phone buzzing the whole time. Today alone I got offered 3 gigs (not available), a tour with a band (might do it) and a couple of adverts (will do it). I need more hours in the day,

Monday 14th September 2015

Things are really starting to pile up here now - I know, I know, I do this to myself, but there are so many projects hitting their climax that need my attention.

Got a venue offer for the musical, which I haven't written yet, confirmed tour dates for the Christmas show, which I haven't written yet, booked a book launch night for my novel, which I haven't quite finished yet, got a cinema for the film, which we haven't edited yet. But if I can get this all done...well, quite an achievement, yeah? And would be nice for my dad to see these things before he goes.

Did some hours in the office today just to give myself a break. Broke some content on a website, the usual.

Filmed the final scene for the film with Emma who is a great pro - I can see myself working with her again, as much as she seems to have loads of work coming in at the moment.

Met up with Edd and Emily for dinner, and then played a cracking little gig with Claudia in a tiny pub corner - storming set, great vibe.

Sunday 13th September 2015

Overslept, but mostly because I woke up at 3am with an idea for the non-sacking bits of the film. Something had been bugging me for a while about this dialogue I had written, which was really tidy, but just didn't gel - and also there would be massive continuity issues. But this idea I had, a winner, would solve all of that.

Got to Izzy's for the filming, and as she was getting changed and Alasdair was sorting the cameras out, I re-wrote the script to tie in with the ideas that had woken me up. We then filmed all of the non-sacking stuff in I think about 3 hours, it can't have been more than that. The new concept works well, I feel very comfortable with it all now.

Still bugged by the fact that the Anna scene for the film doesn't work (lost footage, so the footage I found is salvaged from Facebook and won't be the same quality as the other bits) but if I lose it then...uh oh, that's only 49 sackings. Mentioned in passing to Izzy that Grace and I have been in contact, and she said it would be great if Grace sacked me (gets me back up to 50) and also I can do the Grace song in the film (which has been the staple of my live set for about a year and a half now...might as well get it to a bigger audience). Spoke to the lovely Grace, she is unavailable for filming for well over a week and we need to get this done, so I then spoke to the also very lovely Emma, who has agreed to play the role of Grace tomorrow evening so we'll be back on 50 then. I'll try not to lose any more. Just want to get this film done now.

Visited Mum and Dad. It's just too stressful. I'm not really coping with what's happening there.

Then played a fabulous little gig with G and V. I hate covers gigs normally but the audience were totally up for it tonight; there's something quite sad about people getting drunk on a Sunday night in a small market town but if they're up for dancing then...well, we can cash in on that at least. Good gig, my hands hurt because of it.

Saturday 12th September 2015

Had lots of sleep, which felt very good, and then got a haircut. Hairdresser asked what I do; I didn't want to get into the whole 'I'm a writer, drummer, got a film coming out, on tour a lot, just back from the Edinburgh fringe' stuff as even I'm exhausted by it, so I told him I just work in an office and we left the conversation there. Awesome.

Haircut is okay; I'll be honest - I'm quite happy with it.

Visited Mum and Dad briefly, gave them my wine that I was given last night.

Drive up to Bildesden to play a festival with the band. Packed festival, amazing sound on stage - best I've experienced at a festival for a long time, my little jazz kit sounded as beefy as anything. They weren't a tough crowd, as such, but we struggled with them at times - they just weren't as up for it as much a big crowd should be. We had them 5 or 6 songs in, but it's not normally as hard as that with this band. I think our performance was compensated a little in trying too hard; we were lively but at times quite messy. All good though, I guess, by the end.

Drinks and food with Izzy, Alasdair and Alan later on, a nice chance to actually sit and socialise for a change rather than talking projects. Really nice, actually; I work a lot with these guys (in particular Izzy) and we never stop talking about new ideas for shows to the extent that sometimes I actually forget that we're also incredibly close friends outside of these artistic ventures. Tonight it was that, and it was great, socialising is something I don't do as much as I should do.

Friday 11th September 2015

I do wonder if this company is still really a company, you know. I know I only freelance here but still - it's a bit weird that quite often it's just me in. They still pay me, so I mustn't grumble, but today I ran out of work to do, so emailed the other guys but nobody replied so in the end just finished early and did some work on my novel. Bloody brilliant chapter I wrote, it's really coming together really very nicely indeed.

Evening corporate gig with the band; typical corporate gig...we're there for the money, we have to play too many covers, we're mostly ignored. We do get treated quite well though, the food is always great and we were also given a swanky bottle of wine each after the show too which is a nice gesture. And it was an early finish - done by 8.30pm.

My plan was to head home, have a few beers and switch off as it's been quite intense of late, this life business, but then I had a message from my old mate Heather and we met up in a nice cafe and chatted for a few hours about projects. It's odd; we're close friends, we really rate each other as artists (as much as I struggle to find the joy in improv) but we'll probably never work together as we're on very different pages. Still absolutely lovely to catch up, mind.

Thursday 10th September 2015

We have a LOT of gigs booked up for 2016 already. Is it sad that I'm already looking forward to that tour? Vikki is so good at booking proper tours, unlike the ones I do.

You know you're busy when you haven't got time to wash your clothes so you go to Primark and buy a load of cheap t-shirts, pants and socks. It's just easier.

Nightmare round trip to the Isle of Wight today. It was always going to be tough anyway; looking at houses that mum might move into when dad dies, and it's a bit surreal that he came with us...or just morbid, perhaps? My mum, dad, pyscho dog and I went over there in my car which is struggling so much it whimpers. It's tough going to the Isle of Wight and back in one day anyway, let alone then having to get the ferry full of people going to Bestival. Rammed, it was, we were the only people not going to that festival, and also the only people on the ferry over the age of 30. Drove around the island for about 3 hours, didn't really get a chance to look at anything, everyone got grumpy and then drove home again. Dad really struggled with that - being cooped up in my Fiesta all day is not healthy for him. It's not good for the dog either, and I drove for hours and hours yesterday. Horrible trip, beyond horrible.

Wednesday 9th September 2015

Some of the venues for my Christmas tour are getting really excited about the show...haven't even started to write it yet but I've ordered my reindeer costume for the press shots. Still need 2 more venues to justify it as a tour.

Struggling to get a venue for the musical as NOBODY FUCKING REPLIES TO ANY EMAILS EVER. But we'll sort one, I'm sure.

Nice catch up with Owen from the TV channel, discussed sketch show plans and agreed to write/perform 10 minutes of brand new stand-up for next Wednesday, which will be filmed and then broadcast two weeks later.

Dowsing rehearsal after that was really great, just what I needed. I'm really stressed at the moment, but those rehearsals are great for me - top musicians, lovely company. I do look stressed, and a bit flustered with the world (mostly down to dad's health stuff) and that will probably explode at the next gig...luckily for us, somebody is making a TV documentary about the whole gig/recording thing we have coming up. Me falling apart will make good telly, at least.

Tuesday 8th September 2015

The traffic annoyed me today, I spent a few hours sat in it when they closed the A14 and my sat nav wasn't up for the idea of a new route. Still, did give me time to think, and then I thought of the BEST IDEA EVER which I'll now shoehorn into my novel. It will be my breakthrough, it will change novels forever, etc, etc.

Got turned down by a big fancy theatre for the musical due to the timescale, which was a shame, but the venue manager (who is a good friend of a good friend of mine) is up for a meeting to discuss a musical next year. Could be awesome? It's fucking huge, though. In the meantime, need to find somewhere suitable for this year's show.

Chatted further to the cinema about the '50 Ways...' premiere and I have a meeting with them a week on Monday.

Only 2 shows away from confirming a full run for the Christmas show.

Evening played a corporate gig, which was a typical corporate gig in the sense that we played quite terribly, but everyone loved it. Easy money, really easy money.

Monday 7th September 2015

I've had quite a lot of caffeine and I'm over-worrying about everything. About dad, about something that may have been a speed camera yesterday morning but possibly wasn't and either way I *think* I just got down to thirty in time but might not have done but either way, what's done is done I guess.

But a reasonably productive day; after a couple hours freelancing I had a meeting with the local TV lot about my quiz show format and they've given me two pilot episodes (both to be filmed on the same night) which would effectively end up being episodes one and two if it goes to a full series, which they expect it will do unless I'm really bad in those two.

Esther pulled out of the filming tonight as she was tired, understandable as she has a busy life but it niggled me a bit because my diary is so full at the moment everything has been put in there so carefully. There is no time to film 'Bits of Me Hurt' now, which is a shame.

But the unexpected free time did mean I could do some more work on the novel, which is really, really starting to come together now.

Sunday 6th September 2015

Hungover, a bit. We can't drink like we used to, but we still try.

Off to Hatfield Forest for a festival...I have to say, it's the first outdoor festival we've played this year that I've actually enjoyed; it's just so well run, the audience are up for it, the house kit is nice and makes things logistically simple. We were on fire today, totally on fire. Set: Fine Life, Face in the Water, Bluebird, California for a Girl, Standing Next to Me, Ghost Town, Shut Up & Dance, Beautiful You, Gotta Get a Message to You (cover); Somebody to Love (encore, cover).

I love this band.

Saturday 5th September 2015

Up too early for a Saturday, far too early. Off to Bracknell for an afternoon, indoor festival gig. The Wilde Theatre is stunning - the sort of venue I'd be keen to play in every night.

Great gig - great sound, packed audience, we were looked after so well. It was billed as a folk festival but we were quite far removed from folk. They enjoyed it all the same. Set: Fine Life, Face in the Water, Bluebird, California for a Girl, Standing Next to Me, Ghost Town, Shut Up & Dance, Beautiful You.

Then met up with my mate Andy and got drunk.

Louise, Martin, Trevor, Anna and Geoff have all said yes to writing songs for the Christmas musical; Jo and Karina are too busy which is fair enough. Still - 5 songwriters, should be fine.

Friday 4th September 2015

The re-written bits for the '50 Ways...' film looks awesome, just saying. Still need to confirm a filming time with Josh for the bar scenes - he's a brilliant actor but terrible at replying to messages.

Did a few hours in the office, and then made a shortlist of the songwriters I want to work with on this Christmas musical with.

Still bugger-all from the Wales/Ireland tour emails, but maybe touring my arse off doing shows to 10 people a night isn't the best career move anyway?

Evening went to the 4th Lab album launch with Rebecca and a few others, they were really good tonight, enjoyed that a lot.

Thursday 3rd September 2015

Did a few hours in the office...still nobody else around, I assume all is good.

Agreed to meetings with the TV people about the quiz show, and also accepted the offer to be in a sketch show for the same channel.

I'm getting very impatient with people not replying to my emails...I've sent out hundreds so far this week, just the one offer of a show in Wales.

Spent most of the afternoon and a bit of the evening with my parents. Dad was really struggling for a bit, hence why I hung on for longer, but by the end we'd managed to cheer him up.

Got back, had a beer, totally nailed the re-writes of the '50 Ways...' script, it works now, I think.

Wednesday 2nd September 2015

Very little response to my Ireland tour plans, so started trying to book shows in Wales instead. I need to calm down a bit.

Re-wrote bits of the '50 Ways...' script, I think it's going to be okay.

Confirmed a performance of the Christmas show in Southampton.

Did a couple hours freelancing in the office and ignored those emails that have been there a while. Still nobody else in; does this company still even exist? I'm assuming so, I'm turning up and doing bits and bobs for them so hopefully but it does seem eerily quiet here...

So, my big idea for a festive musical...

 - by the end of September I would have written the book (script) and lyrics.
 - by the end of October, my 6 or 7 carefully selected songwriters (not confirmed yet) would have put music to those lyrics, and my brilliant arranger (Alister - confirmed) would have arranged them for piano/bass/drums format. Casting would also be complete.
- in November a 5-week intensive rehearsal period begins.
- in December my Yuletide musical, 'The Third Draft of your Christmas Card' runs for 2 nights in a big, proper theatre in Cambridge.

What could possibly go wrong?

I put a message on the Dowsing FB board to see if anyone is up for it; quite a few of them are. This can happen.

Evening played a lovely gig with the band. An arts centre in Spalding, it was supposed to be a folk gig and they seemed freaked out by our loud soundcheck. We toned it all down, very much so indeed, and played a storming 90 minute set in front of a happy, sold-out crowd. I enjoyed that a lot, we were great tonight.

Tuesday 1st September 2015

A really productive day, that one. Less productive in the office, because I found 28 really important emails in my 'junk' folder that should have been replied to a month ago but I've only just seen them, yet it was just me in today so I didn't know what to say...they can wait another day or two, I'm sure. Still got other stuff done though.

Managed to schedule re-filming dates with Izzy for the '50 Ways...' film, and re-filming dates with Esther for episodes 2 and 3 of 'Bits of Me Hurt' because, although the first episode was lovely, the other two were lacking something. Planned out the rest of the year carefully; when to finish writing new bits for the film, when to write the musical, when to finish the novel...this can all be done.

One of the sackings for the 50 Ways film hasn't come out well and needs replacing, which is a shame because we were bang on 50, so I've asked my ex-girlfriend to sack me...the whole film idea came about to impress her in the first place back in March last year so it's only fitting she ends up being in it, with her new boyfriend. She said yes, we're filming that on Saturday night.

Also tried to get more dates for the Christmas show, and continuing my new trail of thought which is 'only touring in places I actually want to visit so it can double up as a holiday' I tried to book an Inadequate Man tour of Ireland for November. The guys at the local TV station want to take on my quiz show format, which is awesome, as it kind of worked at the fringe, some days. Spoke to Meg in great detail about the Christmas musical and realised she's got a lot on her plate at the moment so we're not working together on it, but the show must go on! How? I have an idea, a big idea, that I probably haven't got time for but will anyway. This could go either way.

Monday 31st August 2015

Seriously; where is this year going?

Back in the studio today to record percussion parts for the album, it's sounding big and lovely, and we're all getting on really well which is nice. Lots of positive vibes there.

Really am getting stressed about this film; there's SO much riding on it.

Dinner with the lovely Rebecca, was nice, as much as she doesn't like Christmas.

I've relaxed too much this Bank Holiday weekend; next week I'm gonna storm it.