I broke the law this morning in order to catch up with the latest episode of "Community". Very glad to see it's back in production after a brief hiatus. It's properly brilliant. I have bought the first two series, but the third is not available and I couldn't wait. But I promise I will buy it the minute it becomes available, because I am delighted to see the people involved financially rewarded for their work. Please don't extradite me to the States and put me in prison for five years. In any case it was my fiancee who accessed it, so take her, not me. I am prepared to appear for the prosecution to see this thieving scum sent down. Copyright violation is a very serious offence.
It was good to start the day knowing I was like a modern day Robin Hood, with the added security of hatching a plan to heap the blame on to my future wife. By the time she finds out about my dastardly plan she'll be hitched to me and it'll be too late to escape.
It's an interesting question as to whether a fan getting a sneak preview of something that they will be paying for later is really theft. It is, of course, but ultimately Community is one of those shows that relies on its fans and I think people "stealing" it might well contribute to the survival of the programme, either by buying DVDs or spreading the word to others.
It's a confusing grey area, but I was more than happy for people to download Fist of Fun when it wasn't available on DVD, but would hope that they might buy it now after we've gone to the trouble of bringing it out. But even if people do still steal it, the chances are that they will either come to a future gig or tell someone else about it. I certainly think it's been worth my while putting out the huge amount of free stuff I've done in the last four years (and if you include the blog then that's nearly a decade). My annual income is certainly healthier than it was five years ago, even though well over half the stuff I do is for no money. In fact it's going so well that I have had to get married and have my house rebuilt in order to push me down to the necessary level of debt to keep me being creative. I met someone tonight who admitted having downloaded something of mine illegally, but then they bought something else off me as a result of liking it. The system is corrupt, but it works. And I suppose if you give your creative favourites too much money they might become lazy and rubbish and lose their hunger, so perhaps you have an artistic duty to steal.
And as a result of the illegal Community download (which I reiterate to the American law agencies - I had nothing to do with) I am telling however many of you are out there (somewhere between 0 and 5000) that this great series exists. You can
buy season one here and if you have a multi-region DVD player (or live in the US) you can get the even funnier season 2
here. And you should do, because it's one of the best sitcoms around and Abed is one of the great sitcom characters of all time. If you want to see anything beyond season 2 then you might have to commit a crime. I genuinely have no idea how you carry that out. But ask my fiancee - though I think she must have a secret dealer who gives her the stuff cos I don't think she knows much about this stuff. My guess is that he or she probably gives my fiancee the episodes in return for sexual favours. But, you know what, it's worth it. I'll turn a blind eye.
Steal if you must, but steal nicely and try to nurture the things you love if whatever way you can.
I was pretty much wiped out today and it was a struggle even to make the short trip up the road to Milton Keynes, but I more or less pulled myself together in time for the show. I had done a preview in the small room here last summer, so was pretty pleased to more or less sell out the big room. It was a great audience (even after the show, two of them helped me to carry my stuff to my car - though I suspect they only did it for a mention in the blog, but you see, if you do something for no payment, it can pay off). I like to keep perfecting and tinkering as I go and I realised with a start halfway through the show that the DVD record is in six performances time. In fact there's now only 20 more opportunities to see this show live. That's how you pay me back for the free stuff -
Come along if you can.
On the way home I chanced across
Two Episodes of Mash on Radio 2. It's really good. Nicely understated, funny ideas, played mainly without silly voices and sound effects. Nice to hear something original and fresh on the radio. I mean it's no "That Was Then This Is Now", but worth checking out (and aware that I am a bit late to this party).
