Back at my best
I'm Even Smiling in Therapy (Sometimes)
Well hello there. It's me Harry Baker, the almost-medical-student turned mathematician turned performance poet who feels most alive when he is on stage sharing words with people, telling you that I have been on stage sharing words with people and it has been making me feel very very alive indeed. My first gig of tour was outdoors on a community farm in Hull where it started raining halfway through and everyone huddled together under some makeshift gazebos. In Preston I did a primary school visit the following morning where a student spontaneously got up and started walking around screeching like a dinosaur mid-set. In Liverpool the gig was organised by the person who I did my first ever gig with at a church youth group in Harrow over 15 years ago. On Saturday the train strikes meant I travelled for 10 hours via 4 buses and two taxis (and Tebay services!) to perform to 20 people in a tent in a tiny town in Scotland and every single one of the above was nothing short of electric.
Maybe it always felt like this and I've just forgotten, maybe being more vulnerable on stage (and in life!) means it feels more rewarding when people hold that space with you. Whatever it is, I am well and truly back doing what I love and absolutely loving doing it. In part I think this heightened sense of appreciation comes from the fact that I have been struggling for a while so it's nice to feel like I'm coming out the other side of that. In part because I have organised this tour myself I can focus on the meaningful bits (see below!), and I think on one level it truly is as simple as the fact that I am back connecting with people in a very real way. So for anyone who has come to a gig so far (or is planning to!) - than you for the bottom of my heart for being a part of that. If you (or someone you know) would like to come but don't feel like you can afford it right now, read on because there is a wonderful solution to that too!
I have never felt more certain that I am doing what I am meant to be doing in this world, and that is no small thing. It's either that or I've started taking vitamin D tablets because I realised I get sad and therefore maybe SAD in winter... (look it up!)
A Galaxy Full Of Legends
Last week, after a particularly lovely off-grid time away in the lake district including a trip to a pencil museum, I came back to the announcement of the mini-budget and felt a mix of rage and despair. I also happened to have just watched the latest star wars trilogy so had a fair whack of hope to throw into this cocktail and proceeded to write a long post filled with intergalactic references detailing that in this cost of living crisis, the six gigs where I am in control of the tickets will have unlimited free/pay what you want options (until the gig sells out!) and for the other gigs at the very least I will offer up my six guest list tickets up to anyone who might need them and anyone beyond that we'll see what we can do. A poetry gig may not be the number one priority of someone struggling to heat their home but I wanted to at least try and do something. (I articulate it better in the original post I promise!)
What happened next was incredible. Not only did lots of people get behind the idea and share it in the hope that anyone it might help could see it, but two further venues reached out and said they would be willing to do the same (shout out Bordon and Sevenoaks!) - Some people even said they would be happy to contribute to a 'pay it forward' fund to cover the costs of others. Because of this amazing act of communal kindness I have set up a place where people can donate and am now extending the offer to say ANY NUMBER OF PEOPLE CAN COME TO ANY GIG ON THIS TOUR FOR FREE. You don't have to prove you are deserving or anything like that, if you want to come for free you can come for free. Just drop me a message or email and I will either put you on a guestlist or buy you a ticket myself from what I'm now calling The Resistance Fund. It feels like a big deal so I've put it in big letters, but i've realised one of my core beliefs is that Another World is Possible, and this feels like that in action. I may not have a lot of faith in the people running this country but after this I've got a bit more faith in the people living in it. If you want to pay for a ticket this is also acceptable.
You've got to gra-phite for what you believe in.
So Where's Next on This Tour You Keep Banging on About?
Tomorrow I have another epic coach journey ahead of me as I head down to Exeter before a sold out bristol gig on National Poetry Day and a bonus appearance at Cheltenham Litfest! If you didn't get tickets for Bristol I have since added a Bath date in January so hopefully that is possible. On the topic of new dates I have finally got a Sheffield date on sale and it is already promising to be one of the vibiest of the lot. Next week is the Big London Special Ft Harry and Chris Which is selling well after speaking to Craig Charles about it!) before returning to old faves Worthing and Bordon, as well as new potential faves Wigan and Halifax. You can see all these dates in the image below, or as ever the most up to date listings will be on my website !
Future dates that are on their way to selling out/may be worth getting in there early are Maidenhead, Birmingham and Manchester !
You Haven't Mentioned Your Book Yet!
...which is a testament to how much fun I've been having. It technically comes out this Thursday to coincide with National Poetry Day/my Bristol gig but if we're being honest it has had the softest of soft launches already, what with me taking over 500 copies to both Edinburgh and Greenbelt, as well as trundling a case full with me on tour and giving you lot exclusive access last month. So even though it's not *technically* out yet I've been loving the pictures people have been sending me of their copies out in the wild, and I'm excited for the whole world to have access !
Final Thoughts
My friend in Liverpool is a vicar now and he asked me how I quantify whether a gig has gone well. He said that after a Sunday morning service people's response doesn't always correlate with how happy he was with his sermon or even how much effort went in to writing it. As a mathematician I love a bit of quantifying, and it is easy to get caught up in how many tickets you've sold, or how many people come and say hi afterwards, or if anyone wants to buy a book. But I've realised the incredibly technical term that quantifies whether a gig is good or not for me is... vibes. Sometimes you can just feel it in the room. At this festival on Saturday I arrived 20 minutes before I was due on stage after travelling all day. There wasn't anywhere to change so I just performed in my slightly grubby trackies and jumper, and after my initial stalling for time by talking about how much I love Tebay services while they set up the mic, I shared my poems. For whatever reason the vibes were strong. A self-proclaimed feminist dinosaur gave me a hug afterwards and said she had been praying for me every day since I was last there in 2019 in honour of my grandparents. A woman called Andrea approached me after the gig saying she had never seen me before but had been recommended it, and loved it so much she signed up for a poetry workshop I was running the next day. After the workshop we got chatting and she said she had a friend who was running a whisky stand in the festival marquee, and proceeded to take me to try 5 different whiskeys made in the hometown of Robbie Burns in quick succession before beginning my 9 hour journey back to Margate. I've never been so chatty in a taxi in my life. All this is to say thank you to everyone who is bringing the vibes, It is 100% a two way thing, and if the last few days are anything to go by I plan on keeping on bringing my side of it forevermore.
Stay brilliant x
