I’ve been feeling a bit restless recently. I thought my brain might calm down after the festival but it’s just gone into overdrive. I’ve not been sleeping properly (probably too much coffee) and I’ve also developed a seriously tragic addiction to Solitaire on Apple arcade. I was playing it in bed the other night when I received the notification “First win of the day!” - that’s not right, this is my tenth win? - and realised it was after midnight, and I’d been at it for hours. I’m mad, me!
I don’t think I have ADHD (contrary to what my TikTok algorithm keeps telling me) but I’ve started and stopped planning about a dozen ideas this past week. All I seem able to focus on (outside of the day job) is Solitaire. I look forward to going to bed at night, because of Solitaire. I wake up and I think about Solitaire. I think I need to re-learn how to do nothing, or plan a holiday.
There is one idea I’m really excited about that hopefully I’ll return to when my brain is functioning. Obviously, it’s the idea that involves a huge amount of work and complex logistics. But it gives me that slightly panicked feeling of I NEED TO DO THIS NOW, which is usually a good sign. So I’m mentioning it here (albeit cryptically) for accountability.
I’ve started putting out some clips from the show, including “West end mums” live. Musical genius Julian Corrie did the mix. More to come, I think. I’m struggling to decide how much of the show to reveal and how much to keep under my hat.
Things I left the house for
On Thursday I went to Fearghas Kelly’s “Screen Time” at The Stand. Unlike your traditional stand up nights, laptops, powerpoint and filmed sketches are encouraged. 100% up my street, and great to have a new space for this kind of comedy - bravo for Fearghas for setting it up. Incidentally, I will be performing at the next one on Thursday 16 May, tickets available online. The reliably hilarious Kate Hammer is also on the bill, so it should be a fun night.
The Burning Hell were of course brilliant on Friday night, accompanied by their robot drummer. Most of their performance comprised songs from “Never Work”, a concept album that, in their words, explores the “gig economy, side-hustles, tech feudalism, class war, unionized digital assistants, rebellious self-service checkout machines, and fully automated luxury communism”. Through some very funny and melodic tunes. They’re like The Tenementals’ Canadian cousins.
I also saw Omni at the Hug and Pint last night (seriously, three gigs in the past week - am I twenty?!). Recommended. In between songs they played samples of primitive computer noises, like the Windows 95 start up music or dial-up or that infamous call centre music, which was a nice theatrical touch. I wonder if the noises meant much to Gen Z. I wonder if Gen Z have ever played Solitaire with physical cards or just digitally. Maybe they think cards are just icons, like the floppy disc ‘save’ sign? Help, I’m thinking about Solitaire again.
Outro
I have a gig this month, in Greenock. Tell all your Inverclyde pals! It’s at the Beacon Arts Centre on Saturday 27 April; Stu and I are headlining with some tunes. Probably our last performance for a while, before we retreat into writing mode.
Everyone’s talking about it but Richard Gadd’s “Baby Reindeer” on Netflix really is that good. Only halfway through but eager to finish.
The world continues to be absolutely fucked. But at least we have Paul McCartney drinking margaritas with his pals.
And Solitare.