4546/17465
It is only right on this tour that after a barnstorming packed theatre last night I must be brought down to earth with a tougher gig in a much less packed theatre. I was at Peterborough Key and even though I offered free tickets to anyone called Peter Borough and even more free tickets to anyone called Peter Borough-Key, there was only just over 100 people in a 350 seater theatre and I was pretty knackered.
It had been a busy day. We’d driven from Leeds to Hertfordshire in the morning for an ashes scattering ceremony, so emotions were a little heightened.
It did mean that I got to spend the afternoon with my daughter on her 3 month birthday (she’s nought and a quarter which is a great age to be), but she was a little out of sorts. She has hardly cried since the first hour of her life, but maybe in honour of that important time (and thinking about it, the crying started at 3 months to the minute) she really lost her shit. This was also right at the start of the ceremony, so tears were appropriate, but it fell to me to comfort her and keep her at a safe distance so she wouldn’t wreck the speeches. It was a timely reminder of how life carries on and as we mourned a death, we had to cope with a new life. But sadly the person we were mourning lived abroad and never got to meet Phoebe, even though she’d been very excited to do so and had sent us an unbelievable number of gifts after her birth. So the tears were infectious as they were baffling. A superstitious person might have said that Phoebe had been put up to it by the spirit of the indomitable woman we were here to send off. She’d have found it funny, that’s for sure and overall it was probably a nice release for everyone.
Phoebe was properly bawling and for the first time I felt her tears against my cheek as I tried to hug her better. We think she might be starting to teeth. It won’t be the last time that I have no real answers to her problems beyond a kiss and a hug but it was upsetting to feel my face damp with her tears for the first time. I missed her loads on this little jaunt and this wasn’t the reception I’d been hoping for. But it was still great to see her.
I was weary on stage and the Peterborough audience also has a slightly soporific Sunday night feel to them. I was making lots of tiny mistakes and stumbles and the words were coming out of my mouth even though I wasn’t entirely clear what was coming next. I think the audience were quietly enjoying themselves, but it was very hard to put in the requisite energy (though I managed to do it and I think my (spoiler alert) dance at the end might have been the best I’ve done it). I felt a bit faint at certain points and it was probably the hardest gig of the tour for me so far, but the audience that I met afterwards seemed happy with what they’d seen. Life and the dance goes on.
There had been a lot of driving for the Cannibal today and I appreciate his dedication in getting me to my daughter and my gig and then home again.
Next stop the Bloomsbury and terrifyingly the DVD record (already? It feels like the tour has just begun). In an effort to have a full room on Friday we’re offering a limited number of tickets at just £10. Don’t hang around.
Go to the website (or phone the box office) and use the code HERRINGLOTD for £5 off the ticket price.
The kickstarter campaign is on a knife-edge. It’s progressing forwards, but maybe just a touch too slowly to succeed. We’ll see. But we’ve added a new £60 level which gives you the chance to ask a question to one of the guests. Those are selling quick. We could really do with a couple of eccentric hundredaires to chip in at the top levels, but hopefully a late push will see us over the finish line.
