of bad luck this week. various things seem to be slowly going wrong. i mean there’s the usual lack of gigs, cancelled gigs etc….i mean i’m doing ok, but there’s still that inevitable feeling that things are slowly grinding to a halt.

We finished the radio quiz for welsh learners, and it seemed to go ok, but then the next day the co-host apparently was unhappy with how i spoke to her, or didn’t speak to her, and never wants to work with me again. depressing. coupled with that is the constant friction between me and my girlfriend. it’s as if i’m slowly getting ground down myself.

Then, there’s this lack of comms from a welsh booker who agreed one thing but now seems to be changing the parameters of that agreement. it’s sometimes referred to as ‘widening the goal posts’.

i’m in danger of getting moody, of sulking like a bad tempered kid. people say you got to grow up in life…i mean yes if you know how to do it. what is ‘growing up’? is it related to throwing up? growing up sounds like a good thing to do. maybe i should just leave all the pain of the comedy scene. leave it behind me – that might help me grow up.

in a medieval tower in Conway. waiting for to go on stage at Lloyds & Williams’ gig…

it just occurred to me – maybe i mentioned that a few coincidences happened a few weeks ago, but i couldn’t recall them all, now here’s one popped up in my mind – i did a gig in wisbech, cambridgshire, well i was supposed to, on a friday, but it got cancelled (for the 2nd time)…have i mentioned how amateur some of these comedy gigs are, cancelling left right and centre…but fair play this cancellation did pay a cancellation fee. Anyway, the gig was pulled about a week before. then, on the wednesday – or was it thursday? – i got asked to fill in for someone who hadn’t show on the thursday night. Guess where the gig was…..!!! Wisbech bois bach…a different gig, but a lovely one, and got to meet Ian – who i call Phil – who was a really nice promoter and gave me £30 extra at the end of the night….

yes i had one…only a small one, an incident in a motorway services, where a motorbike went into me. but i guess technically it was my fault, as it was a one lane exit, and i went on his inside. not sure why he was stopping and teetering, but anyway the guy was very upset. We agreed not to go through insurance and i put some money in his account there and then – £250. was i ripped off ? who knows? presumably the insurance would have had an excess to pay, probably about the same. And i was in such a good mood before that. i’d just done a couple of nice gigs for Windsor (not the place the person) and then one in a beautiful theatre in Eastbourne. BUt i had a feeling the crash was a portent of bad things to come.

But before THE bad thing i did do a lovely gig on the Monday in Petersfield. what a lovely part of the world. And Chaz who runs the gig is an interesting man to talk with. I got there early and he bought me a meal off the home cooked menu. delicious macaroni…..i ‘d been in quite a negative mood after that ‘bump’ and also the fact that i’d lost my phone in the kefuffle. (It turned up later).

Though i’d had nice things happen too like my hotel gave me a free breakfast – they had it all just sitting there, going to waste at 11am. Then i met Ben for a coffee. she came down to aldershot where i was staying, and we found a great spacious cafe.

The petersfield gig was great, very enjoyable, and as i left to walk to my car the skies opened, with the heaviest rain and sheet lightning – i though Ah even God liked that gig….or maybe he was approving the cat after me : Andrew O’Neal (who i thought initially was going to be Andrew Maxwell).

Then, 4 days later, it happened, the Queen kicked the bucket. Suddenly all my money looks out of date.

The friday gig in Luton Town FC was cancelled (or postponed) on the day with no cancellation fee. Then i had a £400 gig – which i don t get very often – in Ammanford pulled because it falls within the ten day mourning period. again with no cancellation fee….what a load of bollocks. how come comedians are the ones who have to get their work suspended with no pay?? if this what mourning is then how come all workers don’t get their pay suspended??

it’s not like all shows are being pulled. i just did a wonderful cider music festival in Cornwall. it went ahead no problem, everyone had fun…and on the way home i also did a gig in pontyclun for kris davies. Duuuw it was good…and the beer was great, an american brew known as number eight….

A couple of years out of college -ooh that sounds so american – i was on stage at the Tunnel Club and got to see Jerry Sadowitz at work…also recall him smashing it at the Comedy Store. a lot has already been written about this unique comedian. so i won’t bore you with the usual. But what i do know is that the late great Ian Cognito, when asked who he liked in comedy, always came back to Sadowitz. He idolised the guy.

To make it clear i’m not a massive fan of GS, i mean i find him often more controversial than funny. Having said that i do recall a one man show he did which was all good. His timing is always impeccable, and he does irony like it was a second language. I see him still, on stage, telling the crowd ‘that’s double irony!’ Perhaps it’s his higher intelligence that has again led to a setback for him: his Edinbro Fringe show cancelled. (Or perhaps it was the fact he got his cock out to a woman in the front row).

There are people out there – comedians amongst them – who see this as an outrage -NO NOT HIS COCK EXPOSURE, I MEAN HIS SHOW BEING CANCELLED ! and i guess they are right. In fact it occurred to me that all the comics could gang together and start a campaign: Get your Cock Out for Jerry. Yes, we pick a date, and on it all the comedians performing around the country expose their penis, just for a few seconds, all in the name of Jerry. I’d call the campaign COJ (cock out for Jerry) , and badges would be distributed. Then i thought nah, it’s better as a hoax, a stage routine, an article in Viz than a real thing.

and anyway, i happened to watch a youtube bit by Leo Kearse yesterday, all about Jerry’s cancellation – and he suggest the prospect of comedians getting their cocks out but does it as a throwaway comment. I got to admit Leo’s observations are often – as in this case – spot on. He points out the hypocrisy of various critics of Sadowitz. I mean, for start Jerry isn’t ‘white’, he’s Jewish. and of course the dubious practise of censorship by the Pleasance venue in Edinbro he brings under the spotlight. (on the other hand all the jewish friends i have are eeer white).

Oh, by the way, if we do all get our cocks out for Jerry i’m not sure what the female comics would do – I mean, I’m guessing there probably are a few female comedians now who do have cocks…but otherwise they’re fucked…unless the cock is seen as a metaphor….

Youtube – what an amazing thing. i found three film versions if Lovecraft’s The Colour Out of Space. the one with Claude Akins was pretty good, and i think faithful to the story.

also came across Dark Places, a forgotten horror film from early 70s. with Chris Lee, Joan Collins, Lom, and Robert Hardy. a neat little story, with a few hairy moments. classy compared to the typical 70s british fare. – let’s face it, although Lee did a handful of great films, out of his 200 plus efforts 90 percent were pretty shit. so it’s always nice to stumble across a quality movie. – mind you it wasn’t as good as The Corpse aka Cauldron of Terror.