Strategic and Necessary
Here For a Good Time and a Long Time
Hello friends. I love you and I miss you. Due to my excellent tour planning after four fun weeks of being on the road I had a week off promptly followed by a wee cough that I'm just about getting over in time to do it all over again! when I'm unwell I give myself permission to not get much done, and also give into what my body needs (Pringles and Angel slices), and I write this down I think maybe that's just a good way to spend your life all of the time? I also spoke to someone about having a sore throat and they suggested looking into a vocal steamer and one thing led to another and something arrived yesterday called a Mesh Nebuliser and makes me feel and look like Bane/Darth Vader, who both have famously lovely smooth voices and kind dispositions, so what could possibly go wrong? Other than a Dinosaur shriek that genuinely made me think I was going to pop in Maidenhead last week It has all been going as well as I could possible hope for so far, so thank you everyone who has come to any of the first 11 shows, only 23 more to go!
Part of the holiday antics involved going to a maize maze and getting my face painted with my nieces, during which the face painter said "It's taking a bit longer than usual because you've got a bigger face than the children I normally work with"
A Day In The Life Of Tour: Oct 20th
In the middle of writing this I went on a maths podcast talking about travel so thought I would share some particularly thrilling logistics from a day so epic it may or may not have contributed to the following illness.
7:00 Wake up for Friend to very kindly give me a lift to Preston Station
7:00-7:20 Look for friend's lost car keys
7:44 Arrive at Preston station
7:46-9:28 Train from Preston to Leeds
9:30-9:45 Try and find a nearby Hotel Lobby with Wifi
9:45-10:45 Give one of the most low-key performances of my life over Zoom to a Headteachers' conference while avoiding eye contact with the hotel staff
10:32-10:57 Train from Leeds to Normanton
11:00-11:30 Shelter from rain in cake shop (aka breakfast)
11:30-12:00 Walk to school in rain
12:00-14:30 School performances (Nailed it)
14:30-14:45 Taxi to station to avoid rain
14:54 Train to Halifax via Leeds and an incredible crisp sandwich (aka lunch)
18:00 Arrive at venue and soundcheck
18:30 spread out all merch in front of a tiny heater backstage because the rain soaked through my case in the walk to school earlier
20:00 Performance in Halifax (including a front row of maths teachers)
22:00-23:00 Post-show drink with my new best friends the maths teachers
23:15 Wait at Halifax coach station for the 23:20 overnight coach to London
23:19 Find out the coach isn't stopping at the coach station (far too obvious) but a lay-by round the corner down the road.
23:20 National Express to London
00:00 Taylor Swift's album released
04:00 Emergency chips from service station (aka dinner)
06:20 Arrive in Victoria Coach Station
06:30 Arrive at Wetherspoons for breakfast as it opens like the class act I am
7:40-9:25 Train Back to Margate just in time for a relaxing holiday where I definitely won't get ill.
Fin.
Bringing the heat backstage
Upcoming Tour Dates
It's a big week this week with 5 gigs in four days! Birmingham is almost sold out before crossing the border for a long-awaited (by me) debut in Cardiff, and then a weekend of hometown gigs in Margate! Evening dates are almost full and we've added a third show at 5pm on Friday, I'm so excited. St Albans and Hastings are both through Eventbrite so I personally get a dopamine hit everytime someone books a ticket, meanwhile Bridport is on track to be the quietest gig of the tour so if you do come I'll appreciate you all the more. Finally there's in Sevenoaks which some people may have missed because it was added late in the day!
In future news Manchester is now sold out and I have been moved from the side room to the main room in Bath so there's suddenly lots more tickets!
My Book is Finally Out Out!
It's been a long time coming, both in the build-up and dragging out the release for about three months. I almost had another launch party in Margate this weekend but decided three events in two days was probably enough without adding a fourth. Thanks everyone who has said lovely things, I have had one official review which described it as containing mediocre wordplay, before quoting some delightful wordplay, but mainly I'm excited because now that Halloween is over I can start performing my Christmas poem from the back of it. If you'd like to beat the Christmas rush you can get your own copy here, or at any of my gigs (now transported in waterproof bags).
Final Thoughts
I watched Everything Everywhere All At Once this week and I absolutely loved it. One quote that stuck with me was a character saying they weren't naive, but "When I choose to see the good in things it is strategic and necessary." - I've had a few moments of despair recently in light of Shell making insane profits and paying no tax while people struggle to heat their homes, and our own prime minister being reluctant to go to COP27 just as more news comes out that we've caused irreparable damage to the planet. Even though I've written a cracking poem trying to convince myself of the opposite I still feel the urge to give up because it feels like the odds are so heavily stacked against us, but I'm making the strategic and necessary decision to keep going, and i hope you do too because we need all the help we can get. I'm loving meeting people at gigs who have told me the impact my poems are having, and I genuinely believe in what I am doing more than ever before, but it still feels easy to tell ourselves that none of it matters so I just wanted to say hang in there.
Stay brilliant x
